DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1972 DON BAYLOR

Good day all. On the blog we have a 1972 Dedicated Rookie" for Don Baylor, to go with my 1971 Dedicated Rookie created years ago:

Baylor had two straight years of multi-player rookie cards before becoming a regular Major League ballplayer, getting his first solo card in the 1973 set.

As a young teen in NYC in the early 1980's, I can tell you Baylor was a favorite of ours in the schoolyards of Brooklyn for his hard-nosed play. He was cool as a cucumber, yet as likable as you can be when we'd see him at baseball card shows around town. Besides, he looked bad-ass standing there at the plate, upright and waiting to crush a ball into the stands. He finished his 19-year career in 1988, playing for his third straight American League Champion team, and all three were different: Red Sox in '86, Twins in '87, and the A's in 1988. Of those, the Twins brought home the title, giving Baylor his only Championship ring as somewhat of a "regular player". He retired with over 2000 hits, 330 homers, 285 stolen bases and over 1200 runs scored and runs batted in. In 1979 he exploded while with the Angels, bringing home the American league Most Valuable Player Award after slamming 36 home runs while leading the league in runs scored (120) and runs batted in (139), while hitting .296 with 22 stolen bases thrown in. Of course, he'll also be remembered as one of the key components in the Orioles-A's trade that sent Reggie Jackson to Baltimore in April of 1976. But by the time he hung up his cleats for good, he put together a very solid career himself, even winning the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1995 while steering the Colorado Rockies to a 77 and 67 record (good for second place). Here's to you "Groove"! 

REVISITING A POST FROM 2014: DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1971 DON BAYLOR

Good day everyone!

Thought it'd be fun to revisit my post from 2014, a "dedicated rookie" for Don Baylor, a favorite player of mine from my youth as I followed the New York Yankees in the mid-80's:

 

Nice shot of the slugger as he began what ended up being an excellent Major League career spanning almost two decades.

Here's the original write-up:

Let's go and give Don Baylor a dedicated rookie card in the 1971 set, where he originally shared a multi-player rookie card with Tom Paciorek and Dusty Baker.

Now while his original rookie wasn't too shabby a card, I found this nice image of Baylor during his very early years and decided to whip up a 1971 card for him. Some of you may wonder about his uniform! But if you notice all the late-series Orioles players in that 1971 set were photographed with the "new" Baltimore uniform, which Baylor is wearing on this card. As a young teen in NYC in the early 1980's, I can tell you Baylor was a favorite of ours in the schoolyards of Brooklyn for his hard-nosed play. He was cool as a cucumber, yet as likable as you can be when we'd see him at baseball card shows around town. Besides, he looked bad-ass standing there at the plate, upright and waiting to crush a ball into the stands. He finished his 19-year career in 1988, playing for his third straight American League Champion team, and all three were different: Red Sox in '86, Twins in '87, and the A's in 1988. Of those, the Twins brought home the title, giving Baylor his only Championship ring as somewhat of a "regular player". He retired with over 2000 hits, 330 homers, 285 stolen bases and over 1200 runs scored and runs batted in. In 1979 he exploded while with the Angels, bringing home the American league Most Valuable Player Award after slamming 36 home runs while leading the league in runs scored (120) and runs batted in (139), while hitting .296 with 22 stolen bases thrown in. Of course, he'll also be remembered as one of the key components in the Orioles-A's trade that sent Reggie Jackson to Baltimore in April of 1976. But by the time he hung up his cleats for good, he put together a very solid career himself, even winning the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1995 while steering the Colorado Rockies to a 77 and 67 record (good for second place). Here's to you "Groove"! 

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 A.L. HOME RUNS

Up on the blog today, we head on over to the American League for their top three home run hitters of 1978, proudly displayed on a 1979 “expanded league leader” card in my long-running thread:

 

Of course we begin with the A.L. MVP himself, a man who not only led the league with his 46 home runs, but also mind-blowingly led the league with his 15 triples, Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Jim Rice, who had an all-world season in 1978.

Let’s see, all Rice did that year was score 121 runs, collect 213 hits, collect 86 extra base hits, drive in 139 runs and hit a cool .315 while becoming the only player in the decade to top 400 total bases, with 406.

The man was a complete stud, helping the Red Sox go to the wire before falling to the New York Yankees in their 163^rd game for the A.L. East title. Certainly not any fault of his own!

While many think of Rice as a premier power hitter, they can often forget that over the course of his career he collected 200+ hits four times, while hitting .300+ seven times! Just an amazing player who rightfully got his spot in Cooperstown after retirement.

In second place with 34 home runs, the man who would end up taking home the league MVP Award in 1979, California Angels thumper Don Baylor, who also scored 103 runs while driving in 99, giving everyone a prelude to his monster 1979 campaign that would see him hit 36 homers with 139 RBIs and 120 runs scored.

