Up on the blog today, a fun card from my "Minor League Days" Series One release a few months back, the special checklist card featuring the 1970 "Minor League Player of the Year" Don Baylor of the Rochester Red Wings:
Baylor
was an up-and-coming stud for the Baltimore Orioles when he took home
the award after a brilliant season that saw him hit .327 with 22 homers,
107 runs batted in and 26 stolen bases.
He'd
follow that up with another great year in Rochester in 1971, hitting
.313 with 20 homers and 95 "ribbies", along with 25 steals.
When he finally got a shot at the "big time", Baylor had himself a nice rookie campaign in 1972, hitting 11 home runs while
also stealing 24 bases in only 102 games and 320 at-bats for the
Baltimore Orioles, and getting named to the Topps all-rookie team for
his efforts.
It was just a small glimpse of what was to come as he would go on to hit 338 home runs during his career, with 285 stolen bases thrown in to make him a legitimate double-threat.
During the course of his career, he’d hit as many as 36 home runs, during his AL MVP 1979 season while with the California Angels, while stealing as many as 52 bases, in his lone season with the Oakland A’s in 1976 after being traded for Reggie Jackson.
He would also finish his career in a great way, reaching the World Series the last three seasons, each as a member of a different team: Boston Red Sox in 1986, Minnesota Twins in 1987 and Oakland A’s in 1988.
I loved his time with the New York Yankees from 1983 to 1985, teamed up with Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly to give them quite the offensive trio.
RIP “Groove”.
It was just a small glimpse of what was to come as he would go on to hit 338 home runs during his career, with 285 stolen bases thrown in to make him a legitimate double-threat.
During the course of his career, he’d hit as many as 36 home runs, during his AL MVP 1979 season while with the California Angels, while stealing as many as 52 bases, in his lone season with the Oakland A’s in 1976 after being traded for Reggie Jackson.
He would also finish his career in a great way, reaching the World Series the last three seasons, each as a member of a different team: Boston Red Sox in 1986, Minnesota Twins in 1987 and Oakland A’s in 1988.
I loved his time with the New York Yankees from 1983 to 1985, teamed up with Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly to give them quite the offensive trio.
RIP “Groove”.
