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August 8, 2017 Page 1 of 52 Clips (August 8, 2017)
August 8, 2017 Page 1 of 52
Clips
(August 8, 2017)
August 8, 2017 Page 2 of 52
Today’s Clips Contents
FROM LOS ANGELES TIMES (Page 4)
Mixed bag for Trout: On birthday, he mourns Baylor, collects 1,000th hit, is upstaged
by Machado
Don Baylor put the Angels on the major league map
Angels mailbag: What's the process?
FROM THE O.C. REGISTER (Page 10)
Angels drop 3rd straight, spoiling another milestone night for Mike Trout
Don Baylor, who won MVP with Angels and World Series with Twins, dies at 68
Whicker: Without Don Baylor, the game slips out of its groove
Angels Notes: Nick Tropeano aims to pitch in the fall
FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 17)
Trout marks birthday with 1,000th hit, HR
Trout's big day not enough as Halos fall to O's
Former slugger, skipper Baylor dies at 68
Trout at 26: Superstar has few historical peers
Angels activate Maybin, DFA Robinson
Mike Trout's teammates doused him on his 26th birthday and he celebrated with a
homer
Bridwell battles former club vs. Hellickson, O's
FROM THE ASSOICATED PRESS (Page 26)
Machado's grand slam upstages Trout, Orioles beat Angels 6-2
Mike Trout gets 1,000th hit, also homers on 26th birthday
Don Baylor, former MVP and Manager of Year, dead at 68
August 8, 2017 Page 3 of 52
MLB stalwarts Baylor, Daulton pass away
FROM ESPN.COM (Page 32)
Real or not? Mike Trout still has a chance at MVP
Mike Trout picks up 1,000th career hit on his 26th birthday
FROM FOX SPORTS (Page 37)
Don Baylor, former American League MVP with Angels, dies at 68
FROM CBS SPORTS (Page 37)
Former MLB MVP, manager Don Baylor dies at 68 after struggle with multiple myeloma
FROM NBC SPORTS (Page 38)
Don Baylor, 1979 MVP, Rockies and Cubs manager dies at 68
FROM SPORTING NEWS (Page 39)
Former MLB player, manager Don Baylor dead at 68
FROM USA TODAY SPORTS (Page 40)
Don Baylor, former AL MVP, dies at 68
Don Baylor left his mark in baseball through strength and toughness
Two of a kind: Bryce Harper, Mike Trout hit 150th career home run on exact age
FROM SB NATION (Page 44)
Mike Trout isn’t the fastest to 1,000 hits, but it’s still a historic feat
FROM THE GAZETTE (Page 46)
Woody Paige: Don Baylor never backed down in baseball or his fight with cancer
FROM MLB.COM (Page 49)
Baylor was an MVP player and person
August 8, 2017 Page 4 of 52
FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
Mixed bag for Trout: On birthday, he mourns Baylor, collects 1,000th hit, is upstaged by
Machado
By Curtis Zupke
His 26th birthday started out messy, but it wasn’t his fault.
Before Monday’s game, Mike Trout’s teammates took him into their clubhouse shower and doused him
with raw eggs, baby powder and coffee creamer, among other things, in an Angels tradition. The video
was posted to Trout’s Twitter account, his head buried in his lap to avoid the onslaught.
Trout then blew out the candles in his own impressive way.
He doubled in the fourth inning for his 1,000th hit, then homered in the sixth inning of a 6-2 loss to
the Baltimore Orioles at Angel Stadium.
“I felt pretty good,” Trout said. “I just wanted to get it over with.”
Trout neatly connected two milestones and eras of the Angels, who recognized the passing of Don
Baylor in a pregame moment of silence.
Trout is the 10th American League player with 1,000 hits prior to his age-26 season. He hit a home run
on his birthday for the fourth time in his six-year career.
Trout shrugged off that unusual statistic and also allowed himself to appreciate his place in history.
“You obviously want to hear your name with the greats, the Hall of Famers,” he said. “When you do
something, it makes you feel good. It makes you feel special. Just to be a part of such a good company.
But for me, it’s just about going out there and playing.”
Both of Trout’s hits were against Baltimore starter Dylan Bundy, who had a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Trout’s 23rd home run, his second in as many games, was a towering shot off the left field foul pole to
tie the score at 2-2.
He scored on Kole Calhoun’s sacrifice fly in the fourth before Baltimore scored two runs in the fifth to
end JC Ramirez’s 12-inning scoreless streak.
Ramirez was struck by the broken bat of Trey Mancini in the fourth inning but stayed in the game and
avoided damage until Manny Machado’s grand slam in the seventh gave the Orioles a 6-2 lead.
“It is frustrating,” Ramirez said. “I tried to pitch [as best] as I can … They’re a good team. I know can’t
miss a pitch.”
August 8, 2017 Page 5 of 52
Baylor reaction
The reactions carried common themes in the Angels’ clubhouse after the death Monday of Baylor: Class
person. Full of integrity. Someone who affected their lives profoundly.
Baylor might first be known for his playing career, specifically as the 1979 American League most
valuable player for the Angels, but those who knew him remember his off-the-field personality the
most.
“He was an incredible human being,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “The passion that he had for
life, the passion he had to help people, his faith — everything you strive to be as a human being. He was
off the charts.”
Baylor, 68, died after a lengthy bout with multiple myeloma, the family announced Monday. He
followed his 19-year playing career with a lengthy coaching career and helped hitters work through
struggles with his affable presence.
“I was very sad,” Mike Trout said. “It just sucks. You never want to wake up and hear that news. He was
a great guy. I learned a lot from him. It’s just sad.”
Trout added that “He brought a lot of joy to the clubhouse.”
Trout and Albert Pujols worked under Baylor when Baylor was the Angels’ hitting coach in 2014 and
2015. Pujols stayed in touch with Baylor and remembered Baylor sent him encouraging messages.
“Great human being,” Pujols said. “He’s definitely going to be missed, and one of probably the toughest
men I’ve ever been around.”
Huston Street remembered meeting Baylor as a kid at a restaurant in Austin, Texas, and being in awe.
Years later, Baylor would serve as a life mentor to Street with the Colorado Rockies.
Baylor seemed like a giant of a man to Street. It was clear what was under the surface.
“Inside, he had a great heart,” Pujols said. “He was always open to listening. He was always open to
teach. Just the way he spoke, every word that came out of his mouth was just wisdom and knowledge.”
Short hops
The results of an MRI exam on Yunel Escobar were not yet known. Escobar left Sunday’s game with an
intercostal strain … Cameron Maybin was activated and Shane Robinson was designated for assignment.
Jose Alvarez was recalled and Eduardo Paredes was optioned to triple-A. Ramon Flores cleared waivers
and was outrighted to triple A.
August 8, 2017 Page 6 of 52
Don Baylor put the Angels on the major league map
By Bill Shaikin
The Angels never really became a major league team until Don Baylor showed up.
They were born in Los Angeles, shared Dodger Stadiumfor four years, then moved to Anaheim and
renamed themselves the California Angels in trying to escape the Dodgers’ shadow.
The scoreboard is what it is, even if you move 30 miles down the 5 Freeway. In their first decade in
Anaheim Stadium, they regularly struggled to draw a million fans, even after Nolan Ryan arrived and
each one of his starts brought the tantalizing possibility of a no-hitter.
The Dodgers landed in Southern California in 1958. From then until the time Baylor signed with the
Angels after the 1976 season, the Dodgers had played in the World Series five times. In Baylor’s first two
years with the Angels, the Dodgers got to the World Series both times.
"We felt the burden of not being the Dodgers," Baylor wrote in his book “Nothing But The Truth: A
Baseball Life.”
"Why the Angels wanted to be Dodger clones was beyond me, but the emulation never ended. With all
that Dodger Blue bleeding around me, I instantly began to hate the mere mention of that team."
Gene Autry, the Angels’ founding owner and a Hall of Fame showman in his own right, had gotten tired
of hearing about the Dodgers too. In the infancy of free agency, Autry struck.
In 1976, Baylor had made $34,000 for the Oakland Athletics. Autry gave him a $580,000 check just to
sign with the Angels, the bonus in a six-year, $1.6-million contract. Autry also signed Bobby Grich and
Joe Rudi that winter, traded for Rod Carew in 1979 and Fred Lynn in 1981, and signed Reggie Jackson in
1982.
By then, the Angels had won. In 1978, Baylor’s second season in Anaheim, the Angels set a franchise
record by winning 87 games. In 1979, the “Yes We Can” Angels won 88 — and the American League
West too, for the first playoff appearance in club history.
The Angels drew 2.5 million to Anaheim Stadium. Baylor was voted the AL most valuable player.
He drove in 139 runs, a club record that still stands. Mike Trout’s best is 111.
The Angels won the AL West again in 1982, this time with 93 victories — a mark no Angels team would
top until 2002, when the World Series champions won 99.
Ask a longtime Angels fan about Buzzie Bavasi, then the general manager, and the eye roll comes first,
then the recollection of Bavasi’s infamous quote that he could afford to let Ryan go in free agency
because they could replace him with “two 8-7 pitchers.”
August 8, 2017 Page 7 of 52
Bavasi later acknowledged that was his greatest mistake. Second to that might have been his 1981
comment, looking at a photograph of Baylor standing next to Carew and Fred Lynn: "What's Don doing
in that picture with the two hitters?”
The relationship between Baylor and Bavasi deteriorated. When his contract expired after the 1982
season, the Angels let him go, and Baylor signed with the New York Yankees.
"It was bitter," Baylor told The Times in 1990. "Not bitter, but I had so many ties here. I felt I was part of
the building process of the Angels. It was very, very difficult for me to leave and go to New York.
"You can look around and say I had a chance to go play with a World Series team and be a Yankee . . .
but Mr. Autry was by far the finest owner I played for. I wanted to be here.”
Baylor ended his career by coming back.
He played three years with the Yankees. He spent the final three years of his playing career as a rent-a-
leader, becoming the first player in major league history to get to the World Series with three different
teams in three consecutive years (1986 Boston Red Sox, 1987 Minnesota Twins and 1988 Oakland
Athletics, although his attempt to rattle Jay Howell and the Dodgers before the 1988 World Series did
not go well).
Baylor was the inaugural manager for the Colorado Rockies. They made their debut in 1993. He led them
to the playoffs in 1995 and was honored as National League manager of the year.
He managed the Chicago Cubs too, and he was a well-regarded hitting coach. His last stop: back home
with the Angels.
In 2014, they celebrated what were then the only MVPs in club history by asking Vladimir Guerrero to
throw out the ceremonial first pitch and Baylor to catch it. Guerrero’s throw was low and away, and
Baylor’s right ankle gave way.
He caught the ball, but he could not get up. The athletic trainers rushed to help, and eventually he
walked off the field — trying first on his own, then with the assistance of the trainers. No one knew how
severe the injury was; the Angels sent him to the hospital to find out.
His legs had been weakened over a decade of battle with the cancer that eventually took his life
Monday. But, with the dignity and strength befitting a player who had been hit by more pitches than all
but one in the modern era, Baylor will be remembered for walking off the field with a broken leg.
Angels mailbag: What's the process?
By Pedro Moura
Hello, Angels fans. The team you follow lost another harrowing game on Sunday, squandering a late lead
to lose 11-10 for the second straight Sunday. It was rough, and it was long -- the longest nine-inning
game in Angel Stadium history.
August 8, 2017 Page 8 of 52
Fifty games remain on the Angels’ 2017 schedule, and they are 55-57. Yet, they are only three games out
in the American Leaguewild-card race. Parity, baby.
This week, the Angels will host Baltimore and then begin a nine-game road trip with four games in
Seattle. Both teams are slightly ahead of them in the playoff hunt.
Let us get to some questions about the team.
What's their plan? The Sixers said trust the Process? I can't tell if we are trying to rebuild or compete
now -meanwhile wasting Trout
I don’t know that all teams necessarily have to commit to rebuilding or competing.
Across baseball, there are success stories of teams who have contended and rebuilt at the same time.
People usually call it something different, like refueling or retooling or some other “re-” verb, but it’s
been the basic premise of the New York Yankees’ strategy the last few years, and it’s worked quite well.
To a lesser extent, the Milwaukee Brewers have done the same thing. Neither team appeared really
focused on winning this season, but both teams ended up buying at the deadline, pushing a few chips
toward 2017 while taking few away from the future.
Now, that is not the norm. Houston did a full-scale rebuild. Philadelphia is in the middle of one of those,
mirroring the NBA team in their town, which popularized the phrase “Trust the process.”
As a Philadelphia-area native, Angels manager Mike Scioscia likes to use that phrase when he kids
around. But I do not expect the Angels to execute a full-scale teardown anytime soon. Of course, it
would not make sense to do so while employing Mike Trout, and they are not trading Trout.
Most likely, next year’s team will retain the backbone of this year’s. Expect more at-the-margin tweaks
and a big addition or two with the money freed up by Josh Hamilton’s contract finally expiring.
What pitcher is most likely to get bumped when Skaggs and Heaney return?
Well, Tyler Skaggs’ return on Saturday indirectly pushed Jesse Chavez out of the rotation, and Andrew
Heaney’s impending return should force Troy Scribner back to triple-A Salt Lake. That’ll define the
rotation this way, depending on how you order it: JC Ramirez, Parker Bridwell, Skaggs, Ricky Nolasco and
Heaney.
