Chicago White Sox coaches Tim Raines and Harold Baines each spent time in Baltimore during their playing careers.
Their experiences, however, couldn?t be more different.
Raines? stay was short, while Baines played the better part of seven seasons in Baltimore, covering three separate stints from 1993 to 2000.
Baltimore traded for Raines, 46, late in the 2001 season, offering him a unique opportunity: to play with his son Tim, Jr.
“It was like a dream come true,” Raines said Sunday from the Chicago clubhouse.
When Raines was diagnosed with Lupus in 1999, he wasn?t sure he would ever play again.
“That gave me the confidence to come back and play, knowing that he had the opportunity to play in the big leagues,” said Raines, now the White Sox bench coach.
“It?s something that?s hard to describe.
“I remember standing in the outfield during the national anthem, and he was standing right beside me,” Raines said. “It was just an incredible feeling.”
Baines? return mighthave been more meaningful to the fans of Baltimore, who fell in love with the left-hander?s sweet swing.
“I think when you get that kind of reception, it means they enjoy the way you played the game,” said Baines, who said he loves returning to Camden Yards. “They always treated me well, whatever team I came in here with.”
Baines, 47, still lives in St. Michael?s on the Eastern Shore, where he was born and lived during his playing days in Baltimore. He sees one main difference between the Orioles today and the ball clubs from his playing days.
“The biggest thing was that they had more veterans when I was here,” said Baines who is Chicago?s first base coach. “You had guys that were established, that had won before and knew how to play the game.”
Baines and Raines? veteran leadership has transitioned well into coaching. The pair is on the same staff as fellow ex-Oriole, Ozzie Guillen, the Chicago manager.
“It?s like an old-timers game in the White Sox coaches? office,” Raines said.
It?s also a reunion of ex-Orioles in a World Series champion clubhouse.
