Don Baylor
Don Baylor
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Professional baseball player, 1967-88; drafted by Baltimore Orioles organization in 1967; played in Orioles' farm system, 1967-71. Member of Baltimore Orioles, 1971-75; Oakland Athletics, 1976; California Angels, 1977-82; New York Yankees, 1983-85; Boston Red Sox, 1986-87; Minnesota Twins, 1987; and Oakland Athletics, 1988. Special assistant to general manager of Milwaukee Brewers, 1989; coach of Brewers, 1989-91; coach of St. Louis Cardinals, 1992. Named manager of Colorado Rockies, 1992; manager of Rockies, 1993--. Writer.
Managing an expansion team in major league baseball is a challenging proposition to say the least. Such a challenge has fallen to Don Baylor, an experienced baseball professional with years of playing and coaching to his credit. When Baylor was named the first manager of the new Colorado Rockies franchise in 1992, he joined one of the sporting world's most elite groups: black baseball managers. Baylor's choice as skipper of the Rockies raised to four the number of blacks managing major league teams. Still, no other black manager faces the hurdles of building a team from scratch and making it a winner against formidable odds, all in a city where fans have spent decades waiting feverishly for their own big-league club.
Baylor was chosen, according to the Rockies' front office, because he exhibited leadership qualities and maturity during his years as a player. He had earned a reputation for personal integrity and toughness, coupled with an ability to teach, even before he retired from the playing field. Asked about his plans for the fledgling Rockies franchise, Baylor told Sports Illustrated: "I don't hold these guys to any higher standard than I held myself to as a player." That is a high standard, indeed. During his years with a series of American League teams, Baylor appeared in the League Championship Series seven times and the World Series three times. He holds the record for being hit by pitches during games--a testament to his intimidating stance in the batter's box. Sports Illustrated correspondent Steve Rushin called Baylor a "clubhouse Buddha" who "often just sits there, oozing baseball knowledge."
Don Baylor was born in Austin, Texas, in 1949. His father was a baggage clerk for the Missouri Pacific Railroad and was thus away from home most of the time. The three Baylor children were nonetheless influenced by their demanding father, who challenged them to pursue excellence, and by their levelheaded mother, who saw to their religious training.
It was not an easy time to be young and black in the deep South. Segregated schools were still the rule even in the 1960s when Baylor was ready to attend junior high. The enterprising youngster decided he wanted the best education he could possibly get, so in 1962 he asked to be one of the first three black students to attend all-white O. Henry Middle School.
Each day Baylor faced taunts to his face and slurs whispered behind his back. He knew he was not welcome in the school, but he stayed anyway. "A lot of times we [black students] were put in separate classes," he recalled in Sports Illustrated. "Those were tough years." The prejudice bothered him, but he never shared his distress with his mother, who worked full time in addition to running the Baylor household. Craig Neff reported in Sports Illustrated: "Baylor didn't like to fight, but he didn't back down. He became a three-sport star, a good student, a low-key and popular figure in a difficult situation. Later, at Stephen F. Austin High, bused-in blacks ridiculed him for playing baseball, a white man's sport, but Baylor shrugged it off. The school has since inducted him into its Hall of Fame."
Baylor earned good grades at Austin High and served as student council sergeant-at-arms. His talent for sports did not go unheeded by scouts. Football, basketball, and baseball scholarships poured in from top universities, including Stanford and the University of Texas. Baylor wanted to go to college, but he was tendered another offer that he could not refuse--a chance to sign with the Baltimore Orioles, then one of baseball's best teams. Right out of high school in 1967 Baylor joined the Orioles organization and began his career as a professional ballplayer in tiny Bluefield, West Virginia. Reluctant to neglect his formal education, he attended junior college in the off-season wherever he happened to be living at the time.
It is customary for baseball players to hone their skills in the minor leagues, and Baylor was no exception to that rule. His minor league training took him from West Virginia to California, then to Elmira and Rochester in New York, and in 1969 to Miami and Dallas/Fort Worth. The Sporting News named him minor league player of the year in 1970 after he batted .327 with 22 home runs and 107 runs batted in for the Rochester Red Wings. That same year he made a late-season debut with the Baltimore Orioles, a team that went on to win the 1970 World Series. Baylor became a permanent member of the Orioles' roster in 1971.
Neff described the Oriole team Baylor joined as "rich beyond belief in young talent, smart managers, noted instructors and positive attitudes.... At every level, Baylor learned teamwork, sacrifice, success." This was a club that made World Series appearances in 1966, 1970, and 1971 and represented the American League East in the Championship Series in those years and in 1973 and 1974. Baylor told Sports Illustrated: "Even at the lowest level of the minor leagues, when you walked onto that field, there was no doubt that you would win. None whatsoever." Baylor benefited from the management techniques of the surly but successful Earl Weaver and from playing tips offered by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who would himself someday manage in the big leagues. From fellow Orioles Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger, Baylor learned the intricacies of negotiating benefits through the Players Association.