The Angels are not going to get any other starters back soon, as Matt Shoemaker is undergoing season-
ending surgery and Alex Meyer and Garrett Richards remain a ways away. The Angels obviously still lack
a top-of-the-rotation starter, which only stresses Richards’ value to the organization.
Why can't Simmons bat leadoff? Why bury a guy hitting so well down in the order?
Andrelton Simmons has hit no lower than fifth in each of the Angels’ last 16 games. It seems
unreasonable to term that being buried.
August 8, 2017 Page 9 of 52
Again, batting orders are generally not worth worrying about. There are occasional cases where it
warrants clamoring, and while I would not pick to provide Ben Revere additional at-bats over Simmons,
it just doesn’t much matter. The evidence confirms that.
Do you see Jefry Marte getting a chance to win the 3B or LF job next year? Or will they go with Valbuena
at 3B and an accusation for LF?
Jefry Marte did not succeed in his big league chance this season, striking out more than a year ago while
hitting for less power and suffering from some bad batted-ball luck. That led to a .570 on-base-plus-
slugging percentage, which is not what you want from a position like first, third or left. It’s not what you
want anywhere, but it’s potentially palatable at shortstop or catcher given great defense.
Marte does not play great defense. In left field in particular, his defense leaves a lot to be desired. I
would be surprised if the Angels asked him to fill that 2018 hole. At third base, it’s a bit better, and I
suppose I could see him competing with Luis Valbuena for time there next year. Valbuena is also in the
midst of a poor season, and he’ll be 32 next year, with a lengthy injury history. A sort of platoon might
make sense.
What's your favorite part about your job?
I like the in-interview moment when you realize you have something interesting to build a story around.
It is always enjoyable.
How realistic is it to keep hoping for a wildcard spot? Btw, loved your lede from last night's gamer
The Angels are three games out of a wild-card spot as I write this. That in itself is obviously
surmountable. More daunting are the four teams in front of them, because you figure at least one will
perform well over the next eight weeks. Maybe none of them will, though. It’s possible.
Outside estimations of the Angels’ playoff chances peg them at about 10%, which seems reasonable to
me. I don’t think it’s unrealistic to hope for something that has a 10% chance of happening.
What's the latest on Tropeano?
Nick Tropeano is out for the season. He underwent Tommy John surgery one year ago. His rehabilitation
is continuing as scheduled, and he’s planning to pitch in the Arizona instructional league in September or
October. He’ll then shut his throwing down for the winter. It appears he will be fit to compete for a spot
in the Angels’ rotation next spring training.
@pedromoura mailbag Q?: what do the rocks and water symbolize in the OF of #Angel stadium?
Anything? Why that? (I know. Random)
The fake rocks are a relic of Disney’s reign over the team, there since the late-1990s as part of an
installation called the California Spectacular. They are pretty much the only unique aspect Angel
Stadium has going for it. So, yeah.
August 8, 2017 Page 10 of 52
FROM THE OC REGISTER
Angels drop 3rd straight, spoiling another milestone night for Mike Trout
By Jeff Fletcher
ANAHEIM — After Mike Trout celebrated his 1,000th career hit and yet another birthday homer, Manny
Machado crashed the party.
The Baltimore Orioles’ young star hit a seventh-inning grand slam against JC Ramirez, sending the Angels
to a 6-2 loss on Monday night.
Machado’s homer, plus the pitching of Dylan Bundy, wiped away most of the excitement created by
Trout’s big night on his 26th birthday.
Instead of being a celebration of Trout, it was the Angels’ third straight loss, a defeat which was mostly
because Bundy dominated, striking out 10 and walking none in seven innings.
“We ran into a good night with the guy on the mound,” Kole Calhoun said. “He kept us off balance, except
the birthday boy.”
Trout’s double, which was hit No. 1,000, and his game-tying homer in the seventh, which was his fourth
birthday homer in his six full seasons, were just about all the offense the Angels could muster. They
otherwise had just three singles.
The Angels had averaged 6.7 runs over their previous nine games, winning six of them. That hot streak
made it a little easier to attribute the sudden cold night to the Orioles’ pitcher.
“I feel like we’re jelling pretty good,” Calhoun said. “I don’t think tonight is any indication of a downward
spiral. Hopefully we’ll come out tomorrow and swing it better.”
Suddenly losers of three in a row after winning six of seven, the Angels are facing a critical week of games
against two of the teams packed with them in a tight bunch chasing the wild card. After two more games
against the Orioles, the Angels head to Seattle for four against the Mariners.
They are trying desperately to remain in contention, to be more than just a vehicle for Trout’s
accomplishments.
On this night, Trout provided all the highlights, completing a day that also included him getting doused by
his teammates with all manner of clubhouse materials — everything from eggs to baby powder — in the
Angels’ traditional birthday celebration.
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A few hours later he took the field and was serenaded by fans in center field singing “Happy Birthday” and
holding up signs.
August 8, 2017 Page 11 of 52
Then he delivered hit No. 1,000, which sparked the standard laundry list of accomplishments that go with
each of his milestones.
Trout became just the fourth player ever to reach 1,000 hits, 500 runs and 500 walks before his age 26
season, joining Hall of Famers Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle.
He is also one of just 10 American League players to reach 1,000 before his age 26 season. The list includes
Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Alex Rodriguez, Robin Yount, Foxx, Buddy Lewis, Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr. and Stuffy
McInnis.
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“It means a lot,” Trout said. “It felt pretty good. I just wanted to get it over with.”
In the sixth, Trout added a homer, tying the score, 2-2. The frequency of birthday homers is nothing more
than coincidence, Trout said.
“I’m just getting good pitches to hit and putting a good swing on it,” he said. “I’m not thinking about
homers. I’m just trying to hit the ball hard, and that went out of the park.”
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Social media and the Angel Stadium crowd were still buzzing over the homer when the night’s tone quickly
changed.
Ramirez, who had been pitching a tidy game through six innings, had loaded the bases with two outs. He
gave up two singles and he hit Adam Jones with a pitch. His first pitch to Machado was up and in, causing
him to quickly bend out of the way. The next one was a slider that hung over the outside half of the plate,
and Machado blasted it over the left-field fence, snapping a 2-2 tie.
“Just one bad pitch,” Ramirez said. “Its frustrating. I try to give up three runs or less each game. They’re a
good team. I can’t miss a pitch. It’s frustrating right now.”
Don Baylor, who won MVP with Angels and World Series with Twins, dies at 68
By Jeff Fletcher
When Don Baylor died on Monday, he left a legacy that goes well beyond his MVP award or his accolades
as a major league player and manager.
“For us who were fortunate enough to cross paths with him and get to know him as a person, he was an
incredible human being,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “The passion he had for life, to help people,
his faith. Everything you strive to be as a human being, he was off the charts.”
Baylor was 68 when he died on Monday at a hospital in his hometown in Austin, Texas. It was the end of a
14-year battle with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer.
August 8, 2017 Page 12 of 52
His passing sparked fond memories from around the major leagues, from those who were around the man
they called Groove. His career that included 14 organizations as a player, manager or coach. The peak of
his 19-year playing career was 1979, when he won the Angels’ first MVP award and led the franchise to its
first postseason berth. He played all 162 games, hit .296 with career-highs of 36 home runs, 139 RBI and
120 runs scored. His RBI and runs led the majors.
He reached the World Series three straight times at the end of his career from 1986-88 and won the title
with the Twins in 1987. He was a career .260 hitter with 338 homers 1,276 RBI and 285 stolen bases.
Baylor’s career record for being hit by pitches (267) was later broken by Craig Biggio.
Baylor later served as manager for the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs, leading the expansion Rockies
to a wild-card berth in their third season (1995). He also held other coaching jobs in the majors.
Dave Hansen, the Angels hitting coach, admired Baylor at all stages throughout his life. Hansen grew up in
Southern California, watching as a child from the stands when Baylor played for the Angels. When Hansen
played for the Seattle Mariners, Baylor was his hitting coach. When Baylor came to the Angels as hitting
coach in 2014, Hansen was his assistant hitting coach.
“This guy was tough as nails,” Hansen said. “He played the game as good as anybody in his era, but off the
field the guy was an amazing guy. He really was. You don’t hear a bad word come out of his mouth about
anybody. I’m sorry but that’s hard to do.”
Hansen said he was particularly impressed watching Baylor handle the daily grind of life as a big league
coach, even as the cancer was sapping him of his strength in his final years.
“You lose sight of what he went through to post every day,” Hansen said. “You gotta be special to pull that
off. He’s a pretty amazing dude.”
Huston Street also had a longtime relationship with Baylor. The Angels reliever grew up in Austin and was
introduced to Baylor when he was about 7 or 8 years old. Baylor was later one of the coaches on the
Rockies’ staff when Street pitched there, and again when Street was traded to the Angels.
“I loved him,” Street said. “I cared for him deeply. … He really took me under his wing. My first month with
(the Rockies) was rough for me. I lost my job. I wasn’t pitching well. All throughout that season, and all
throughout my 10 seasons he was very involved in my day to day. We talked about life.
“At the end of the day, the beauty of playing this game is the relationships you carry out with it. For me,
Groove was a class act. A very happy person. Always happy. Always.”
Huston Street - He always gave me confidence after a rough one,always ready to laugh, a great coach,a
great friend,with both love and sadness RIP Don Baylor
Kirk Gibson, who helped the Dodgers defeat Baylor and the Oakland A’s in the 1988 World Series, told the
Detroit Free Press he spoke to Baylor a week ago and they shared a lot of laughs. When Gibson managed
the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010-2013, Baylor served as his hitting coach.
August 8, 2017 Page 13 of 52
“I kind of idolized him the way he played the game,” Gibson told the Free Press in a telephone interview
Monday. “No. 1, I loved the way he played the game and we kind of played similar.”
Gibson said he got to know Baylor through attorney S. Gary Spicer, who represented Baylor the past 39
years.
“Honestly, he may be the toughest guy I was every around,” Gibson said. “How he endured with what he
had. Yet, he was such a giver. Great friend and nobody would outloyal Don Baylor.
“Big and tough as he was and the way he played, off the field he was just the opposite. Like a big teddy
bear. I just loved the guy.”
Jim Abbott - Don Baylor was all toughness kindness and class. It was an honor to wear @angels #25
because of him @TMeadAngels
His final job in uniform was serving as the Angels’ hitting coach, in 2014 and 2015. He missed much of the
2014 season after suffering a broken leg in a freak accident during a pregame ceremony on opening day.
Baylor was catching a ceremonial first pitch from Vladimir Guerrero when he twisted awkwardly and
collapsed to the ground.
During his time with the Angels, he cemented his relationships with players such as Mike Trout and Albert
Pujols.
“He was always open to listen and to teach,” Pujols said. “The way he spoke, every word that came out of
his mouth was wisdom and knowledge.”
Added Trout: “He achieved so much on the field, and when he was coaching. He brought a lot of joy to the
clubhouse, coming in every day.”
Players and coaches who were around Baylor spoke about the “presence” he brought to a clubhouse.
“When a man of his integrity just walks through a clubhouse, it’s almost larger than life,” Scioscia said.
“You know what he stands for. You know the bar he set for, not only for himself but for a team. I think its
tangible. You can feel the presence of those players, much like Albert or Mike. … When he walked into a
room you could feel it, even if he didn’t say anything.”
Kole Calhoun - Very sad to hear about the passing of Don Baylor. He was a great player, coach, and friend.
Thoughts and prayers to his family #RIPGroove
He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 14 years ago, according to his family. He partnered with former
Yankees pitcher Mel Stottlemyre to increase awareness and promote research into the disease.
Baylor is survived by his wife, Rebecca; son, Don Edward Jr.; brother, Doug; sister, Connie; two
granddaughters Brooklyn and Nola Bee.
“Don passed from this earth with the same fierce dignity with which he played the game and lived his life,”
his wife, Rebecca, said in a statement.
August 8, 2017 Page 14 of 52
Arrangements have yet to be determined.
Vladimir Guerrero - My heartfelt condolences to Don Baylor's family. A great man full of integrity and
compassion, thank you for guiding me. #ALMVP1979 #RIP
Chipper Jones - Gonna miss u, Don Baylor! U were a mentor and a great friend. U demanded a lot out of
me and got a lot out of me. #RipGrooveLove u buddy!
Whicker: Without Don Baylor, the game slips out of its groove
By Mark Whicker
Don Baylor and Bobby Grich grew up as Baltimore Orioles, playing on a legendary Rochester Triple-A team.
“We had a mantra throughout that organization that I never heard anywhere else,” Grich said Monday.
“We said, ‘If we win, everybody had a good year.’’’
If you played with Don Baylor, you had a good year.
You generally won, too. From 1986-88, Baylor went to three World Series on three different teams. Bruce
Hurst told him, “Tell me where you’re playing next year so I know who is going to win.”
The Angels played their first game in 1961 and saw their first postseason in 1979. That was the “Yes, We
Can” year, when Baylor drove in 139 runs, and Grich noticed how his shoulder and legs ached before
games, and Baylor played all 162 of them and led the American League in runs as a cleanup hitter. He was
the Angels’ first Most Valuable Player.
He was the centerpiece of the table, weighty and thick, impossible to move. He showed how easily one
could live if one divested oneself of the artifice and held onto the grace. A tough trick, but Baylor did it
until Monday, when he died at 68, from myeloma that had advanced further than nearly anybody knew.
“He was a great teammate,” Grich said. “Even in the minor leagues he was a leader.
