Quote:
Originally Posted by D. Bergin
I also have a soft spot for Don Baylor, who had a very interesting career to me. Would anybody have guessed/remembered that the big guy had 52 Stolen Bases the one season he played for the A's, just before he signed with the Angels.
He was also part of the trade that sent Reggie Jackson to the Orioles for one season, before Free Agency kicked in for both of them.
Of course he also won an MVP and had a magnet installed in his left bicep, that seemed to attract an alarming number of baseballs into committing suicide by Baylor, once it left a pitchers hands.
I'll conveniently forget his atrocious defensive analytics, when he wasn't DH'ing.  |
In 1987,when the Twins were coming down the stretch, they traded for Baylor. He hit .286 the rest of the way, then .400 in the ALCS, and .385 in the World Series. I think that only Twins fans remember how Baylor saved the Series. In Game 6, the Twins were down 5-2 in the bottom of the 5th, but Baylor launched a 3-run home run to get them back in it, and Hrbek's grand slam the next inning sent it to Game 7.
I remember when the trade was made, one of Baylor's teammates on the Red Sox predicted he'd get some big hits for the Twins. No kidding.