Remembering Don Baylor: fierce competitor, quiet and respected leader
As a baseball player, Don Baylor was ferocious.
He hit 338 home runs in parts of 19 big-league seasons, and that wasn't the only kind of hitting Baylor did. If you were a middle infielder, you needed to get rid of the ball quickly if big Don was barreling down the baseline trying to break up a double play.
And just to prove he could take it as well as dish it out, Baylor was hit by pitches 267 times during his career.
As a person, Don Baylor put the "gentle" into the word "gentleman." He also was generous and genuine, and that's why so many in the baseball world were saddened Monday to hear of his death at age 68.
Baylor died in his hometown of Austin, Texas, after battling multiple myeloma.
I covered Baylor from the time he was named manager of the Cubs after the 1999 season until he was fired midway through the 2002 season after he compiled a record of 187-220.
Sitting with him in the manager's office during spring training of 2000, I casually asked him about his outside interests and hobbies. He mentioned that he considered himself to be a wine connoisseur. I mentioned that I also enjoyed a glass of red wine with dinner.
"Well," Baylor said, "this season, I'll turn you on to a couple while we're on the road."
I thanked him and was on my way, not knowing when - or if - that would ever happen. The very next morning, while I was on my appointed rounds to the Cubs clubhouse, Baylor spotted me and called me into his office.
He handed me a shopping bag and said, "Try these." Inside the bag were a couple bottles of red wine.
During the season, one in which the Cubs won only 65 games, one of the clubhouse guys approached me before a night game.
"Don wants to see you in his office," he said.
"Oh, great," I thought. "What did I write?"
When I got to Baylor's office, he handed me another bag with a couple more bottles of wine.
That's the kind of guy he was.
Baylor came up with the Baltimore Orioles, and it was there that he earned his nickname of "Groove." Story has it that as a young player, he said he was feeling in a "groove." Future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson heard that and tagged Baylor as "Groove." The name stuck.
From 1970-88, Baylor saw action with the Orioles, Athletics, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox and Twins. He won the American League's Most Valuable Player Award with the Angels in 1979, and he was a member of the Twins' world-championship team in 1987.
As an outfielder and DH, Baylor compiled a hitting line of .260/.342/.436 with 338 home runs, 1,276 RBI and 2,135 hits.
He said the inspiration to manage came out of left field - literally - as he watched Orioles manager Earl Weaver and Yankees boss Billy Martin match wits. He said he also drew inspiration from Gene Mauch, John McNamara, Tony La Russa, Jim Fregosi, Tom Kelly, Joe Altobelli and Cal Ripken Sr.
Baylor managed the expansion Colorado Rockies from their inception in 1993 through 1998. He led the Rockies to the wild card in 1995 and earned Manager of the Year honors.
He was the first black manager hired by the Cubs, and during his introductory news conference he asked for prayers for Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton, who was near death after battling liver disease.
After the poor showing in 2000, the Cubs' front office made a flurry of moves, and Baylor had the team in first place for four months in 2001. When closer Tom "Flash" Gordon was injured, Baylor made veteran lefty Jeff Fassero the closer, and Fassero saved 12 games and was a key reason the Cubs were in the race for so long.
But the team faded down and stretch and failed to make the postseason. In July of 2002, Baylor was fired after the team got off to a 34-49 start. He was fired by Cubs President Andy MacPhail, who today is president of the Philadelphia Phillies. On Monday, MacPhail shared his thoughts.
"I don't think he gets enough credit for 2001," MacPhail said. "We had some injuries and bad breaks, but he kept us in it a long time, and we still won 88 games, which today gets you to the postseason."
MacPhail was GM of the Twins, and he traded for Baylor in '87 on the way to a World Series win.
"If you check, there was about a three-year period that whoever had Don Baylor went to the World Series," MacPhail said, noting the 1986 Red Sox, '87 Twins and '88 Athletics.
Baylor never managed after 2002, but he was a respected hitting coach, and he stayed in the game for years in that capacity.
he had little patience for players who didn't work at their craft. As the Atlanta Braves' hitting coach in 1999, he marveled at how hard Chipper Jones worked, saying how he would wheel a grocery cart of baseballs out for batting practice and that Jones would hit every one of them and want to hit some more.
It wasn't always smooth sailing for Baylor, which made him like every other manager. He and second baseman Eric Young had their ups and downs in Colorado, and Young played for Baylor in Chicago.
"Of all the managers I've had, he's gotten the most out of me," Young said while with the Cubs. "People want to say that we had bad blood and we didn't like each other. I don't know where they got that from. But I'll be the first one to tell you that I had my best years under Don Baylor."
Utility man Jeff Huson knew Baylor both in the Colorado system and with the Cubs. Huson said Baylor's honesty kept him in the game after Baylor told him to stick with it after Huson was sent to the minor leagues by the Rockies.
Baylor didn't much like pitchers. Maybe you wouldn't either if they hit you with a ball 267 times. Baylor and Cubs superstar Sammy Sosa feuded in 2000, and Sosa was nearly traded that season. The two men patched up their differences, and Sosa went on to sign a contract extension in the spring of 2001.
"Where Don really shined was as a human being," MacPhail said. "He was quiet and never bragged. But he had a presence about him. He was very much respected."
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Baylor's numbers
When he wasn't playing the game or serving as a manager, Don Baylor also served as a hitting instructor and bench coach for several teams. His career stats:
19: years in MLB as a player
9: years in MLB as a manager
8,198: at bats
1,236: runs scored
2,135: hits
.260: batting average
338: home runs
1,276: RBI
285: stolen bases
267: times hit by a pitch
28.3: Wins Above Replacement rating
1: All-Star Game (1979)
6: number of major awards he received - AL MVP (1979), DH award (1983, 1985, 1986), Roberto Clemente Award (1985); NL Manager of the Year (1995).
8: seasons in which he finished first in the AL for getting hit by a pitch.
17: times he finished in Top 10 among players hit by a pitch.
88: his most wins as a manager (2001 Cubs).
440-469: managerial record with the Rockies over six seasons.
187-220: managerial record with the Cubs over three seasons.
Source: baseball-reference.com