“When he and I and Joe Rudi came to the Angels (as free agents), I was out with a bad disk and Joe was
after he was hit by a pitch. The team struggled and Don was the only new guy out there, and he bore the
brunt of all the frustration. He could have called the fans front-runners and written them off. Instead he
never complained and he just kept playing, and eventually we won.”
The Hall of Fame has become the Hall of Numbers and, as such, has a problem with a guy with the
immeasurables of Baylor.
He had one 100-RBI season, 2,135 hits and a .260 average, and he hit 338 home runs. Those are
disqualifiers. He was on the ballot for two years and got 2.6 percent of the votes both times.
Never mind the number of 3,000-hit men who do their thing, walk out and leave nothing behind but their
stats. They deserve Cooperstown, too, but Baylor’s name brought a smile to nearly every teammate. On
Monday it brought tears, as well.
August 8, 2017 Page 15 of 52
How many guys were MVPs and All-Stars and yet managed an expansion team to the playoffs in its third
year? Baylor took over the Colorado Rockies in 1993. The Blake Street Bombers were the first National
League wild-card club
First there was the strife of the 1995 spring, and the replacement-player scheme. Baylor wanted no part of
anything that defiled baseball or mocked the men who had earned their way to the majors.
“He’d sit in his office and figure out the lineup, and if the game started at 1:05 he was out there at 1:03,”
said Mike Swanson, then the Rockies’ director of communications. “We had cast members from ‘Major
League 2’ on that team. Every day he would ask me, ‘Heard anything yet?’ When it (the lockout) was
settled, he was the happiest man you ever saw.”
One of Baylor’s few impudent moments came when he got to Baltimore and faced an outfield logjam.
“Once I get in the groove, it won’t matter who’s out there,” he said off-handedly.
For weeks on end, Frank Robinson and Mark Belanger pounded him with comments. Baylor’s lifelong
nickname became Groove. It became his license plate.
His first mentor was Robinson, who conducted kangaroo court hearings in the clubhouse and fined players
for various misdeeds. Baylor took up the gavel in Boston.
But Grich says Baylor’s true legacy was the Sixty-Five Roses campaign, for victims of cystic fibrosis.
Prompted by Dr. Gene Moses in 1979, Baylor organized the annual golf tournament that has been
replicated in every pro sports league.
“He’s raised $10 million,” Grich said. “The life expectancy is now 37 years old.”
Few CF children saw their first birthday in the 1930s, but in 1989 doctors discovered the gene that caused
it. Baylor only said he wanted to hear one thing: “Yes, we did.” He wanted the bottom-line cure.
Baylor was a strong union supporter, and he clashed with George Steinbrenner and Buzzie Bavasi. He was
prideful and opinionated in a sport that prefers submissiveness.
But he was the axis of every clubhouse, and his friends didn’t just grieve Monday. They felt unbalanced.
They were accustomed to good years, because to know Don Baylor was to borrow winning.
Angels Notes: Nick Tropeano aims to pitch in the fall
By Jeff Fletcher
ANAHEIM — Nick Tropeano is an example of one tangible way in which the Angels have changed the way
they rehab their pitchers.
Tropeano and Tyler Skaggs both had Tommy John surgery in August, which didn’t leave enough time to
pitch in the majors the following season.
August 8, 2017 Page 16 of 52
Tropeano, though, is aiming to pitch in this fall’s instructional league, about 14 months after his surgery.
Skaggs didn’t face a batter in the calendar year following his 2014 surgery, waiting until spring training
2016.
Obviously, part of the difference is that Tropeano and Skaggs are different people, and their rehabs won’t
be identical. But also, there seems to be an organizational idea now that, if possible, it’s worth it to have a
pitcher throw in some type of game, even instructional league, before the offseason.
“If I had Tommy John surgery and I had a chance to pitch at a level before coming back in spring training
and competing for a job, I would feel it would be important to do that, to know I’m coming into spring
training, knowing I’ve already been off the high dive,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I’ve done it. I’ve
pitched. I’m ready to go. I think it helps in the spring to focus on things like winning a spot and competing.”
Tropeano’s rehab so far has gone pretty much according to plan, without any setbacks. He said he’s been
throwing off a mound twice a week. In mid-August, he will take a break for about a week, then return and
start prepping to face hitters.
He could pitch in instructional league as long as he’s ready before mid-October. Garrett Richards did the
same thing last year, with his final tuneup convincing the Angels he’d be ready to go into spring training.
Richards was fine throughout the spring, before developing a separate injury in April.
“Hopefully I’ll get into a couple games there so I’ll head into the offseason ready to go for ’18,” Tropeano
said.
ALSO
Yunel Escobar remained on the active roster on Monday, while the Angels awaited results of an MRI on his
strained intercostal muscle. Scioscia said Escobar was still feeling tightness on Monday. …
Cameron Maybin was activated on Monday, less than three weeks after suffering a sprained knee. He
returned to the starting lineup and the leadoff spot, sending hot-hitting Ben Revere to the bench. “Ben will
get some looks,” Scioscia said. “He’s been obviously swinging the bat very well. He did a great job while
Cam was out.” …
Andrew Heaney, who had Tommy John surgery just more than 13 months ago, came through Sunday’s
outing at Triple-A well, Scioscia said. They will continue to evaluate him to determine what his next step is.
He could return to the majors, or pitch again at Triple-A. …
The Angels designated Shane Robinson for assignment to make room for Maybin. …
Jose Alvarez was recalled and Eduardo Paredes was optioned, giving the Angels more coverage in the
bullpen. Paredes had thrown 45 pitches on Saturday, so he was likely not available to pitch on Monday.
August 8, 2017 Page 17 of 52
FROM ANGELS.COM
Trout marks birthday with 1,000th hit, HR
Angels slugger doubles to lead off 4th, adds solo shot in 6th
By Maria Guardado / MLB.com
ANAHEIM -- Mike Trout celebrated his 26th birthday by logging his 1,000th career hit and homering in
the Angels' 6-2 loss to the Orioles on Monday night at Angel Stadium.
Trout lined a leadoff double off Baltimore right-hander Dylan Bundy in the fourth inning to collect his
milestone hit, prompting the 34,142 fans in attendance to give him a standing ovation. Trout then
reached third base on Albert Pujols' groundout and scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly
from Kole Calhoun.
"It felt pretty good," Trout said. "I just wanted to get it over with. A lot of people talking about it. But I
got a pitch to hit and hit a double."
Trout added his 23rd home run of the season in the sixth inning to tie the score at 2-2. It was the fourth
time in Trout's six-year career that he has homered on his birthday, also going deep in 2012, '13 and '15.
The superstar center fielder became the 10th American League player to reach the plateau before his
age-26 season. He is only the fourth player in Major League history to record 1,000 hits, 500 runs and
500 walks in his age-25 season or younger, joining Hall of Famers Mel Ott, Jimmie Fox and Mickey
Mantle.
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"You obviously want to hear your name with the greats and the Hall of Famers when you do something,"
Trout said. "It makes you feel good. It makes you feel special to be a part of such good company. For me,
it's just going out there and playing. I'm not trying to chase any numbers. We're trying to get to the
playoffs, and that's the main goal."
Already a two-time AL MVP winner and a six-time All-Star, Trout is in the midst of the best season of his
largely unprecedented career. He is batting .346 with a 1.180 OPS, 23 home runs and 52 RBIs in 68
games this season.
"Every time Mike does something, you just shake your head," manager Mike Scioscia said. "For us to
experience a player of his magnitude, doing so many things at such a young age, it's exciting. Hopefully
we'll get a chance to see it for a long time."
The milestone added to a festive day for Trout. In the top of the third, a group of fans in the right-
center-field bleachers sang "Happy Birthday" to him as he patrolled center field and waved handmade
signs with more well wishes. Earlier in the day, Trout was also doused with baby powder, raw eggs and a
bevy of liquids by his teammates, who continued an odd Angels birthday tradition.
August 8, 2017 Page 18 of 52
"I'd rather not do it," Trout said. "But coming in, Kole was the first one to say, 'What time do you want to
do it?' I just tried to get it over with. It was fun, though."
Trout's big day not enough as Halos fall to O's
By Maria Guardado and Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
ANAHEIM -- Dylan Bundy struck out a career-high 10 over seven innings and Manny Machado crushed a
tiebreaking grand slam as the Orioles spoiled Mike Trout's big night with a 6-2 win over the Angels in
Monday night's series opener at Angel Stadium.
Trout, who turned 26 on Monday, doubled for his 1,000th career hit in the fourth and homered off the
left-field pole to tie the game at 2 in the sixth, but the Orioles quickly reclaimed the lead after
Machado hammered his fifth career grand slam off right-hander JC Ramirez in the seventh.
Baltimore (56-56) has now won eight of its last 10 games, climbing back to .500 and pulling within 1 1/2
games of the Royals and Rays for the second American League Wild Card spot.
"When was the last time a below .500 team was in the playoffs?" said Orioles manager Buck Showalter,
whose club shed a losing record for the first time since June 29 with the win. "You just know that you
got to play better and you got to win on the road. Those are two good things that happened tonight."
Bundy delivered another quality start for the Orioles, allowing two runs on five hits while walking none.
The Angels scored their only runs of the game against him on Kole Calhoun's sacrifice fly in the fourth
and Trout's solo home run in the sixth.
"Just showing the slider early and sticking with it," Bundy said of what made him successful. "That was
kind of the game plan coming into the game with Welly [catcher Welington Castillo] that we were going
to throw quite a bit of sliders to those guys."
Ramirez, who was struck by a broken bat in the fourth but remained in the game, blanked the Orioles
through the first four innings before yielding a pair of runs in the fifth. Still, his biggest mistake came two
innings later, when he gave up the go-ahead slam and departed with the Angels trailing, 6-2. The 28-
year-old right-hander was charged with six runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts over
seven innings.
"He just plays hardball and goes after hitters," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He made a lot of
good pitches tonight. There weren't many that got away from him. The one little slider to Machado was
one of those."
Trout finished 2-for-4, but the Angels mustered only three singles outside of his offensive effort. After
losing three straight, the Angels (55-58) dropped three games out of a Wild Card spot.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
No shutdown inning for JC: The Angels opened the scoring after Trout doubled and scored on Kole
Calhoun's sacrifice fly in the fourth, but Ramirez relinquished the lead by yielding two runs in the top of
August 8, 2017 Page 19 of 52
the fifth. After Tim Beckham singled and Seth Smith walked, Joey Rickard put the Orioles on the board
with a bloop single to shallow center field that dropped just out of the reach of a diving Andrelton
Simmons. Adam Jones followed by lifting a sacrifice fly to deep center field, plating Smith and giving the
Orioles a 2-1 lead.
Machado's slam: Machado produced the biggest hit of the night, launching a grand slam to left-center
field that put the Orioles ahead for good, 6-2.
"I was just trying to get something over the plate. He was running the ball in and using that slider the
whole game," Machado said of Ramirez. "He was pitching a hell of a game. Just had a couple mistakes
and we were able to take advantage of it."
Smith and Welington Castillo helped set up the slam with consecutive one-out hits, and Ramirez then
drilled Jones with an 0-2 fastball to load the bases. Ramirez subsequently left an 0-1 slider over the plate
to Machado, who deposited it into the Angels' bullpen in left field for his 21st home run of the season.
QUOTABLE
"A lot of good things happened tonight, everyone got to see a 1,000th hit and we won the game. It's
another milestone." -- Showalter on Trout's achievement
"You obviously want to hear your name with the greats and the Hall of Famers when you do something.
It makes you feel good. It makes you feel special to be a part of such good company. For me, it's just
going out there and playing. I'm not trying to chase any numbers. We're trying to get to the playoffs, and
that's the main goal." -- Trout, on becoming the 10th AL player to reach 1,000 hits before his age-26
season
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Trout has now homered on his birthday four times in six seasons, tying Garret Anderson for the most in
Angels history.
HONORING BAYLOR
The Angels and Orioles both took the field before the game and held a moment of silence in honor of
Don Baylor, who died on Monday after a 14-year battle with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer. Baylor
was selected by the Orioles in the second round of the 1967 Draft and went on to play for six teams over
his 19-year career in the Majors. He played for the California Angels for six seasons and won the 1979
MVP Award after helping the franchise secure its first playoff appearance.
"Everything that you strive to be as a human being, he was off the charts," said Scioscia, who worked
with Baylor when he was the club's hitting coach in 2014 and '15. "He took the time to help young
players, took the time to be the role model that he was. We're all blessed to have crossed paths with
him and just gotten to know Donnie. He'll continue to inspire us."
Showalter said his club was honored to be asked to take part in the ceremony.
August 8, 2017 Page 20 of 52
"He was a big part of a lot of good Orioles teams, too. I didn't really know how many teams he had been
a part of. He impacted a lot of people's lives, boy. A life well lived. People talk about him reverently as a
hitting coach and as a manager."
WHAT'S NEXT
Orioles: Jeremy Hellickson will take the mound on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium, coming off a terrific
seven-inning Orioles debut. The righty won after allowing five hits and one walk with three strikeouts
over seven scoreless innings Wednesday vs. the Royals. First pitch is set for 10:07 p.m. ET.
Angels: Parker Bridwell, acquired from the Orioles in April for cash considerations, will face his former
team Tuesday night, with first pitch at 7:07 p.m. PT. Bridwell allowed four runs over five innings in his
last start against the Phillies on Thursday.
