1979 AL MVP Don Baylor Deserves To Be On The Angels ‘Wall Of Fame’
Don Baylor Deserves His Day!
It was September 25th, 1979, a Tuesday night, a school night, and the beginning of my sophomore year in high school. I was a California Angels season ticket holder at the age of 15.
My parents gave me a pair of season tickets for Christmas back in December of 1978. It was the greatest gift ever! Anticipation filled the air that night, as the Angels were on the verge of doing something special, some 19 years since they started in California.
From “Yes We Can!” to “Yes We Did!”
There were 40,631 crazed fans in attendance and I was one of them. I remember the Angels were up 4-1 heading into the 9th inning. Frank Tanana was working on a complete game and I, along with my friend were working our way down toward the field in anticipation of the last out!
My season seats were in the terrace level, near home plate, on the first base side, so the field wasn’t that far away, but I wasn’t the only person thinking about storming the field once the final out was recorded.
Sure enough, Darrell Porter comes to the plate and pulls a ball down the first base line right at Rod Carew. Carew bobbles the ball, chases it down, and throws to Tanana just in time! Game Over, the Angels win the West! The “Yes We Can” chants that fueled us over the course of the season quickly turned to “Yes We Did!”
Dream Season
There were plenty of memorable moments during the 1979 season, but nobody made a greater impact than Don Baylor! I’m always amazed when I go to an Angel game and look up at the right field pavilion and see the names Jim Fregosi, Nolan Ryan, Gene Autry, Rod Carew, Jimmy Reese, and Jackie Robinson, but no Don Baylor! Don Baylor was the first Angel and designated hitter to win the Most Valuable Player Award, leading the team that clinched the American League West for the first time in the club’s existence.
Numbers Don’t Lie
During the 1979 campaign, Baylor played in all 162 games during the regular season. He scored 120 runs, collected 186 hits, 33 doubles, 3 triples, 39 home runs, 139 RBI, 22 stolen bases, and hit by pitch 18 times!
Over the course of six seasons with the Angels he collected 813 hits, 141 home runs, 523 RBI, and posted a .262 batting average. In comparison, Jim Fregosi played 11 seasons with the Angels, collected 1408 hits, 115 home runs, 546 RBI 6 All-Star appearances, and posted a .268 batting average.
Yes, Fregosi managed the Angels, which included the 1979 Angels, but his managerial record with the club was 237-248.
Don’t get me wrong, Jim Fregosi belongs up on that wall! He is what Angels baseball is all about, but so is Don Baylor. To further argue my point, Rod Carew collected 968 hits over seven seasons with the Halos, hit 18 home runs, 282 RBI, and had a .314 batting average.
Yes, Carew collected his 3000th hit with the Angels, but is getting your number retired a lifetime achievement award or an award for being part of the foundation from which the club was built upon.
65 Roses
Not only was Don Baylor the leader on the field for the Angels, but he was a pillar in the community as well! I remember Dick Enberg and Don Drysdale speaking of the “65 Roses Foundation” during games.
If I’m not mistaken, I once read that Baylor’s dentist asked him if he’d be willing to help out in a charity drive for cystic fibrosis. He learned about the disease and felt compelled to act and during the 1979 season he got 65 people to join the club and each pledged $10 for every home run up to 100, and a dollar for every home run after that.
Don Baylor has since created a golf tournament to raise money for cystic fibrosis and has raised in excess of $5 million dollars since 2012.
W.D.T.P.D.
What Did The Padres Do?
In looking at our neighbors down south, the Padres have retired Steve Garvey’s number, as well as Randy Jones. Garvey did far more with the Dodgers than he did with the Padres, but his time with San Diego was significant, but still far less than what Baylor did with the Angels.
Steve Garvey’s numbers were as follows: 5 years, .294 average, 61 HR, 316 RBI, with two All-Star appearances and a trip to the World Series in 1984. Randy Jones was a two time All-Star and in 1976 went 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA, earning him the Cy Young award. Based on those numbers, we should be including Bartolo Colon in this conversation, but that I’m not going to fight that fight.
Do The Right Thing!
With all this being said, I’m sure Vlad Guerrero, Tim Salmon, and Mike Trout will all have their day, but Don Baylor, along with Angel greats Nolan Ryan and Jim Fregosi belong on that wall. Don’t forget Baylor also won Manager of the Year with the Rockies in 1995 and came back to serve the Angels the past two seasons.
Don Baylor is an integral part of the Angels foundation. Let’s honor the man while he’s in our midst! I can give you 2,523,575 reasons why DON BAYLOR’S NUMBER SHOULD BE RETIRED and they all watched him play during the 1979 season!
Tom Duggan
Read more about my story by clicking here.
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