Bob Collins
Don Baylor wasn’t with the Twins very long. He was a late-season pickup (from the Boston Red Sox) for a team trying to win a pennant. He was 38 by then without much left in the tank. He played only 20 regular season games here.
But he also played in a World Series and had 5 hits in 5 games.
In game six against the Cardinals, the Twins trailed St. Louis, 5-3, when Baylor homered to tie the game at 5. The Twins went on to win that game, and game seven for their first World Series championship.
Baylor died today. He was only 68. Cancer got him.
That year with the Twins is also the year he broke the all-time record for getting hit by a pitch.
There’s one other memory about Baylor. It’s the last time I saw him in uniform. He got hurt while catching a ceremonial first pitch.
As I’ve said before, nothing makes you feel older than the death of the baseball players of your youth.