I loved Baylor during his tenure with the New York Yankees between 1983 and 1985!

A great hitter who could also steal a base for you, as evidenced by his 285 career steals, including 52 in 1976 in his only season with the Oakland A’s. As a matter of fact Baylor would top 20 steals in a season eight times in his career, something you’d never think was possible seeing he was built like a tank.

Tied with Baylor with 34 homers in 1978, Milwaukee Brewers slugger Larry Hisle, who had a very nice first season for his new team after coming over from the Minnesota Twins.

Hisle also scored 96 runs while driving in 115, this a year after driving in a league leading 119 in 1977, while hitting a very nice .290.

Sadly for him, he would suffer a torn rotator cuff in 1979, effectively ending his career, playing only 79 games over the final four years of his career before retiring in 1982.

Well there you have it, the top-3 home run hitters in the A.L. for 1978, on an “expanded” 1979 league-leader card.

1971 MINOR LEAGUE DAYS: DON BAYLOR CHECKLIST SPECIAL

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”.

A MISSED ROOKIE CUP: 1973 DON BAYLOR

Up next in the “Missing Rookie Cup” thread is a revised 1973 card for “Groove” Don Baylor, who was just starting an excellent Major League career that would last 19 seasons:

Baylor had himself a nice rookie campaign, 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.
I still can’t believe he passed away last Summer. Great man and great player. RIP “Groove”.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "GROOVE" DON BAYLOR

“Groove”, what an awesome nickname, and that’s the moniker given to one of my favorite Yanks during my high school years, former slugger and good-guy Don Baylor:

Of course, by the time he came to the Bronx he was already an established star of the game, even taking home the American League MVP in 1979 after a monster year where he led the league with both 120 runs scored and 139 runs batted in.
Heck, the guy even stole as many as 52 bases one season, back in 1976 in his only year with the Oakland A’s after getting sent there from Baltimore as part of the blockbuster Reggie Jackson deal.
I just always loved his quiet way about things, especially during the insane George Steinbrenner years!
I hated that the Yanks traded him to Boston (of all places) straight up for Mike Easler. Not knocking Easler by any means! But Baylor was well-liked by a ton of us kids in NYC back then.
Anyway, I chose the 1979 format for his nickname card to celebrate his MVP year.
While looking over his career I was shocked, and STILL am, that he was named to only ONE all-star team over his excellent 19-year career! Can you believe that?
Only during his 1979 season was Baylor on the all-star team, which to be seems unbelievable since he was consistently a very good hitter, and well-liked around the league.
How he was never even a reserve over the years baffles me.
The late, great Don Baylor, who sadly passed away this past year at the age of only 68. Here’s to you “Groove”!
R.I.P.

TRADED: 1976 DON BAYLOR

Let’s go and give Don Baylor a 1976 “Traded Card” since he was a part of one of the all-

time blockbusters, especially of the decade:

Of course we all know that the trade I’m talking about was the one where Ken Holtzman and Reggie Jackson went over to Baltimore for Baylor and Mike Torrez, among others.
Turns out Baylor would have a solid season for the A’s, but would only play there for one year before becoming a Free Agent and heading South to the California Angels where he would star for the next six years, including a monster MVP season in 1979.
After three solid seasons for the New York Yankees from 1983-1985 he’d play for Boston, Minnesota and back for Oakland between 1986 and 1988 to close out an excellent 19-year career that saw him top 2000 hits, 1200 runs scored, 330 homers, 1200 runs batted in and 280 stolen bases.
Look for my “Groove” nickname card in the near future!

WHAT IF? A DON BAYLOR 1977 OAKLAND A'S CARD

Allow me some latitude here with my newest card creation: a 1977 Topps Oakland A’s card since he never appeared on a card as an Oakland Player:

Baylor put in a solid year in his only season as an Oakland player. First off he had his career high in stolen bases when he swiped 52, along with the rest of the team who combined to steal 341 for the year! Incredible.
He also chipped in 85 runs scored, 15 homers and 68 runs batted in while (of course) leading the league in hit-by-pitch with 20.
As we all know he would appear as a California Angels player in the 1977 set since he signed with them after the 1976 season as one of the earlier Free Agents.
And since he was part of the (in)famous Reggie Jackson trade in April of 1976, he was still depicted as a Baltimore Oriole in the 1976 set (watch for my “traded” card for this in the near future).
Just one of those cards that I always wanted to create and post up here because of the quirk in timing with his transactions and Topps deadlines for filling out their sets.
Hope this fills in a gap of sorts for some of you out there!

