Don Baylor, Chicago Cubs' 1st Black Manager, Dies At 68

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Don Baylor, who was the Chicago Cubs first black manager and lead the team for three seasons, died Monday in a hospital in his hometown of Austin, Texas, following a long battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer that weakens the bones. He was 68.

"Don passed from this earth with the same fierce dignity with which he played the game and lived his life," his wife, Rebecca, said in a statement, according to ESPN.

A feared power hitter from 1970 to 1988, Baylor played for a variety of American League teams during his 19-season career, including the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, the then-California Angels and the Baltimore Orioles, the organization that originally drafted him in the second round in 1969. After his playing career ended, the slugger became the first manager for the expansion Colorado Rockies in 1993. He went on to become the first black manager in the Cubs' team history, compiling a 187–220 record with Chicago from 2000 to 2002. Baylor was fired midway through the 2002 season with a year and a half left on his four-year contract.

"The Cubs mourn the passing of former manager Don Baylor," the organization stated on its Twitter account Monday. "We send our condolences to his family and friends."

When the Cubs hired Baylor in the fall of 1999, he replaced Jim Riggleman, who was fired after posting a dismal 67-95 record for a last-place finish in the National League Central that year, the most losses for the team in nearly two decades. The record and team's performance didn't deter Baylor, though, who had been named NL Manager of the Year in 1995 after leading the Rockies to their first winning record and a wild card berth.

"There are Cubs fans all over the world," Baylor said at the 1999 team press conference that officially introduced him as manager. "Just think if we ever won here. I want to be part of it. It's not many times you are going to manage a franchise with great tradition like the Chicago Cubs."

His hiring also marked one of the first cases of news inadvertently leaking on the internet in the early days of the information superhighway. A story about Baylor that listed him as the Cubs' manager was accidentally posted on the team's website and discovered by reporters nearly a week before Chicago actually brought him on board, ESPN reported at the time.

“Today, baseball lost a genuine class act," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. "I join the City of Chicago in mourning the loss of Don Baylor, not just a great Cubs manager but a great man. He lived his life with the same unflinching toughness with which he approached the batter’s box — unafraid to take a hit. Baseball, and the world, has lost a respected clubhouse leader and an accomplished athlete with the rare distinction of playing in three consecutive World Series with three different teams. Amy and I send our prayers and condolences to the Baylor family.”

Fans and baseball observers went online Monday to offer condolences to Baylor's family and share their memories of the man, who didn't manage after the Cubs fired him but had stints as a hitting coach for multiple teams until 2015, including the Atlanta Braves, Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks:

Over his playing career as a first baseman, outfielder and designated hitter, Baylor not only earned a reputation for his big bat, but he also was known for using his muscular frame to crowd the plate and reach base after being hit by a pitch. He led the league in that category seven times, and he was plunked 35 times, a career high, in 1986 when he played for the Red Sox.

Baylor was named AL MVP in 1979 while he was with the Angels and won a World Series title with the Minnesota Twins in 1987, a year before retiring. He had a career .260 batting average, and he hit 338 home runs and drove in 1,276 runs as a major-leaguer.

In 2003, Baylor was diagnosed with multiple myeloma — also known as plasma cell myeloma — a cancer that attacks plasma cells, the white blood cells that produce antibodies. Advanced stages of the disease can include bone pain, bleeding and frequent infections. Baylor worked with Mel Stottlemyre, a former Yankees pitching and pitching coach, to help raise awareness of the cancer, according to ESPN.

Patch Editor Mike Carraggi also contributed to this report.

UPDATED (2:15 p.m. Monday, Aug. 7)

Chicago Cubs manager Don Baylor with the team in 2002. He managed the Cubs from 2000 to 2002. (Photo by M. Spencer Green | Associated Press)

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