Baines, Piniella among 10 being considered for baseball Hall

Former White Sox star Harold Baines and former Cubs manager Lou Piniella are among the 10 names on the Today Game Era ballot to be considered for vote on Dec. 5 at baseball’s winter meetings, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced Monday.

The 10-name list includes five former major-league players, three executives and two managers. Among the other players are former White Sox star Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser and Mark McGwire. The other manager is Davey Johnson. The three executives are John Schuerholz, George Steinbrenner and former commissioner Bud Selig.

Candidates must receive 75 percent of the votes among the 16-member Today’s Game Era Committee. The Today’s Game Era was one of four Eras Committees identified in July. when the Hall’s board of directors announced changes to the Era Committee system, which provides an avenue for Hall of Fame consideration to managers, umpires and executives, as well as players retired for more than 15 seasons, the Hall said in a news release.

During his 22 years in the big leagues — a run that included time with the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and two stints with the White Sox, Baines was a six-time All-Star who had 2,866 hits and 1,628 RBI.

Belle was a five-time All-Star outfielder during his 12-year career that included stops with the Indians, Orioles and White Sox. He drove in 100 or more runs nine times and in 1995 became the only player in major-league history to have at least 50 doubles and 50 homers in the same season.

Piniella managed for 23 seasons, including stops with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and Cubs. His 1,835 victories as manager rank 14th all-time. He won the 1990 World Series with the Reds and guided his teams to seven postseason appearances.