Former slugger, skipper Baylor dies at 68
Was AL MVP with Angels in 1979, first manager of Rockies
By Joe Trezza / MLB.com
Don Baylor, a feared, plate-crowding slugger who won an MVP Award and a World Series during a long
playing career, and then went on to manage for nine years, died Monday after a struggle with multiple
myeloma. He was 68.
"Don passed from this earth with the same fierce dignity with which he played the game and lived his
life," his wife, Rebecca, said in a statement.
Baylor played for the Orioles, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox, Twins and A's in a 19-year career. He was the
first manager of the Rockies, from 1993-98, and skippered the Cubs from 2000-02. Baylor was most
recently hitting coach of the Angels.
"Today is a sad day for our game as we lost two men who built distinguished careers in the national
pastime, Don Baylor and Darren Daulton," Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "Throughout stints with 14
different Major League teams as a player, coach or manager, Don's reputation as a gentleman always
preceded him. ... On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to the families,
friends and fans of these two memorable individuals."
Baylor spent nearly 50 years in professional baseball after the Orioles selected him in the second round
of the 1967 Draft. Mostly a designated hitter who also played outfield and first base, he had his most
productive seasons in the late 1970s with the California Angels, and his most consistent years in the
early 1980s with the Yankees. Baylor won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in '79,
when he led the Major Leagues with 139 RBIs and 120 runs scored.
Nicknamed "Groove," Baylor was also an All-Star in '79, his only All-Star selection in a career that
included stints with the Red Sox, Twins and A's. He hit .385 for Minnesota in its World Series victory in
'87. Baylor won three Silver Slugger Awards, and hit 338 home runs in his career. He had speed, too,
August 8, 2017 Page 21 of 52
recording 239 of his 285 career stolen bases from 1972-79. Baylor stole a career-high 52 bases for the
A's in 1976.
Baylor's two-run home run for the Red Sox in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the American League
Championship Series set the scene for Dave Henderson's go-ahead homer later in the inning, and he
scored what proved to be the game-winner after being hit by a pitch in the 11th inning.
Baylor won the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1995 after leading the Rockies to their
first playoff birth in only their third year of existence.
Baylor was known for a relentless toughness on and off the field. He was one of the first children to
integrate the public schools of Austin, Texas, in the late 1950s. Baylor turned down a football
scholarship from the University of Texas, instead choosing to pursue baseball. Had he accepted, he
would have been the first African-American athlete to play football at the university.
On the baseball field, Baylor developed a reputation of rarely backing off the plate, no matter how many
pitches buzzed his way. He led his league in hit by pitches nine times and was struck by a pitch 267 times
in his career.
In all, Baylor wore the uniforms of 14 Major League teams as either a player, coach or manager.
Trout at 26: Superstar has few historical peers
To celebrate birthday, we break down his most impressive stats
By Joe Trezza / MLB.com
Mike Trout turned 26 years old on Monday, which more than likely means he's going to homer. For a
player whose youth came to define him as much as his skill, the two have been particularly linked on
days meant to mark the age of the best player in baseball. Trout has played on five previous birthdays,
and he homered on three of them.
But more than anything else, August 7 offers us another round benchmark opportunity every year to
look back and contextualize the accomplishments of Trout. Now in his seventh season, the six-time All-
Star and two-time American League Most Valuable Player Award winner continues to rack up stats that
rank him among the game's all-time best, relative of age. Had he not missed six weeks to a left thumb
injury this year, he'd be in the middle of another AL MVP Award discussion instead of ambushing one
like he is.
The numbers continue to astound --Trout is on pace to set career highs in all three slash categories.
That's not easy to do the year after winning a unanimous MVP Award. Whether Trout steals the award
back this season -- and he very well could -- or not, he's already one of just six players to win multiple
MVPs before his age-26 season was completed. The other five are in the Hall of Fame. That's the kind of
company the Angels' center fielder continues to keep, as the following numbers show.
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August 8, 2017 Page 22 of 52
How great is Trout today, at age 26? And where exactly does his rapidly-budding Cooperstown resume
stand up among the game's all-time greats? We have the numbers to say so.
Career accomplishments, entering Monday: 878 games, .309/.410/.568 slash line, 651 runs, 999 hits,
190 home runs, 548 RBIs, 156 stolen bases in 185 attempts (84 percent), 529 walks, .978 OPS, career
53.1 WAR*, AL Rookie of the Year Award winner, two-time AL MVP Award winner (and three-time
runner-up), six-time All-Star, five-time AL Silver Slugger Award winner.
• There are five players to have gotten to their 26th birthdays with at least 190 homers and at least 500
walks: Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle and Eddie Mathews … and Trout.
• One player has reached his 26th birthday with at least 190 homers and at least 150 steals: Trout.
• On his 26th birthday, Mantle had a 174 OPS+ and 52.2 WAR. On his 26th birthday, Trout has a 173
OPS+ and 53.1 WAR*. OPS+ is based on a scale, contextualized for park and era factors, where 100
represents league average. So Trout's 173 OPS+ means he's been 73 percent better than his average
peers in terms of on-base and slugging percentage.
• Among all the players to have hit at least 190 homers by their 26th birthday, only four scored more
runs than Trout: Ott, Foxx, Mantle and Alex Rodriguez
• Trout has hit 190 homers and has reached base via a hit or walk 1,528 times. The only players with
more homers and more hits plus walks by their 26th birthday: Ott, Foxx and Mantle.
• In baseball history, only Foxx and Ott reached their 26th birthday with better numbers than Trout in all
of these (fairly important) categories: home runs, hits, extra-base hits, total bases, walks and runs
scored.
• Trout is one of nine players to have hit at least 190 homers by his 26th birthday. Aside from one
additional active player (teammate Albert Pujols) and two retired players (Andruw Jones and Rodriguez)
who have not yet appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot, the others are all enshrined in Cooperstown: Foxx,
Mathews, Ott, Mantle and Frank Robinson.
• There are nine players in the 600-home run club. Among them, only Rodriguez and Pujols had more
homers at their 26th birthdays than Trout.
• For all position players through their age-25 seasons, Trout owns the second-highest career WAR*,
with his value behind only Cobb's and directly ahead of Mantle's.
• Hank Aaron ranks second all-time in career home runs and fourth all-time in runs, and he's first all-
time in extra-base hits. Looking at Aaron by his 26th birthday and Trout at his, Trout is ahead of Aaron in
homers and runs, and he's just 10 extra-base hits behind Aaron.
• Trout is in position to become the eighth player to end his age-25 season with at least 3,000 plate
appearances and a .300/.400/.500 line. The seven he's set to join: Joe Kelley, Cobb, Ott, Foxx, Joe
DiMaggio, Mantle and Pujols. Trout is hitting .343/.463/.703 this season.
August 8, 2017 Page 23 of 52
• For all players at the end of their age-25 seasons (with a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances), Trout's
173 OPS+ ranks as the third best, behind Cobb's 180 and Mantle's 174. In other words, it stands as the
highest for any right-handed hitter, as Cobb hit from the left side and Mantle was a switch-hitter.
• Trout is one of just four players to record six seasons of at least 160 OPS+ before their age 26 season,
joining Cobb, Foxx and Ruth.
• The most eight-WAR* seasons for center fielders through age-25 campaigns: 4 (Trout), 3 (Cobb,
Mantle), 2 (Tris Speaker, DiMaggio, Mays).
* According to baseball-reference.com's measure for WAR
Angels activate Maybin, DFA Robinson
Outfielder missed 16 games with with right knee sprain
By Maria Guardado / MLB.com
ANAHEIM -- The Angels activated outfielder Cameron Maybin from the 10-day disabled list on Monday,
restoring a key offensive spark plug to the top of their lineup ahead of their series opener against the
Orioles. To clear a spot on their roster, the Angels designated outfielder Shane Robinson for assignment.
Maybin, who started in left field and batted leadoff in Monday's 6-2 loss, missed 16 games after
spraining his right knee on a stolen-base attempt on July 18. Before the injury, Maybin was hitting .238
with a .710 OPS, six home runs, 21 RBIs and 25 steals in 75 games.
"Cam, when he was moved to the leadoff spot, definitely set a tone for us," manager Mike Scioscia said.
"Hopefully he'll be able to do that. He's got to get on base, he's got to pressure other teams. He can
steal a base when needed and certainly get on base ahead of Mike [Trout] and Albert [Pujols] and try to
set the table. He's done a great job with that, and I think he's hopefully going to hit his stride and
continue to do some of the things he was doing before he was injured."
Angels remember 'The Groove'
Many Angels took time to remember former Halos slugger and coach Don Baylor, who died on
Monday following a 14-year battle with multiple myeloma. Baylor spent six seasons with the Angels and
captured the 1979 MVP Award after leading the franchise to its first playoff berth. After a 19-year career
in the Majors, Baylor became a manager and coach, most recently serving as the Angels' hitting coach
from 2014-15.
Pujols had remained in contact with Baylor over the last couple years and said that Baylor reached out
to congratulate him on his 600th career home run.
"It's sad, man, waking up and hearing the story this morning," Pujols said. "Donnie and I, we stayed in
touch even though he wasn't here the last couple years. He always sent me encouraging messages and
always congratulated me. Last time I spoke to him was the last game that we were in Texas, and he was
August 8, 2017 Page 24 of 52
telling me, 'Enjoy the break,' and all that stuff. Great human being. He's definitely going to be missed.
One of the toughest men I've probably been around."
Added Scioscia: "We're all blessed to have crossed paths with him and just gotten to know Donnie. He'll
continue to inspire us."
Worth noting
• Yunel Escobar was out of Monday's lineup after suffering an intercostal strain during the Angels' 11-10
loss to the A's on Sunday. Scioscia said the Angels had not yet received the results of Escobar's MRI
exam. Luis Valbuena started at third base in Escobar's place.
• Left-hander Andrew Heaney (Tommy John surgery) allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings in his fifth
rehab start with Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday. He surrendered six hits while walking two, striking out five
and throwing 87 pitches. Heaney is on track to join the Angels' rotation soon, though Scioscia refrained
from offering a concrete timeline for his return.
"He's making a strong case that he's close," Scioscia said. "How many more outings he needs, that will
definitely rest on what's best for Andrew, where he is and what his needs are, not on the needs of our
club."
• The Angels called up left-hander Jose Alvarez from Triple-A Salt Lake on Monday and optioned right-
hander Eduardo Paredes.
• Outfielder Ramon Flores, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and was
outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Mike Trout's teammates doused him on his 26th birthday and he celebrated with a homer
By Andrew Mearns / Cut4
Mike Trout entered his 26th birthday as already one of the greatest players in Angels history. He ranked
fourth in homers with 190, fourth in stolen bases with 156 and, incredibly, first in WAR at 53.1.
So, prior to their Monday night game against the Orioles, it was only appropriate for Trout's teammates
to commemorate his birthday by dumping anything and everything they could find in the clubhouse on
him
For those keeping score at home, the refuse included eggs, ICEE slush, baby powder, Coffee-mate
creamer, cereal and whatever else was in the trash can. At least no one had fish for lunch.
But hey -- the Angels celebrate all their birthdays like this. MVPs aren't above the clubhouse code. "It's
an Angels tradition," said Trout to MLB.com's Maria Guardado. "It started when Weaver was here and
Albert. They started it, and now it's evolved into a crazy ... I can't really explain that. It was fun."
August 8, 2017 Page 25 of 52
Of course, Trout had to celebrate in his own way, too. First, he reached the 1,000-hit plateau with a
double in the bottom of the fourth, and then, he smashed a ball down the left-field line, off the foul pole
for a home run
Birthday blasts are special, but they're also old hat for Trout. This is now the fourth time in his career
that he's homered on his birthday -- definitely worthy of a thumbs-up
Bridwell battles former club vs. Hellickson, O's
By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
The Orioles will face a familiar foe on Tuesday night in starter Parker Bridwell, who was traded from
Baltimore to the Angels in mid-April in exchange for cash considerations.
Bridwell has gone 5-1 with a 3.20 ERA since earning a spot in the Angels' rotation.
"If anything, I'll get a little motivation," said Bridwell, who was drafted by Baltimore in 2010. "It's not
going to be any hard feeling or anything like that. It's just competition. When I'm on the mound, it
doesn't really matter if it's my dad or mom in the box, I'm trying to get them out."
The O's, who have won three straight and will counter with Jeremy Hellickson in his second outing since
he was acquired in a trade from Philadelphia, have had trouble most of the year with a struggling
rotation. While it's tough for fans to think about what might have been, Bridwell said he's just focused
on helping the Angels win.
"Right off the bat [when traded], 'Oh no.' I had never been through anything like that so I didn't know
what to expect. That's when a new door opened and thank God for that," he said.
Hellickson is coming off a terrific seven-inning Orioles debut. The righty earned the win after allowing
five hits and one walk with three strikeouts over seven scoreless innings Wednesday vs. the Royals.
Things to know about this game
• Albert Pujols entered the series one home run shy of Sammy Sosa (609) for the most all-time by a
foreign-born player.
• Tim Beckham won the American League Player of the Week Award after posting an off-the-charts
.583/.600/1.167 slash line with three home runs and six RBIs in his first week since being acquired by
Baltimore. Though it's a small sample size, Beckham's 63.2 percent hard-hit rate (i.e. percent of contact
at or above Statcast's 95-mph baseline for hard contact) was a huge boost compared to what the Orioles
were previously getting from the shortstop position (29.2 percent, 17th out of the 30 clubs).
• Mark Trumbo was among a large group of Orioles taking early batting practice on Monday and he is on
track to be activated from the disabled list for Wednesday's series finale.
