Remembering Yankees of the Past: Don Baylor

The New York Yankees and Major League Baseball lost a former member of their families yesterday when Don Baylor lost a long battle with cancer, he was 68-years old. Baylor played 19 seasons in professional baseball with the Angels, Orioles, Yankees, Red Sox, Athletics and Twins and won one MVP award in 1979 with the Angels before beginning a long coaching career with various teams. Baylor was actually the first manager of the Colorado Rockies in their short tenure as a Major League franchise and Baylor was also a coach for the New York Mets to name a few examples.

Baylor signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent before the 1983 season and immediately won his first of three Silver Slugger Awards as a designated hitter that season. Baylor spent three years in New York posting the below career stat line before the team traded him to the Boston Red Sox before the 1986 season.

Standard Batting

Year	Age	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	Awards
1983	34	NYY	144	534	82	162	33	21	85	40	53	.303	.361	.494	.856	138	SS
1984	35	NYY	134	493	84	129	29	27	89	38	68	.262	.341	.489	.830	131
1985	36	NYY	142	477	70	110	24	23	91	52	90	.231	.330	.430	.760	109	SS
162	162	162	162	579	87	151	26	24	90	57	76	.260	.342	.436	.777	118
			G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	Awards
NYY	NYY	NYY	420	1504	236	401	86	71	265	130	211	.267	.345	.472	.817	126

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Baylor finished his career after the 1988 season with a .260 career batting average, 338 home runs and 1,276 RBI in 2,292 career games. Baylor led the league in hit by pitches in seven different seasons and his 267 career HBP’s, which is good for the fourth highest total in MLB history, is softened by his one World Series victory with the Minnesota Twins.

Baylor is survived by his wife, son Don Jr. and his two granddaughters. RIP Don. Our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to his friends, family and whoever was affected by this tragedy. Also the same thoughts, respect and condolences go out to the family and friends of Darren Daulton who also passed away over the weekend after losing a battle with cancer. Heaven can field a hell of a team right now.