The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cancer takes MLB legends Baylor, Daulton
Baylor, 68, and Daulton, 55, each won a World Series.
Don Baylor, the slugger who once held the MLB record for being hit a pitch and later guided the expansion Colorado 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’s family said in a statement released by the Angels, the franchise for which he played more than 800 games.
“Don passed from this earth with the same fierce dignity with which he played the game and lived his life,” said Baylor’s wife, Rebecca.
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 in homers (36) and hits (186) for the AL West champs, who lost to Baltimore in the ALCS.
When Baylor retired, he had been hit by pitches a then-record 267 times, and 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 Oakland in 1976. 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 Minnesota’s seven-game victory against St. Louis in 1987. He was on losing teams with Boston in ‘86 and Oakland in ‘88.
“Don used power and speed to earn American League MVP honors with the Angels in 1979 and contributed to three straight pennant winners in a great 19-year major league career,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said.
Baylor was the first manager for the Rockies, leading them to his only playoff appearance as a manager in the franchise’s third season in 1995. Colorado lost to Atlanta in four games in an NL Division Series.
Baylor spent six years with Colorado and two-plus seasons as manager of the Cubs, from 2000-02. His career record was 627-689. He was most recently the hitting coach for the Angels and spent nearly 50 years in pro baseball.
Daulton led Phillies to 1993 NL pennant: Darren Daulton, the All-Star catcher who was the leader of the Phillies’ NL championship team in 1993, died Sunday night in Philadelphia. He was 55.
Daulton had suffered from brain cancer since 2013. He had two tumors removed during brain surgery on July 1, 2013, but nine days later was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that also took the lives of his former teammate Tug McGraw and former coach John Vukovich.
“Darren was a true leader of men,” Phillies chairman emeritus Bill Giles said. “In addition to being an outstanding clubhouse leader, he was also a fighter. He battled through five knee operations to become an All-Star. I really enjoyed watching him for 14 years in uniform. Darren was a super human being. His teammates loved him, I loved him like he was one of my own.”
Daulton played 141/2 of his 15 major league seasons with Philadelphia and finished his career with the 1997 World Series champion Florida Marlins, batting .389 (7 for 18) with two doubles and one homer in a seven-game series against Cleveland.
Daulton batted .245 with 137 homers and 588 RBIs in 1,161 games. He went to three All-Star games and led the NL with 109 RBIs in 1992.