August 8, 2017 Page 26 of 52
FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Machado's grand slam upstages Trout, Orioles beat Angels 6-2
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout delivered his 1,000th career hit with a cracking double down the line. Two
innings later, he homered on his birthday for the fourth time in his six big league seasons.
Moments after that, Manny Machado made sure Trout's birthday gifts didn't include a victory.
Trout reached another milestone and hit another homer on his 26th birthday, but Machado hit a
tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh inning of the Baltimore Orioles' 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles
Angels on Monday night.
"A lot of good things happened tonight," manager Buck Showalter said after Baltimore got back to .500
for the first time since June 29. "Everybody got to see a 1,000th hit, and we won the game, so it's
another milestone."
After surviving a pregame shower of eggs, cream, shampoo and various unmentionables from his
teammates, Trout doubled in the fourth inning to become the 11th player with 1,000 hits in an Angels
uniform. The two-time AL MVP then tied it in the sixth, sending his 23rd homer of the season high off
the left-field pole.
"It means a lot," Trout said. "A lot of milestones with hits. You see (Adrian) Beltre, he just hit his 3,000th.
Pretty incredible. I felt pretty good. I just wanted to get it over with. A lot of people talking about it."
But Machado connected moments later against J.C. Ramirez (10-10) for his fifth career grand slam.
Dylan Bundy (11-8) recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts while pitching seven innings of five-hit ball for
the Orioles.
"Just a real mature effort," Showalter said. "He managed the game real well. It was fun to watch."
Baltimore (56-56) won the opener of a three-game series between two teams on the fringe of the AL
wild-card race. The Orioles have won eight of 10, while Los Angeles has followed up a 6-1 stretch with
three straight losses.
TROUT'S TIME
Trout got a standing ovation after reaching the latest milestone of his precocious career with his 1,000th
hit. The Big A crowd also sang "Happy Birthday" to Trout a few minutes earlier.
Trout joined Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle as the only players to compile 1,000 hits, 500 runs
and 500 walks by their age-25 season. Trout already was the only player to get 150 homers, 400 extra-
base hits and 150 stolen bases before his 26th birthday.
August 8, 2017 Page 27 of 52
"When you hear your name with the greats, the Hall of Famers when you do something, it makes you
feel good," he said. "It makes you feel special just to be a part of such a good company, but for me, it's
just going out there and playing. I'm not trying to chase any numbers."
AUGUST 7
Baltimore went ahead with RBI by Joey Rickard and Adam Jones in the fifth, but Trout tied it with
another birthday homer. He also did it in 2012, 2013 and 2015, becoming the youngest player in big
league history to accomplish the feat four times.
"I'm not thinking about homers," Trout said. "I just go out there, try to hit the ball hard, and that one
went out of the park."
FOR GROOVE
Every player from both clubs took the field before the game for a moment of silence and a poignant
video tribute to Don Baylor, who died of cancer Monday. Baylor played six seasons for each club,
enjoying most of his best playing days in these uniforms -- including his 1979 MVP season with the then-
California Angels. Baylor was Angels manager Mike Scioscia's hitting coach in 2014 and 2015.
"He was an incredible human being," Scioscia said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Orioles: Longtime Angels slugger and Anaheim native Mark Trumbo remained out since July 29 with a rib
injury. He could return during this series.
Angels: LF Cameron Maybin went 1 for 4 in his first game since spraining his left knee ligament July 18.
UP NEXT
Orioles: Jeremy Hellickson (7-5, 4.45 ERA) looked sharp in his Baltimore debut last week, throwing seven
scoreless innings against Kansas City in his first appearance since arriving in a trade with Philadelphia.
Angels: Parker Bridwell (5-1, 3.20 ERA) faces the team that drafted him in 2010 and traded him for
scraps in April. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his last five starts, and the Angels are 9-1 when
he pitches.
Mike Trout gets 1,000th hit, also homers on 26th birthday
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Mike Trout got his 1,000th career hit and also homered on his 26th birthday
Monday night.
The Los Angeles Angels’ two-time AL MVP hit the first milestone when he doubled down the left-field
line in the fourth inning against Dylan Bundy and the Baltimore Orioles.
August 8, 2017 Page 28 of 52
Trout then added his 23rd homer of the season in the sixth, driving it high off the left-field pole. The
slugger homered on his birthday for the fourth time already in his six-year career, also doing it in 2012,
2013 and 2015.
Trout joined Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx and and Mickey Mantle as the only players to compile 1,000 hits, 500
runs and 500 walks by their age-25 season. Trout already was the only player to get 150 homers, 400
extra-base hits and 150 stolen bases before his 26th birthday.
He is the 11th player to get 1,000 hits in an Angels uniform.
The Big A crowd sang ”Happy Birthday” to Trout in center field earlier in the inning. The fans gave him a
standing ovation after his 1,000th hit.
Don Baylor, former MVP and Manager of Year, dead at 68
Associated Press
Wherever he went, Don Baylor left his mark on baseball. He was an MVP and Manager of the Year,
respected as a powerful slugger, punishing runner and commanding presence in any clubhouse.
And during nearly a half-century as a pro, baseball left its mark on him. Lots of them, in fact. When
Baylor retired, he'd been plunked more than anyone in major league history.
Baylor was hit by fastballs, sliders and a bunch of pitches 267 times in his career. Baylor set the modern-
day record in 1987 while playing for Boston, on the day he turned 38. After the game, the Red Sox gave
him the souvenir ball.
"I can think of other ways to get a birthday present," Baylor said.
Baylor, the bruiser who also held the bruise record for almost three decades, died Monday of cancer. He
was 68.
His family said in a statement that Baylor died in his hometown of Austin, Texas, after a 14-year battle
with multiple myeloma.
"One of the nicest men I've known unless you were a middle infielder on a DP," former Baltimore
teammate and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer tweeted.
Baylor won the 1979 AL MVP with the California Angels, playing all 162 games and leading the majors
with career bests of 139 RBIs and 120 runs. His 36 home runs were also his most.
Baylor later became the first manager of the Colorado Rockies, guiding them to his only playoff
appearance as a skipper in the franchise's third season in 1995 and being honored for that
accomplishment.
Just three others have won MVP and Manager of the Year awards — Frank Robinson, Joe Torre and Kirk
Gibson.
August 8, 2017 Page 29 of 52
It was the great Robinson who helped give Baylor a nickname that stuck forever.
Baylor was a 20-year-old rookie in 1970 on a team that eventually won the World Series when he was
asked about trying to break into the Orioles' loaded outfield. Brash beyond his years, Baylor said he
wasn't too worried, that once he got into one of his grooves, things would be OK.
Robinson saw that quote in a newspaper and, playfully in his role as judge of the club's Kangaroo Court,
made sure to read it aloud in the Baltimore locker room.
With that, "Groove" was born.
Years later, as judge of the Kangaroo Court for the New York Yankees, Baylor once fined coach Don
Zimmer. So why pick on such a beloved figure?
"Just for being Don Zimmer," Baylor said.
As judge of the Kangaroo Court in Boston, Baylor levied a $5 fine on Red Sox ace Roger Clemens — right
after he had struck out a record 20 batters against Seattle. The offense? Giving up a hit to former
University of Texas teammate Spike Owen on an 0-2 pitch.
Baylor had a chance to go to Texas, too. He was a second-round pick by Baltimore in 1967 and chose
baseball over a chance to be the first black football player at Texas. Two years later, the Longhorns
became the last all-white team to win a national championship.
No doubt, Baylor was rugged enough for either sport.
"He was a tough man, and he didn't have to tell you he was tough," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell
said of his first big league skipper.
Kansas City manager Ned Yost knew that firsthand, having played behind the plate.
"Don was kind of a fearsome guy, especially if you were a catcher or a second baseman," Yost said. "If he
was at second base, you're hoping this guy hits a double instead of a single because you'd know you
were going to get crushed at home plate. He's a big guy."
Burly in later years, Baylor was also known for speed as a younger player, including a career-high 52
steals with Oakland in 1976. He finished with 285 steals.
But on June 15, 1974, Baylor had the distinction of being the first player caught stealing twice in the
same inning. He came in as a pinch-runner against the White Sox, was charged with a caught stealing at
second when he was safe on an error, and after stealing third, was thrown out trying to steal home.
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.
Baylor's tying two-run shot in the fifth inning of Game 6 with the Twins trailing 3-2 in the Series fueled
an 11-5 victory. He was on losing teams with Boston in '86 and Oakland in '88.
August 8, 2017 Page 30 of 52
"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.
"Throughout stints with 14 different major league teams as a player, coach or manager, Don's
reputation as a gentleman always preceded him," he said.
Washington manager Dusty Baker became emotional talking about Baylor. They competed on the
diamond starting as Double-A players and were close friends off the field.
"His first wife picked out my first wife's engagement ring," Baker said. "First time I had ever gone to
Baltimore was when we drove up to see Donnie."
"I was a better basketball player but he was a stronger baseball player," Baker said. "I was just listening
to Tupac today about death around the corner. Indeed, you just don't know how close death is to all of
us."
Baylor spent six years with Colorado and two-plus seasons as manager of the Chicago Cubs, from 2000-
02. His career record was 627-689. He was most recently the hitting coach for the Angels.
In 2014, while catching the first pitch from Vladimir Guerrero before the Angels' season opener in
Anaheim, Baylor backhanded the ball and wound up breaking his leg in an accident that's still painful to
watch on YouTube. True to his nature, with help, Baylor walked off the field.
"When a man of his integrity just walks through a clubhouse, it's almost larger than life, because you
know what he stands for," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "You know the bar he set not only for
himself, but for a team, and I think it's tangible."
Baylor went to junior college before joining the Orioles organization, made his big league debut in 1970
and spent six years with Baltimore. After a year in the first of two stints with Oakland, Baylor played six
seasons for the Angels.
Mostly a designated hitter but also an outfielder and first baseman, Baylor had at least 20 homers in
three straight seasons for the Yankees before hitting 31 for the Red Sox in 1986. He was a career .260
hitter with 338 homers and 1,276 RBIs. Baylor's HBP record was later broken by Craig Biggio.
A couple weeks ago, Claire Smith paid tribute to Baylor when she was honored with the J.G. Taylor Spink
Award for baseball writing at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Baylor was among her closest
friends, and she honored him in her acceptance speech.
"Thank you, Groove, my gentle giant," she said.
August 8, 2017 Page 31 of 52
MLB stalwarts Baylor, Daulton pass away
AP wire reports / Courier & Press
Don Baylor, the burly slugger who once held the Major League Baseball 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," Baylor's wife, Rebecca, said.
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 American League
West champs, who lost to Baltimore in the AL Championship Series.
When the stocky 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, 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 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 Chicago 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.
"Throughout stints with 14 different major league teams as a player, coach or
manager, Don's reputation as a gentleman always preceded him," Manfred said.
Born June 28, 1949, in Austin, Baylor was a second-round pick by Baltimore in 1967 and chose baseball
over a chance to be the first black football player at Texas. Two years later, the Longhorns became the
last all-white team to win a national championship.
August 8, 2017 Page 32 of 52
Baylor went to junior college before joining the Orioles organization, made his big league debut in 1970
and spent six years with Baltimore. After a year in the first of two stints with Oakland, Baylor played six
seasons for the Angels.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Mostly a designated hitter but also an outfielder and first baseman, Baylor had at least 20 homers in
three straight seasons for the New York Yankees before hitting 31 for the Red Sox in 1986. He was a
career .260 hitter with 338 homers and 1,276 RBIs.
On Sunday, former Philadelphia Phillies catcher Darren Daulton also passed away, following a four-year
battle with brain cancer. Nicknamed "Dutch" since his childhood, Daulton was a three-time All-Star
catcher during 14½ seasons with the Phillies. He was the cleanup hitter for the improbable 1993 NL
championship team, which lost to Toronto in six games in the World Series after finishing last the
previous season.
Daulton controlled a clubhouse that included wild characters such as Lenny Dykstra, Mitch Williams,
John Kruk, Pete Incaviglia and others. He was the man along a stretch of lockers called "Macho Row."
"I played with several tough dudes in my career, but Dutch was the toughest," Dykstra said. "Catchers
characteristically are the 'coach on the field.' Dutch was more than that. He was our anchor and our
leader, ensuring that our focus was always between the lines when we played."
Despite being plagued by injuries and slowed by several knee operations, the left-handed
hitting Daulton batted .245 with 137 homers and 588 RBIs in 1,161 games. He led the NL with 109 RBIs
in 1992.
Daulton 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.
FROM ESPN.COM
Real or not? Mike Trout still has a chance at MVP
By David Schoenfield / ESPN Senior Writer
Mike Trout turned 26 on Monday. All he did to celebrate was hit a line double into the left-field corner
for his 1,000th career hit, and then belt a home run high off the left-field foul pole for an encore.
The Baltimore Orioles got the big celebration, however, as Manny Machadobroke a 2-2 tie with a grand
slam in the seventh:
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August 8, 2017 Page 33 of 52
The Orioles are now 8-2 in their past 10 games and back to .500, sitting just 1.5 games behind the
Kansas City Royals for the second wild-card spot after the St. Louis Cardinals pounded Kansas City 11-3
on Monday night.
