Don Baylor, the 1979 American League Most Valuable Player and one of the best power hitters of his era, died Monday morning after a long battle with multiple myeloma. 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. His son, Don, Jr., first confirmed the death to Baylor’s hometown paper, the Austin American Statesman.
Baylor played in the majors for 19 years, mostly with the California Angels, and then with the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland A’s, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox.