Dusty Baker remembers Don Baylor, spoke with him recently

Legendary power hitter Don Baylor died Monday of cancer at the age of 68.

He played 19 seasons of in the major leagues, earning the 1979 American League Most Valuable Player award and playing on the Twins' 1987 World Series championship club. Baylor played in one All-Star Game and earned three Silver Slugger Awards. He later managed the Rockies and Cubs, winning National League Manager of the Year in 1995.

I had the honor of working alongside Baylor on MASN's "Nats Xtra" and found him to be a very genuine and gracious co-host. He was always enthusiastic and generous in sharing so many fascinating stories and knowledge of the game from his illustrious career.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker talked about how his own career paralleled Baylor's for several seasons, just in opposite leagues. Baylor began his career with the Orioles in 1970.

Dusty-Baker-Nats-jacket-sidebar.jpg"We signed the same time," Baker said. "We were in Double-A against each other, Triple-A for two years. I was supposed to be the next Hank Aaron. He was the next Frank Robinson with the Orioles. We fought for batting titles all the way up. We played in Puerto Rico together.

"His first wife picked out my first wife's engagement ring. That was the first time I had ever gone to Baltimore, was when I drove up to see Donny. We both went to L.A. at approximately the same time."

Baker said he was fortunate enough to be able to speak with Baylor just this weekend. He knew that Baylor was not doing well.

"His wife called me on Saturday, and Claire Smith called me," Baker said. "She was there. I spoke to Donny. I learned that when somebody says call me back - a couple times he called me and I was going to wait til tomorrow, but that person died before I called back. So when somebody says call 'em, somebody's not doing well, you better call 'em right then. Because there's nothing worse than somebody calling and saying somebody's not doing well and they've died already. This is tough."

Baker found out today that Baylor had passed. He commented on how difficult a Monday it was around baseball with the news as well as concerning the passing of Phillies great Darren Daulton.

"His son called me today. Claire called me today and said Donny's gone," Baker continued. "I guess he passed around 4 o'clock this morning, and I could kind of feel it because I woke up to use the bathroom and knew something was wrong. The last time I had that feeling was when Bobby Welch died. It's a tough - we all tried to keep up with Donny. We used to play everything. I was a better basketball player, but he was a stronger baseball player. So this week, they say death travels in threes. I just found out Darren Daulton left and David Loewenstein, Al Rosen's kid, died last week and Lee May.

"I was just listening to Tupac today, and 'Death around the corner.' I don't know if you all know that song or not, but indeed, you just don't know how death is to all of us. Just treat each other right and try to do the right thing."




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