Baylor was thus schooled in all aspects of the baseball business, from the mechanics of hitting to the diplomacy of the boardroom. He became a well-rounded player as well as a dependable hitter. Then, after five solid years with the Orioles, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1976. He was crushed by the news. "We're talking about leaving the team that had taught me to play baseball," he said in Sports Illustrated. "I don't think I'll ever be part of another organization quite like [the Orioles]." To make matters worse, the Athletics' owner, Charles Finley, cut Baylor's salary 20 percent upon the player's arrival in Oakland.
Managing an expansion team in major league baseball is a challenging proposition to say the least. Such a challenge has fallen to Don Baylor, an experienced baseball professional with years of playing and coaching to his credit. When Baylor was named the first manager of the new Colorado Rockies franchise in 1992, he joined one of the sporting world's most elite groups: black baseball managers. Baylor's choice as skipper of the Rockies raised to four the number of blacks managing major league teams. Still, no other black manager faces the hurdles of building a team from scratch and making it a winner against formidable odds, all in a city where fans have spent decades waiting feverishly for their own big-league club.
Baylor was chosen, according to the Rockies' front office, because he exhibited leadership qualities and maturity during his years as a player. He had earned a reputation for personal integrity and toughness, coupled with an ability to teach, even before he retired from the playing field. Asked about his plans for the fledgling Rockies franchise, Baylor told Sports Illustrated: "I don't hold these guys to any higher standard than I held myself to as a player." That is a high standard, indeed. During his years with a series of American League teams, Baylor appeared in the League Championship Series seven times and the World Series three times. He holds the record for being hit by pitches during games--a testament to his intimidating stance in the batter's box. Sports Illustrated correspondent Steve Rushin called Baylor a "clubhouse Buddha" who "often just sits there, oozing baseball knowledge."
Don Baylor was born in Austin, Texas, in 1949. His father was a baggage clerk for the Missouri Pacific Railroad and was thus away from home most of the time. The three Baylor children were nonetheless influenced by their demanding father, who challenged them to pursue excellence, and by their levelheaded mother, who saw to their religious training.
It was not an easy time to be young and black in the deep South. Segregated schools were still the rule even in the 1960s when Baylor was ready to attend junior high. The enterprising youngster decided he wanted the best education he could possibly get, so in 1962 he asked to be one of the first three black students to attend all-white O. Henry Middle School.
Each day Baylor faced taunts to his face and slurs whispered behind his back. He knew he was not welcome in the school, but he stayed anyway. "A lot of times we [black students] were put in separate classes," he recalled in Sports Illustrated. "Those were tough years." The prejudice bothered him, but he never shared his distress with his mother, who worked full time in addition to running the Baylor household. Craig Neff reported in Sports Illustrated: "Baylor didn't like to fight, but he didn't back down. He became a three-sport star, a good student, a low-key and popular figure in a difficult situation. Later, at Stephen F. Austin High, bused-in blacks ridiculed him for playing baseball, a white man's sport, but Baylor shrugged it off. The school has since inducted him into its Hall of Fame."
Baylor earned good grades at Austin High and served as student council sergeant-at-arms. His talent for sports did not go unheeded by scouts. Football, basketball, and baseball scholarships poured in from top universities, including Stanford and the University of Texas. Baylor wanted to go to college, but he was tendered another offer that he could not refuse--a chance to sign with the Baltimore Orioles, then one of baseball's best teams. Right out of high school in 1967 Baylor joined the Orioles organization and began his career as a professional ballplayer in tiny Bluefield, West Virginia. Reluctant to neglect his formal education, he attended junior college in the off-season wherever he happened to be living at the time.
It is customary for baseball players to hone their skills in the minor leagues, and Baylor was no exception to that rule. His minor league training took him from West Virginia to California, then to Elmira and Rochester in New York, and in 1969 to Miami and Dallas/Fort Worth. The Sporting News named him minor league player of the year in 1970 after he batted .327 with 22 home runs and 107 runs batted in for the Rochester Red Wings. That same year he made a late-season debut with the Baltimore Orioles, a team that went on to win the 1970 World Series. Baylor became a permanent member of the Orioles' roster in 1971.
Neff described the Oriole team Baylor joined as "rich beyond belief in young talent, smart managers, noted instructors and positive attitudes.... At every level, Baylor learned teamwork, sacrifice, success." This was a club that made World Series appearances in 1966, 1970, and 1971 and represented the American League East in the Championship Series in those years and in 1973 and 1974. Baylor told Sports Illustrated: "Even at the lowest level of the minor leagues, when you walked onto that field, there was no doubt that you would win. None whatsoever." Baylor benefited from the management techniques of the surly but successful Earl Weaver and from playing tips offered by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who would himself someday manage in the big leagues. From fellow Orioles Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger, Baylor learned the intricacies of negotiating benefits through the Players Association.
Baylor was thus schooled in all aspects of the baseball business, from the mechanics of hitting to the diplomacy of the boardroom. He became a well-rounded player as well as a dependable hitter. Then, after five solid years with the Orioles, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1976. He was crushed by the news. "We're talking about leaving the team that had taught me to play baseball," he said in Sports Illustrated. "I don't think I'll ever be part of another organization quite like [the Orioles]." To make matters worse, the Athletics' owner, Charles Finley, cut Baylor's salary 20 percent upon the player's arrival in Oakland.
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