But let's talk about Trout, who is now hitting .346/.464/.716 with 23 home runs and 52 RBIs. The two-
time MVP was out for 39 games with a thumb injury and missed a few other games earlier in the season
with a tight hamstring, so he has missed 45 of the Los Angeles Angels' 113 games. It might seem
impossible for Trout to be part of the American League MVP race after missing that much time, but
don't write him off just yet.
Let's start with where he ranked among the AL leaders in Baseball-Reference WAR position players
entering Monday:
1. Jose Altuve: 6.3
2. Andrelton Simmons: 5.7
3. Aaron Judge: 5.3
4. Mookie Betts: 5.2
5. Carlos Correa: 4.9
6. Trout: 4.4
Note: Judge led Altuve 6.0 to 5.7 in FanGraphs WAR, with Trout third at 4.9.
You have to discount the chances of Simmons and Betts winning, since a large percentage of their value
is defensive and unlikely to be rewarded in MVP voting given that Simmons ranks 29th in the AL in OPS
and Betts ranks 32nd. Correa, meanwhile, is out for at least another four to five weeks with his own
thumb injury, so Trout will pass him up. Judge, meanwhile, has hit .182/.333/.377 since the All-Star
break and has lost momentum in the "What have you done for me lately?" category. The rookie still
leads the league in homers, runs, OBP (tied with Altuve) and slugging, while tied for third in RBIs, but
Trout would easily lead in OBP and slugging if he had enough plate appearances.
The point is that with Judge slumping, the race is a little more wide open than it was a month ago, when
the Yankee looked like the runaway favorite. But if Trout plays the remaining 49 games for the Angels
the way he's played so far, he'd accumulate about 3.3 WAR (Baseball-Reference) or 3.7 (FanGraphs),
bringing his totals up to 7.7 or 8.6, depending on the source. And that's certainly MVP territory.
(For the record: This isn't to dismiss Chris Sale, who leads in wins, ERA, strikeouts and pitching WAR and
should certainly be part of the discussion.)
Some of Trout's counting stats might not rank up there, but he'll still be among the leaders in runs
created. Altuve and Judge rank first and second among current AL leaders. But Trout isn't far behind at
sixth.
August 8, 2017 Page 34 of 52
Here are the projected totals based on current rate of production and all three guys playing every
remaining game:
Altuve: 141.8
Judge: 140.1
Trout: 128.2
That puts Trout close, and it's likely that Altuve and Judge don't keep producing at their current rates;
Altuve in particular won't be playing every game down the stretch with the Astros holding such a big
lead. Trout's rate stats in getting on base and power might be so impressive that his value at the plate
could end up equaling Altuve's or Judge's.
Now, for Trout to have a real shot, the Angels probably have to make the playoffs. They had climbed
back to .500 but have since lost three in a row, so those chances are slimmer than they were three days
ago. If they do somehow find a way to sneak into a wild-card berth, though, Trout is going to get a lot of
credit ... as he should.
Look, it will be difficult because Altuve and Judge still will end up with big numbers at season's end, and
we know the Astros will make the playoffs. Because of that, Altuve feels like the favorite right now, but
there's a lot of baseball left to play.
The Nationals' bullpen is coming together. Good game in D.C. between the Miami Marlins and
Washington Nationals. Bryce Harper cracked a solo home run in the fourth inning, his 29th of the
season. Then in the sixth, with the Nationals ahead 2-1, Giancarlo Stanton would tie the game with a
home run off Max Scherzer, his 37th of the year and fourth in four games. That solo shot came on a 3-1
fastball, belt high and over the middle of the plate -- after Scherzer had shaken off Matt Wieters several
times. Stanton had swung through a 2-0 fastball and Scherzer thought he could slip one past him again.
Nope.
The Nationals won the game with some old-school baseball in the bottom of the eighth. Wilmer Difo led
with a base hit, Andrew Stevenson sacrificed him to second, and with two outs, pinch hitter Adam
Lind singled in Difo. Sean Doolittle then closed it out for his sixth save since joining the Nationals.
Dusty Baker's late-game bullpen suddenly is pretty good. He has gone with Doolittle as the closer
over Brandon Kintzler, who had 28 saves with the Twins before he was traded, even though Doolittle is
the lone lefty. Kintzler, who pitched the eighth inning on Monday, will be a setup guy along with Ryan
Madson, with Matt Albers the fourth guy.
Doolittle missed time early in the season, but his numbers are worthy of that ninth-inning role: 30.1 IP,
19 H, 6 BB, 39 SO. He still goes after batters with a lot of fastballs up in the zone -- he has thrown his
fastball nearly 90 percent of the time this season -- and he hasn't had much of a platoon split in his
career, so you don't care that he's left-handed. The only blip that is a minor cause for concern is the four
home runs allowed, the one risk as he pounds the strike zone.
August 8, 2017 Page 35 of 52
Anyway, those top four have been hard to hit:
Doolittle: .176/.216/.315
Madson: .185/.232/.268
Kintzler: .233/.289/.311
Albers: .197/.270/.340
Among relievers with at least 30 innings, Madson ranks eighth in wOBA allowed, Doolittle 10th, Kintzler
50th and Albers 55th. The only team with more relievers in the top 55 are the New York Yankees, who
have six. The Chicago Cubs also have four, plus Pedro Strop, who ranks 57th. What's interesting is
the Los Angeles Dodgers have only Kenley Jansen, who ranks first. Their second-best reliever by wOBA
is Pedro Baez, who ranks 61st. Look, some of these differences are small, but it seems like
the Washington Nationals' bullpen is now essentially on par with Chicago's and maybe better than L.A.'s.
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With this recent little hot stretch, Stanton is on pace for 54 home runs. Of course, his biggest factor to
matching his career high in home runs is that he has missed just two games after missing an average of
47 the past five seasons. But he has also been much better than last season, with an OPS 166 points
higher. Two keys besides good health: His swing-and-miss rate is down 3.6 percent, and his chase rate is
down 4.8 percent (and is the lowest of his career). He hit .218 against "soft" pitches last year, but that
better pitch recognition and patience have allowed him to hit .260 and slug .559 against those pitches
(curve, slider, changeup, splitter) in 2017.
Inside-the-park home run of the day: AT&T usually takes away home runs, but on Monday it gave one
to Javier Baez:
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The Milwaukee Brewers had a chance to climb back into first place in the National League Central on
Monday, but they blew a lead and lost 5-4 to the Twins -- Domingo Santana froze on a line drive that
sailed over his head, helping the Minnesota Twins score the go-ahead runs in the seventh -- and the
Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, so the reigning champs' lead is back to 1½ games.
Catch of the day: Left fielder T.J. Nichting of the Aberdeen IronBirds sacrificed his body for one of the
best catches of the season at any level
Mike Trout picks up 1,000th career hit on his 26th birthday
ESPN.com news services
For his 26th birthday, Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout gave himself a gift that will last a lifetime: a
major league milestone.
August 8, 2017 Page 36 of 52
The reigning American League MVP notched his 1,000th career hit with a double in the fourth inning of a
6-2 loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles. Trout became the third player in the past 100 years to record a
milestone hit on his birthday, joining Charlie Morton (1,000th hit on his 33rd birthday in 1986) and Hal
Morris (1,000th hit on his 33rd birthday in 1998), according to Elias Sports Bureau research.
"It means a lot," Trout said. "A lot of milestones with hits. You see [Adrian] Beltre, he just hit his 3,000th.
Pretty incredible. I felt pretty good. I just wanted to get it over with. A lot of people talking about it."
Trout is the 11th player to reach the 1,000-hit plateau while a member of the Angels.
He added some fireworks to his birthday celebration by hitting his 23rd home run of the season in the
bottom of the sixth inning off Orioles starter Dylan Bundy. The solo shot marked the fourth time he hit a
birthday blast. Only Alex Rodriguez has hit a home run on four birthdays before turning 30; he hit his
fourth on his 29th birthday.
"I'm not thinking about homers,'' Trout said. "I just go out there, try to hit the ball hard, and that one
went out of the park."
Already the only player in major league history to amass 150 home runs, 400 extra-base hits and 150
stolen bases before turning 26, Trout is now the fourth player to reach the 1,000-hit, 500-run and 500-
walk milestones by his age-25 season, joining Hall of Famers Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle.
"When you hear your name with the greats, the Hall of Famers when you do something, it makes you
feel good,'' Trout said. "It makes you feel special just to be a part of such a good company. But for me,
it's just going out there and playing. I'm not trying to chase any numbers."
With two MVPs and a Rookie of the Year award already on his mantle, Trout's only contemporary
comparison is Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals, who matched a different feat of Trout's on
Monday night.
Harper mashed the 150th home run of his career at the age of 24 years, 295 days -- the exact age Trout
was when he hit his 150th homer. Harper, who will turn 25 in October, is the 14th player in MLB history
to tally 150 home runs before his 25th birthday.
August 8, 2017 Page 37 of 52
FROM FOX SPORTS
Don Baylor, former American League MVP with Angels, dies at 68
FOX Sports West
The baseball world lost a giant.
Don Baylor, who won the 1979 American League Most Valuable Player award with the California Angels,
died in Austin, Texas after a long battle with multiple myeloma, his family announced on Monday
morning.
Baylor was 68-years-old.
During his 19-year playing career, Baylor won a World Series as part of the 1987 Twins. He hit 338 home
runs and drove in 1,276 RBI for a .260 career batting average.
Baylor spent 1977-1982 (824 games) with the Angels organization, his longest tenure with one team.
Following his playing days, Baylor made managerial stops at with the Rockies (1993–1998) and Cubs
(2000–2002) and also served as the Angels’ hitting coach from 2003-05.
He suffered a broken leg when he caught Vlad Guerrero’s first pitch to start the 2014 Angels season.
FROM CBS SPORTS
Former MLB MVP, manager Don Baylor dies at 68 after struggle with multiple myeloma
Baylor had been dealing with multiple myeloma
By R.J. Anderson
Don Baylor, who played in part of 19 big-league seasons (including 1979, after which he won the Most
Valuable Player Award) and who managed in parts of nine others, has passed away, according to
multiple reports. Baylor's death was confirmed by his son to Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-
Stateman.
Here's what Bohls reported:
Former major-league baseball star and Austin native Don Baylor died Monday morning after a long
struggle with multiple myeloma. He was 68.
Baylor died at 4:25 Monday morning, his son confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman.
MLB released the following statement via their official communications twitter account:
August 8, 2017 Page 38 of 52
Today we remember All-Stars Don Baylor and Darren Daulton, both of whom authored many fond
memories for baseball fans.
Daulton died at 55 years of age on Sunday after a four-year battle with brain cancer.
Baylor's most productive seasons were split between the Baltimore orioles, California Angels, and New
York Yankees. Overall, he finished his career having hit .260/.342/.436 with 338 home runs and 285
stolen bases -- numbers that resulted in a 118 OPS+. Baylor's affinity for getting struck by pitches is well
remembered, and his 267 career beanings remains the fourth-most all-time, behind Hughie Jennings,
Craig Biggio, and Tommy Tucker.
"Don passed from this earth with the same fierce dignity with which he played the game and lived his
life," his wife, Rebecca, said in a statement, according to MLB.com.
In addition to winning the 1979 MVP Award and making that year's All-Star Team, Baylor also earned
MVP consideration in four other seasons, and won a trio of Silver Slugger Awards. He was part of
the Minnesota Twins' World Series-winning club in 1987.
Baylor enjoyed a lengthy career as a manager and coach. He spent six seasons guiding the Colorado
Rockies to a 440-469 record, and reached the postseason during the 1995 season. Baylor later received
an opportunity to manage the Chicago Cubs, finishing his two-plus year stint with a 187-220 record and
no postseason appearances. More recently, Baylor had served as hitting coach for the Arizona
Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels, a position he'd held with the Atlanta Braves and Seattle
Mariners as well. Baylor spent two seasons as the New York Mets' bench coach, too.
In all, Baylor enjoyed a lengthy -- and quite successful -- life in baseball.
FROM NBC SPORTS
Don Baylor, 1979 MVP, Rockies and Cubs manager dies at 68
By Craig Calcaterra
Sad news from Austin this morning, as the Austin American-Statesman reports that Don Baylor, the 1979
American League Most Valuable Player and former big league manager has died. He was 68 and been
suffering from multiple myeloma.
Baylor was a multi-sport star from Austin who was offered a football scholarship from the University of
Texas but turned it down to play baseball. If he had gone to UT he would’ve been the school’s first black
football player. Instead he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the second round of the 1967 draft.
He broke into the bigs in 1970 but played sparingly that season and the next due to being blocked by
Frank Robinson and Don Buford, who starred for an absolutely loaded Orioles squad. Robinson would be
traded following the 1971 season and Baylor would become a fixture in the corner outfield spots for
Baltimore for the next four seasons, hitting .275/.348/.433 while stealing 117 bases. He’d steal 52 in
August 8, 2017 Page 39 of 52
1976 after being traded by the O’s to Oakland in the Reggie Jackson deal. Even the graying among us
remember Baylor mostly as a power-hitting DH in the second half of his career. It’s sometimes easy to
forget the fact that he was an athletic and well-rounded player in his early days.
He was certainly a more valuable player later, however. Quite literally, actually, winning the AL MVP in
1979 as the California Angels’ DH. That year Baylor hit .296/.371/.530 with 36 homers and 139 RBI while
leading the Angles to the AL West crown. Curiously, that year Baylor was “only” hit by 11 pitches, one of
his lower season totals. Baylor was otherwise famous for getting plunked, leading the league eight times
in his career. He’d retire as the all-time leader in that category in the post-deadball era with 267. Craig
Biggio would later pass him.
