Lee Smith and Harold Baines absurd Hall of Fame elections.

Lee Smith and Harold Baines were elected to the Hall of Fame today by one of those ridiculous committees.

Pitchers are part time participants who are not even players. Relief pitchers are part time pitchers. Lee Smith was a relief pitcher: 1,066 games, 6 starts.

Lee Smith: 1,289 innings
Babe Ruth: 1,221 innings

Smith had only a few more innings than the Babe.

Harold Baines: 121 OPS+
Babe Ruth: 206 OPS+

Baines games started:
DH: 1,565
OF: 1,014

Played at least 50% of games at DH, OPS+>=120 and At least 5000 plate appearances, sorted by greatest Adjusted OPS+

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	From	To	Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Frank Thomas	156	10075	1990	2008	22-40	2322	8199	1494	2468	495	12	521	1704	1667	168	1397	87	0	121	226	32	23	.301	.419	.555	.974	*D3/H	CHW-OAK-TOR
2	Edgar Martinez	147	8674	1987	2004	24-41	2055	7213	1219	2247	514	15	309	1261	1283	113	1202	89	10	77	190	49	30	.312	.418	.515	.933	*D5/H3	SEA
3	David Ortiz	141	10091	1997	2016	21-40	2408	8640	1419	2472	632	19	541	1768	1319	209	1750	38	2	92	236	17	9	.286	.380	.552	.931	*D3H	MIN-BOS
4	Hal McRae	123	8059	1968	1987	22-41	2084	7218	940	2091	484	66	191	1097	648	69	779	79	28	85	186	109	78	.290	.351	.454	.805	*D7H/9854	CIN-KCR
5	Harold Baines	121	11092	1980	2001	21-42	2830	9908	1299	2866	488	49	384	1628	1062	187	1441	14	9	99	298	34	34	.289	.356	.465	.820	*D9H/87	TEX-OAK-CHW-CLE-BAL

Among all batters since 1903 with at least 5,000 PA, Baines is tied at number 222. Ruth is number 1.

The election of either Lee Smith or Harold Baines is pretty much a joke. And not just compared to Babe Ruth. The election of both Lee Smith and Harold Baines is nothing short of absurd.