’79 AL MVP Baylor dies of cancer

Don Baylor, the burly slugger who once held the major-league record for being hit by pitches and later guided the expansion Rockies to the playoffs for the first time as manager of the year, died Monday of cancer. He was 68. The 1979 American League MVP died in his hometown of Austin, Texas, after a 14-year battle with multiple myeloma.

Baylor played in all 162 games for the California Angels in 1979 and led the majors with career bests of 139 RBIs and 120 runs. He also had career highs with 36 home runs and 186 hits for the AL West champs.

When Baylor retired, he had been hit by pitches a then-record 267 times. He led the majors in that category seven times.

He was also known for speed as a younger player, including a career-high 52 steals with the A’s in 1976, and was a bruising baserunner who loved to break up double plays. He finished with 285 steals.

In his final three seasons, Baylor went to three straight World Series from 1986-88, winning the title and hitting one of his four postseason homers in the Twins’ seven-game victory over the Cardinals in 1987. He was on losing teams with the Red Sox in ’86 and the A’s in ’88.

Baylor was the first manager of the Rockies, leading them to his only playoff appearance as a manager in the franchise’s third season in 1995.

Baylor spent six years with the Rockies and two-plus seasons as manager of the Cubs, from 200002. His career record was 627689. He was most recently the hitting coach for the Angels and spent nearly 50 years in baseball.

Baylor was a career .260 hitter with 338 homers and 1,276 RBIs for six teams in a 19-year bigleague career.