After leaving the Angels, Baylor would continue to have productive years in New York with the Yankees
and in Boston with the Red Sox, winning three Silver Slugger Awards between 1983 and 1986. His teams
made the postseason seven times, though he’d only get one World Series ring with the 1987 Twins. That
was an odd year for Baylor, as he wasn’t traded to Minnesota until September 1 and was a non-factor in
the season’s final month. He’d hit .385/.467/.615 in five World Series games, however. He’d retire after
one more year back in Oakland in 1988, finishing with a career line of .260/.342/.436, 338 homers, 1,276
RBI and 285 stolen bases over 19 seasons. He was on three World Series teams in his final three seasons:
Boston in 1986, Minnesota in 1987 and Oakland in 1988.
Baylor would serve as the hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals before being
named the Colorado Rockies’ first ever manager before the 1993 season. He’d manage the Rockies for
six seasons, making the playoffs as the NL’s first-ever Wild Card winner in 1995 and finishing with a
record of 440-469 in Colorado. After one season as the Braves hitting coach in 1999, the Cubs would hire
him as their skipper. He’d go 187-220 in two full years and a partial 2002 season. After leaving Chicago
he’d serve as the Mets bench coach in 2003-04 before hitting coach stints in Seattle, Colorado, Arizona
and Anaheim.
As is evidenced by both the eagerness of teams to hire him and the word of mouth from people who
knew him well, Baylor was an almost universally respected and beloved figure within the game. He was
also a great player and a fine manager. He will be missed.
FROM SPORTING NEWS
Former MLB player, manager Don Baylor dead at 68
By Bob Hille
Former MLB player and manager Don Baylor — a strong clubhouse leader in the game, a pioneer
outside it and gentleman in both — died early Monday morning after a long battle with multiple
myeloma, his son confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman. He was 68.
August 8, 2017 Page 40 of 52
Baylor, a native of Austin, was one of the first African Americans to attend Stephen F. Austin High School
and the first to play baseball and football at the school. He could have become the first black player in
University of Texas football history, the American-Statesman noted, had he not turned down legendary
coach Darrell Royal's scholarship offer to pursue a career in baseball.
That turned out to be a good decision.
He would go on to play 19 seasons in the majors beginning in 1970, most notably with the Orioles and
Angels, a power-hitter known for crowding the plate and daring pitchers to come inside. They frequently
obliged, leading to his being hit by pitches a then-record 267 times and leading the league in HBPs eight
times.
Baylor won the 1979 AL MVP award while with the Angels after leading the league with 139 RBIs and
120 runs, the same year he earned his one All-Star Game appearance.
He also played for the A's, Yankees, Twins and Red Sox. A three-time Silver Slugger, he batted .260 for
his career, hitting 338 home runs and driving in 1,276 runs. He was part of the Twins' 1987 World Series-
winning team, batting .385/.467/.615 in a five-game series victory over the Cardinals.
Baylor was an All-Star, one of the strongest clubhouse leaders the game has ever seen,1st Rockies
manager. Also managed Cubs, 1979 AL MVP.
After his playing career, he became the first manager in the Rockies history, going 440-469 from 1993-
98. He also managed the Cubs from 2000-02, going 187-220.
FROM USA TODAY SPORTS
Don Baylor, former AL MVP, dies at 68
By A.J. Perez
Former American League MVP and MLB manager Don Baylor died Monday after a long battle with
cancer, his family confirmed. He was 68.
Baylor spent 19 seasons in the majors with six teams, including the then-California Angels, where he was
tapped as the 1979 league MVP.
“Don passed from this earth with the same fierce dignity with which he played the game and lived his
life,” Baylor’s wife, Rebecca, said in a statement provided by the Angels on Monday.
Baylor slugged 338 home runs and finished his career playing in three consecutive World Series for
different teams -- the 1986 Boston Red Sox, 1987 World Series champion Minnesota Twins and the '88
A's.
August 8, 2017 Page 41 of 52
Baylor was the Colorado Rockies' first manager in franchise history, guiding them to the first National
League wild-card berth in 1995. He managed nine seasons overall between the Rockies and Chicago
Cubs, posting a 627-689 record.
As recently as 2014, he served as Los Angeles Angels hitting coach but was not retained after one
season.
Don Baylor left his mark in baseball through strength and toughness
By Bob Nightengale
We knew this day was coming, but the tears still trickled down our cheeks.
We knew the pain he was in, but we still didn’t want him to leave us.
We knew that cancer was destroying his body, but we wanted to believe he could beat it.
We lost Don Baylor at the age of 68 on Monday morning. His size and strength were dwarfed by the
enormity of his heart.
“You try to prepare for this,’’ Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan said, “but it still hurts so bad,
and is shocking. He was a pretty special guy. People that didn’t know him, didn’t know how special he
was.
“He was a guy who always cared more about everyone else but himself. He kept a lot of that pain inside,
and didn’t tell anybody how he was hurting.’’
Baylor was the 1979 American League MVP and the 1995 NL Manager of the Year, but his baseball
accolades hardly begins to tell you the magnitude of the man.
This is a man who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 14 years ago. When he was first hospitalized
with the disease, Rocky Mountain News columnist Tracy Ringolsby wrote about it.
The next day Baylor angrily called him from the hospital room.
“What are you doing?’’ Baylor said. “Ever since you wrote that, I’m getting all of these flowers delivered
to my room and all of these phone calls. Don’t you think these nurses have things better to do than
taking time out of their day carrying flowers around?’’
Baylor, who played, coached and managed for 14 organizations, had that kind of impact on everyone
who came into contact with him.
Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker, who succeeded Baylor as manager of the Chicago Cubs in
2003, was one of the last to recently speak to him.
He called the hospital over the weekend, and Baylor’s wife, Becky, put the call on speaker phone,
placing it on her husband’s chest.
August 8, 2017 Page 42 of 52
Baylor, who barely talked the last few weeks, listened to Baker’s strong voice, and Baker told him how
much he loved him. Baker put the phone down, and wept.
“He was just such a leader of people’s lives, and impacted so many people,’’ said Minnesota Twins third
base coach Gene Glynn, who coached eight years on Baylor’s staff in Colorado and Chicago. “When
people first met him, they were probably in awe by his size. But if you were lucky enough to know him,
you saw the impact that he made on everyone. Everyone just gravitated to him.
“There was no one like him.’’
Bonnie Downing, a 16-year survivor of multiple myeloma, shared her own battle with Baylor after his
diagnosis, finally meeting him in person a few years ago in spring training. Yet, while Downing was a
spokesman for the disease, Baylor chose to silently fight the battle.
“He was so selfless,’’ Downing said, “that he didn’t want to be a spokesman about his own illness. He
wanted to instead talk about his work with Cystic Fibrosis. He said, “I can’t leave these kids.’ He was
more concerned about them than himself.
“I thought I would be ray of hope for him, and he gave me his strength.’’
Claire Smith, who wrote Baylor’s biography in 1990 - Don Baylor: Nothing But The Truth: A Baseball Life,
called Baylor the most honest person she’s ever met in baseball. If he couldn’t tell the truth, he would
simply not answer.
Baylor was trying everything possible to be at Smith’s July 30 induction speech into the writers’ wing of
the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y. Yet, his legs broken by the disease, he couldn’t travel. So Smith,
wearing a pin of Baylor during the Hall of Fame weekend, brought a portrait of Baylor to the stage, and
then took the speech to him last week in Austin.
Jeremy Kapstein, Baylor’s first agent, who remained close to him for 44 years, said: “Don had the heart
of a lion and true champion who always put others before himself as he gave so much to so many in and
out of baseball. He was the definition of a true angel.’’
It’s only fitting that Baylor will always be identified as an Angel, putting the California Angels on the map
when he joined the franchise as a free agent, leading them to their first postseason berth in 1979. He
won the AL MVP award that season, scoring 120 runs and driving in 139 runs - still a franchise record.
He will be remembered as one of baseball’s strongest leaders, a powerful force in the players union, and
the man who was the Colorado Rockies’ first manager, leading the franchise to the playoffs in 1995. He
is one of only four men in baseball history to win an MVP and Manager of the Year award.
“He was certainly the right guy to bring an expansion team together,’’ said Bob Gebhard, the Rockies’
inaugural general manager. “He laid the groundwork on what professional baseball needed to be in
Denver, and his impact still resonates with that franchise today.’’
August 8, 2017 Page 43 of 52
Baylor was also a pioneer, one of three kids who integrated public schools in Austin. He was the first
African-American athlete at Stephen F. Austin High School, and would have been the first African-
American football player at the University of Texas, too, until he rejected a football scholarship by
Darrell Royal to join the Baltimore Orioles.
“He opened a lot of doors for African-Americans in baseball, always trying to help,’’ Morgan said. “When
he became the manager of the Rockies, and had the success he did, he made it possible for others to get
a managerial opportunity.
“And when they succeeded, he was happier for them than himself.’’
Baylor concealed his pain and anguish from the disease for years, refusing to let anyone worry about
him.
“He may the toughest guy I was ever around,’’ Tigers and Dodgers World Series hero Kirk Gibson said.
“How he endured with what he had….Nobody would out-loyal Don Baylor.’’
Now, the pain is all gone, he is at peace, and we are left with indelible memories that will be cherished
forever.
Two of a kind: Bryce Harper, Mike Trout hit 150th career home run on exact age
Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels will always have
their careers compared to each other.
It's apparently for good reason. The two league MVPs and Rookie of the Year's like to match each other
in accomplishments, both on-and-off the field.
On Monday, Harper slugged his 150th career home run on the exact age -- 24 years, 295 days -- as Trout
did when hit hit No. 150.
.@Nationals star @Bharper3407 hits career HR No. 150 at 24 years, 295 days - exact
age @MikeTrout (who is 26 today) was when HE hit No. 150.
Harper led off the fourth against the Miami Marlins with his 29th home run over the right-field seats.
Harper, Trout: MLB's greatest story adds another chapter
Trout: Reaches 1,000 career hits
The two stars are nearly one year apart in age -- Harper turns 25 in October and Trout turned 26 on
Monday, in which he collected his 1,000th career hit.
Earlier last month, the two met in a regular season series for only the second time of their careers. The
two All-Stars traded home runs in the first inning of the game in Anaheim.
August 8, 2017 Page 44 of 52
FROM SB NATION
Mike Trout isn’t the fastest to 1,000 hits, but it’s still a historic feat
Mike Trout wasn’t the fastest or youngest to 1,000 hits. But he was faster and younger than almost
everyone ever.
By Marc Normandin
Mike Trout notched his 1,000th (and 1,001st) career hits on Monday, which also happened to be his
26th birthday. You never know where a baseball player is going to take his career in this rude-as-hell
sport that crushes dreams and the people who dare to have them. But racking up his first 1,000 hits
before he hit 30 years old is a great use of the time Trout has been given.
He’s not the fastest to 1,000 hits, nor is he the youngest to accomplish the feat. But that’s just fine.
Trout doesn’t have to be the absolute best at every single thing: He puts himself in the conversation for
enough things that his candidacy to eventually be the best ever remains.
Again, baseball is rude as hell, crushed dreams, etc., but you can see the path laid out before him, and if
he manages to avoid the traps and pitfalls and wild, hungry bears, maybe we’ll have something to talk
about on this topic 10 or 15 years from now.
Before we stray off the path ourselves, let’s get back to that 1,000th hit. Trout turned 26 Monday, but
his seasonal age is 25 — and the list of players who collected their 1,000th career hit during their age-25
season is an impressive one:
Players with 1,000 hits by age-25 season
Rank Player H From To Age G
1 Ty Cobb 1433 1905 1912 18-25 1021
2 Mel Ott 1249 1926 1934 17-25 1136
3 Al Kaline 1200 1953 1960 18-25 1051
4 Freddie Lindstrom 1186 1924 1931 18-25 944
5 Vada Pinson 1177 1958 1964 19-25 962
6 Alex Rodriguez 1167 1994 2001 18-25 952
7 Robin Yount 1153 1974 1981 18-25 1084
August 8, 2017 Page 45 of 52
Rank Player H From To Age G
8 Hank Aaron 1137 1954 1959 20-25 886
9 Jimmie Foxx 1127 1925 1933 17-25 959
10 Buddy Lewis 1112 1935 1941 18-24 895
11 Orlando Cepeda 1105 1958 1963 20-25 920
12 Joe Medwick 1101 1932 1937 20-25 788
13 Cesar Cedeno 1097 1970 1976 19-25 970
14 Mickey Mantle 1080 1951 1957 19-25 952
15 Rogers Hornsby 1073 1915 1921 19-25 858
16 Sherry Magee 1062 1904 1910 19-25 984
17 Edgar Renteria 1061 1996 2002 19-25 990
18 Arky Vaughan 1057 1932 1937 20-25 849
19 Roberto Alomar 1054 1988 1993 20-25 914
20 Ken Griffey 1039 1989 1995 19-25 917
21 Miguel Cabrera 1022 2003 2008 20-25 880
22 Stuffy McInnis 1020 1909 1916 18-25 892
23 Mike Trout 1001 2011 2017 19-25 879
Baseball-Reference
From 1901 through Monday, just 23 players have managed to reach 1,000 career hits during their age-
25 campaign. Maybe 23 doesn’t sound incredible because it’s not a single-digit number of a list of one.