DEDICATED "ROOKIE CARDS" #12: 1971 DON BAYLOR

Let's go and give Don Baylor a dedicated rookie card in the 1971 set, where he originally shared a multi-player rookie card with Tom Paciorek and Dusty Baker.

Take a look at my custom 1971 Don Baylor card:

Now while his original rookie wasn't too shabby a card, I found this nice image of Baylor during his very early years and decided to whip up a 1971 card for him.

Some of you may wonder about his uniform! But if you notice all the late-series Orioles players in that 1971 set were photographed with the "new" Baltimore uniform, which Baylor is wearing on this card.

As a young teen in NYC in the early 1980's, I can tell you Baylor was a favorite of ours in the schoolyards of Brooklyn for his hard-nosed play.

He was cool as a cucumber, yet as likable as you can be when we'd see him at baseball card shows around town.

Besides, he looked bad-ass standing there at the plate, upright and waiting to crush a ball into the stands.

He finished his 19-year career in 1988, playing for his third straight American League Champion team, and all three were different: Red Sox in '86, Twins in '87, and the A's in 1988.

Of those, the Twins brought home the title, giving Baylor his only Championship ring as somewhat of a "regular player".

He retired with over 2000 hits, 330 homers, 285 stolen bases and over 1200 runs scored and runs batted in.

In 1979 he exploded while with the Angels, bringing home the American league Most Valuable Player Award after slamming 36 home runs while leading the league in runs scored (120) and runs batted in (139), while hitting .296 with 22 stolen bases thrown in.

Of course, he'll also be remembered as one of the key components in the Orioles-A's trade that sent Reggie Jackson to Baltimore in April of 1976.

But by the time he hung up his cleats for good, he put together a very solid career himself, even winning the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1995 while steering the Colorado Rockies to a 77 and 67 record (good for second place).

Here's to you "Groove"!

"HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1970'S" #34: THE OAKLAND A'S BURN UP THE BASE PATHS IN 1976

I'm STILL amazed all these years later by that 1976 Oakland A's team that absolutely ran wild on the base paths on their way to a (still) American League record of 341 stolen bases!

So I created a 1977 "Highlights" card celebrating the feat. Take a look:

Even though they were still considered a team with "pop" with sluggers Sal Bando, Gene Tenace and Joe Rudi in the line-up, they featured no less than EIGHT players who stole 20 or more bases that year!

As a matter of fact, those 341 stolen bases were almost a MAJOR League record, falling just 6 behind the 1911 New York Giants for most Post-1901.

Bill North (who ended up leading the league with 75), Bert Campaneris and Don Baylor paced the team, combining for 181 steals between them!

In addition to that mighty trio, Claudell Washington, Phil Garner, Larry Lintz, Sal Bando and Matt Alexander joined them with 20 or more steals.

Incredible.

I remember when the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals were stealing bases at a record pace, with rookie Vince Coleman leading the way.

But they fell short of the '76 A's, ending up with 314 steals, though STILL an impressive number to say the least.

AIRBRUSHING THE OAKLAND A'S AWAY IN 1977

The free-agent "boom", and the trades resulting from it, caused a ton of bad airbrushing in the '77 set league-wide. But I was drawn to an unusually large number of former teammates that were part of this group: former Oakland A's.
For any fans of the A's in the mid-70's, it must have been brutal watching the mass exodus of such an awesome three-peating dynasty pretty much all in one fell-swoop, either by trade or free-agency.
After Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson left before the 1975 and 1976 seasons respectively, the true dismantling occurred during the off-season between '76 and '77, when no less than SIX star players were wearing another teams uniform for opening day.
Because of the madness of all this player shuffling, Topps had their hands full with all of these former A's, having to airbrush their cards to stay up to date with the players new team depictions.
Of course, with an already shaky hand at the airbrushing game, the added rush of players to "fix" only added to the mess, and we were presented with some funny cards for the history books.
Check out some of the cards here:

The Rudi card was actually a great job of airbrushing. But just look at that Bando card! Hilarious. Looks like some bad decal of a cap was slapped on top of the original photo, and then colored in with crayon.
Even though he wasn't actually part of the dynasty A's teams, Don Baylor was on the team for the 1976 season, and his card is also a classic, with the Angels' logo not skewed correctly, giving us a twisted perspective only the Twilight Zone could have given us. Awesome!
Looking at all these guys, it truly drives home just how awesome those 1972-1974 A's teams were. Throw in Reggie and Catfish, and consider Vida Blue, Claudell Washington, Ken Holtzman, and even Blue Moon Odom, and you wonder what they could have done if they stayed together a bit longer.
Would have been great seeing this team grind it out against the "Big Red Machine" at THEIR peak just a couple years later in 1975-76.