Don Baylor dead at age 68

[reillymcshane]

Former major leaguer Don Baylor has died at age 68 after a battle with myeloma.

 

Baylor was the AL MVP in 1979, and he would later be the hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers (1990-91).

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/08/don-baylor-passes-away.html

[DuWayne Steurer]

This and the news of the passing of Darren Daulton is really making me feel old

[MadScientist]

Two top players gone early in one weekend.

 

Cancer sucks.

[splitterpfj]

Don Baylor ..... got hit by a ton of pitches, hit the ball hard enough that Bob Uecker would say, "If anyone's ever going to actually collapse a baseball, it's this guy", and, for as big and strong as he was, he absolutely could not throw, hence the DH.

[DocLuna7]

I believe that Baylor also has the unique distinction of appearing on three AL Champion teams in three consecutive years and with each year it being a different team. Must have been Boston in '86, Minnesota in '87, and Oakland in '88.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

He was hit 267 times in his career. Good for 4th all time! Surprisingly, Biggio beat him with 285 career clunks. Baylor also has the 8th highest in a season with 35. This was in the time before the armor that players use now.

 

I remember watching him. He would just stand there and take it. Never moved. Tough guy.

 

Baseball Reference lists him at 6-1, 190. I just remember him being a huge guy. That size is nothing compared to today's players. Just a different time...

[Bob Skube Snacks]

I was 11 years old, sitting in the lower grandstands on the first base side for Game 5 of the ALCS.

 

The Brewers had taken the lead in the 7th and Don Baylor comes up in the 8th. Among many other Angels, he was a problem at the plate. He gets a hold of one and I'll never forget watching the parabola of his sky-high shot to left-center, thinking to myself, "Crap, this game is about to be tied again after that nice comeback."

 

Of course, it didn't go out and Marshall Edwards made a leaping catch at the wall to save extra bases.

 

And while my Wauwatosa friends and I used to dive into bushes for a few years afterwards to imitate it (we called wall-scrapping catches "a Marshall Edwards", just as we called blocked shots in the driveway "a Harvey Catchings", or later, "an Alton Lister), I never shook the feeling that the Brewers dodged a giant-Don Baylor-sized bullet.

 

RIP to a really good hitter, and by almost all accounts, a very good man.

[homer]

Don Baylor ..... got hit by a ton of pitches, hit the ball hard enough that Bob Uecker would say, "If anyone's ever going to actually collapse a baseball, it's this guy", and, for as big and strong as he was, he absolutely could not throw, hence the DH.

 

He stole 52 bases when he was 27. I still find that hard to believe.

[Vgmastr]

I remember pre-Brewerfan that everyone on the ESPN Brewer forum was hoping we'd hire Baylor as manager in 1999 and were disappointed when we ended up with Lopes.

[rickh150]

Commenting on a bunch of posts here....

Wasn't a runner on 1st when Edwards made that catch?

No way was Baylor under 200 lbs at end of career...

Baylor would do a Rickie Weeks and even dip into inside pitches to get hit.

 

Also, Baylor was at his all-time best as the number 5 hitter(?) on the Andgels/Red Sox(?) in the original RBI Baseball.

[DocLuna7]

Commenting on a bunch of posts here....

Wasn't a runner on 1st when Edwards made that catch?

No way was Baylor under 200 lbs at end of career...

Baylor would do a Rickie Weeks and even dip into inside pitches to get hit.

 

Also, Baylor was at his all-time best as the number 5 hitter(?) on the Andgels/Red Sox(?) in the original RBI Baseball.

 

Regarding the RBI baseball I am 99% sure that was with Boston. Great reference point.

[greeg35]

Commenting on a bunch of posts here....

Wasn't a runner on 1st when Edwards made that catch?

No way was Baylor under 200 lbs at end of career...

Baylor would do a Rickie Weeks and even dip into inside pitches to get hit.

 

Also, Baylor was at his all-time best as the number 5 hitter(?) on the Andgels/Red Sox(?) in the original RBI Baseball.

 

Regarding the RBI baseball I am 99% sure that was with Boston. Great reference point.

Baylor and Reggie Jackson were inexplicably fast in that game too.

 

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[Bob Skube Snacks]

Commenting on a bunch of posts here....

Wasn't a runner on 1st when Edwards made that catch?

No way was Baylor under 200 lbs at end of career...

Baylor would do a Rickie Weeks and even dip into inside pitches to get hit.

 

Also, Baylor was at his all-time best as the number 5 hitter(?) on the Andgels/Red Sox(?) in the original RBI Baseball.

 

Bases were empty with one out when Baylor hit. Doug DeCinces hit a single after Edwards' catch.