But 10,707 non-pitchers are listed in Baseball-Reference’s database as having picked up a bat between
August 8, 2017 Page 46 of 52
1901 and now. Trout is one of just 23 of those to reach 1,000 hits before their age-25 season ends. Just
0.21 percent of players have done what he’s managed. That’s as good as any single-digit rank.
Or let’s look at this another way.
Trout picked up 1,000 hits while he was, in baseball years, 25 years old. Since 1913, MLB has seen 1,449
non-pitchers make their debut on or after their 26th birthday, out of 9,815 non-pitchers who took the
field in that stretch, total. Trout reached 1,001 hits before 15 percent of all baseball players of the last
104 years who had even gotten started on their own careers.
Look, too, at what the players who have done this during the more modern era of MLB have gone on to
do in their careers. Miguel Cabrera is just 34, but he’d be a Hall of Famer if he retired today given his 15
years of dominance. Alex Rodriguez might irk you, but he’s also an inner-circle talent who stuck around
for 22 years and finished just shy of being only the fourth player ever with at least 700 homers. Ken
Griffey Jr., Roberto Alomar, and Robin Yount are all Hall of Famers.
Edgar Renteria is the only oddity in this time frame, but he also started when he was 19 and reached
1,000 hits about the same time he was any good — no one was confusing him for the rest of this bunch
even as he neared 1,000 hits.
This is probably also a good time to point out that while Trout’s achievement has been more of a rarity
in modern baseball — the ‘50s alone had five guys debut who would manage 1,000 hits before their age-
25 season ended — Bryce Harper is right there nearing the same threshold. Given Harper’s missed time
in 2014 and a down 2016, he’ll be hard-pressed to get there, as he sits at 779 hits. A strong finish to
2017, though, and a 2018 a lot like it, and we might be looking at 24 players on this exclusive list.
FROM THE GAZETTE
Woody Paige: Don Baylor never backed down in baseball or his fight with cancer
By Woody Paige
DENVER - Don Baylor was a players' manager, but, even more importantly, a man's man.
He never backed off or backed down from anything or anyone. He didn't quit on a pitch or cancer.
Baylor was the best. He was one of only four men in the history of baseball to become both an MVP and
Manager of the Year.
So sadly, it was announced Monday that Baylor, the Rockies' first manager (for six seasons) passed
away, battling to the end just as he did for all 68 years of his life.
I always will remember three conversations that revealed the man.
August 8, 2017 Page 47 of 52
"I will never go off the record with you," he once told me during the Rockies' first spring training camp of
1993. I was taken aback. All other coaches and managers I've covered would go "off the record" and talk
about a player, a situation, a potential trade, even their bosses. "I may not tell you everything I know,
but what I do tell you will be honest."
He was no B.S. artist, egomaniac or gossip monger. He was straight on.
He protected his players just as he protected the plate. When Baylor retired after 19 seasons as an
honored, respected player in the major leagues, he had been hit by a pitch a record 267 times. He never
backed away.
Baylor was 6-foot-1 and weighed 190 pounds, but he loomed larger in life. He seemed so big, so
intimidating and so strong, especially to opposing pitchers and to reporters and even to his players. But
in truth, he was nice to fans, kind to kids, friendly to everyone in and around baseball, and was a
gentleman and a gentle man.
In a second conversation that first season, Baylor said to me: "We're not a great team. We are an
expansion team. But we will be a good team, a team that plays hard and correct, and I guarantee you we
will not lose 100 games."
Ralph Vogt has his Boston Red Sox cap autographed by Don Baylor during the Rockies Caravan stop at
the Dugout store on Academy Blvd. Monday afternoon, Jan. 9,1994. Vogt has more than a passing
connection with the Red Sox, his grand-nephew Scott Cooper is a 3rd baseman for the team. Smiley
photo
On Sept. 8, 1993, the Rockies were 37 games out of first place with a 53-87 record and were destined to
lose 100 games or more. I had witnessed about 125 games up until then and wrote that day about how
dreadful the Rockies were. Baylor approached me and said: "It's a long season." I remembered one of
my favorite all-time baseball books, "The Long Season," written by major league pitcher Jim Brosnan,
detailing the 1959 season. (I was 13 then, and Baylor was 10.)
"There are ebbs and flows, and you can't just overreact to five or six games. We still have a lot of
season," he told me.
The Rockies won eight of their next nine games and finished the season with 14 victories in 22 games.
The inaugural record was 67-95.
Baylor had been right. The Rockies refused to lose 100.
When I mentioned I had been wrong, Baylor smiled behind his mustache. And I've never forgotten the
ebbs and flows, and try not to judge on one long road trip or a bad streak.
In 1994, baseball had a major strike interruption, and the Rockies played only 97 games. They were 53-
64. The impasse between players and owners carried into the following season, and the Rockies played
144 games.
August 8, 2017 Page 48 of 52
They won 77 and lost 67 in their first season at Coors Field and became a wild card team in the
postseason in just their third year of existence. Baylor had done a remarkable job and was runaway for
manager of the year in only in his third season.
In 1996 and 1997 the Rockies posted identical winning records of 83-79. With great expectations, the
Rockies fell to 77-85, and Baylor was fired. Maybe it was time. Perhaps he had taken the Rox as far as he
could.
But Baylor still remains the first and best manager the Rockies ever had. And he would return briefly as
their hitting coach.
He had taken a bunch of castoffs and misfits and some kids - Andres Galarraga, Dante Bichette,
converted shortstop Vinny Castilla (who became an All-Star third baseman), Eric Young and Charlie
Hayes - and a pitching staff that was erratic at best and horrible at worst - and turned them into a real
major league team, not that "Major League" fictional team in Cleveland or the old expansionist New
York Mets.
I go back to the short playoff series against the Atlanta Braves. Baylor got stuck in the sixth inning of a
close game and lifted Castilla for a pinch-runner.
In the ninth the manager was left with no position players to pinch-hit, so he was forced to send a
pitcher to the plate. And the Rockies lost a game they could have won. I butchered Baylor afterward. He
didn't care. He told me so. "You have a job. I have one. We both do our jobs."
But catcher-captain Joe Girardi wasn't accepting. In the clubhouse the next day he was all over me,
screaming and hollering and poking his finger in my chest as the other players watched and waved him
on. I took it.
Outside the clubhouse, Girardi came up to me and apologized. "I had to do that for the players, but I
really wanted to do that for Don.
"He is a great manager and a great man, and he didn't deserve that. I always will stand up for him."
Girardi would go on to become a successful manager. Baylor would go on to manage the Cubs from
2000-2002 and spent most of the rest of his life serving as a coach and battling cancer. From 1970-2015,
he played, coached and managed 16 major league franchises for more than 5,000 games.
Don Baylor was the manager and the man.
August 8, 2017 Page 49 of 52
FROM MLB.COM
Baylor was an MVP player and person
By Tracy Ringolsby
I didn't even cry when my father died, as important as he was to me, and as special of a relationship as
we had.
Dang, Don Baylor. Can't believe you made me do it.
I don't have a particular memory of the first time I met Baylor, just four decades of memories of what a
special person he was and how he impacted the lives of so many.
Baylor never backed down from any challenge, not even multiple myeloma, which he battled for 14
years before passing away at the age of 68 on Monday morning.
This is a man who, as a junior high school student, was one of three kids who integrated public schools
in Austin, Texas, in the 1960s. Baylor was the first African-American athlete at Stephen F. Austin High
School, and to the day of his death, his high school baseball coach, Frank Seale, was an important part of
Baylor's life.
Never did a key event in Baylor's life -- from All-Star Games to World Series to Spring Training -- occur
without Frank and Anne Seale in attendance. Baylor never forgot the impact Seale had in helping him
deal with the challenges he faced in integrating the Texas education system.
Baylor was even the first African-American who Darrell Royal offered a full ride to play football at the
University of Texas. Baylor, however, was a baseball player at heart, which was fortunate for me,
because it was through baseball that this writer from Cheyenne, Wyo., and Baylor became friends. We
could not have had more different backgrounds, but I would doubt that many, if any, developed a
stronger bond than Baylor and myself.
We became acquainted in the late 1970s, when Baylor played for the Angels and I covered them. We
never lost contact while I moved on to Seattle and Kansas City and Dallas, and he went on to play for the
Yankees, Red Sox,Twins and A's.
And then we were together again in Colorado, where I was hired the year before the Rockies played
their first game, and the next fall he was hired as the first manager in Rockies history.
What kind of person was Baylor? Well, he played in the World Series each of his final three big league
seasons with different teams -- the Red Sox, Twins and A's. Why? He had that special karma in a
clubhouse. He could keep everyone focused on what mattered and not the petty whining that can
sidetrack a team.
And Baylor was willing to take the bullet to make sure nobody got lost along the way.
August 8, 2017 Page 50 of 52
It was the final days of the 1979 season. The Angels were battling for the first postseason trip in the
history of a franchise that was created out of expansion in 1961. They were playing the three-time
defending American League West champion Royals in Kansas City, holding a three-game lead with 11
games to play.
Nolan Ryan was pitching for the Angels, and he retired the first two batters in the fourth. Then came a
bunt single by Willie Wilson and another single by Hal McRae. George Brett hit a routine ground ball to
short that went between Jimmy Anderson's legs, and the Royals wound up with three unearned runs in
what became a 6-4 win.
After the game, the media was crowded around the 22-year-old Anderson's locker, reliving that critical
play over and over again. All of a sudden, Baylor's voice was heard, and the table in the middle of the
clubhouse with the postgame meal was turned over. The media forgot all about Anderson and raced to
Baylor's locker.
After he answered questions the rest of the media members departed.
"OK," I said, knowing how out of character the actions were, "What's up?"
Baylor smiled.
"That kid is our shortstop, and we need him if we are going to win," said Baylor. "We don't need him
having to relive that play. We need him to look ahead."
He paused.
"I got the attention off him, didn't I?" Baylor said.
He did. Oh, and the visiting clubhouse attendant was quick to mention to me as I left the clubhouse,
"You know 'Groove.' He gave me more than double the cost of that meal."
Don Baylor. He wasn't afraid to take the heat. And he wasn't about to take advantage of anyone.
What kind of guy was Don Baylor? When he was first diagnosed with cancer, I wrote a piece for the
Rocky Mountain News in which I mentioned that Baylor, the first manager in franchise history, was at a
certain hospital. The phone rang the next morning. Baylor was calling.
Baylor was upset I wrote the article.
"You were the first manager in the history of the franchise, you took the Rockies to the playoffs in their
third year of existence," I explained. "You mean a lot to the people here. I felt your situation was
newsworthy."
Baylor paused before responding, "But you mentioned the hospital. People are sending all these flowers
and things. These nurses have so much work to do. They don't need to be carrying flowers around."
That was Don Baylor.
August 8, 2017 Page 51 of 52
It wasn't about him. Here he was, diagnosed with cancer, and he was concerned about any burden that
the nurses might be facing.
Baylor was such a perfect manager for the expansion Rockies. The first-year roster was a group of basic
castoffs from other organizations. And he quickly handed down rules, including coats and ties on every
road trip, and everybody would be standing on the top step of the dugout, as a team, for the national
anthem before every game.
"We are an expansion team," Baylor said. "People can think what they want, but we are going to be
professional. We are going to respect the game, and we are going to respect ourselves. We'll surprise
people."
And in the third year of the franchise's existence, it was in the postseason -- quicker than any team up
until that time.
Baylor was dismissed by the Rockies after the 1998 season and hired to be the hitting coach for the
Atlanta Braves. The Braves came to Colorado for a series with the Rockies in early April, and the topic of
conversation at Coors Field among the ushers, the ticket takers, the receptionists and secretaries was,
"Don and [his wife] Becky are going to be here tonight."
And Baylor arrived early so he would have time to see the ushers, the ticket takers, the receptionists and
secretaries.
Longtime baseball exectutive Chris Rice was one of those people.
"I used to say, 'I would take a bullet for Don Baylor,'" said Rice, whose baseball career began with the
expansion Royals in 1968, included being a part of the expansion Rockies and is now finishing her career
reunited again with John Schuerholz in Atlanta. "A bullet would bounce off him, but I would take one for
him anyway."
That was Baylor. In life or at the ballpark, everybody was part of the team. There was no class
distinction. To him, all people were truly created equal, and all people deserved respect.
Ellis Burks came to the Rockies as a free agent, because he wanted to play for Baylor, who was his
teammate with Boston in 1987.
Burks remembered being a rookie, and being hazed by veterans until Baylor, who came to the Red Sox
from the Yankees the previous season, called out the veterans. He made it clear that Burks was a
teammate and was just as important to the team's success as every other player.
"He made his point, and nobody was going to challenge him," said Burks.
Hit by a pitch 267 times in his career -- more than any modern player who didn't wear padding -- Baylor
charged the mound only twice. Both times he was hit in the head. The other times?
August 8, 2017 Page 52 of 52
"I'd send a message through the second baseman or shortstop, whoever was covering second when I
stole the bases," Baylor said with a smile.
Every time?
"I remember when I was traded from the Orioles to the A's," Baylor explained. "Bobby Grich and I were
the first- and second-round picks in the same Draft, and were roommates from rookie ball to the big
leagues. He is my son's godfather.
"The Orioles come to town, and I get hit by a pitch. I looked across the infield and Bobby's staring at me,
like `You aren't going to, are you?' I just nodded yes. He was on the other team."
And Baylor was a team guy, at the ballpark, and in life in general.
Baylor had so much respect from everyone whose life he touched, because he respected every person
and the challenges they faced in life.
