Don Baylor was the Cardinals’ hitting coach in 1992. He was one of the best.
In 1991, the Cardinals went without a hitting coach. The duties were shared by manager Joe Torre and bench coach Red Schoendienst.
After the 1991 season, Torre and Baylor were participating in infielder Jose Oquendo’s golf tournament in Puerto Rico. Baylor had spent the 1990 and 1991 seasons as a coach on Brewers manager Tom Trebelhorn’s staff. When the Brewers fired Trebelhorn, Baylor applied to become manager and appeared to be a leading candidate, but the job went to Phil Garner.
Torre quietly approached Baylor at Oquendo’s golf tournament and invited him to become the Cardinals’ hitting coach. Baylor had hit 338 home runs and had 1,276 RBI in a 19-year American League playing career (1970-88).
According to a report by Rick Hummel in The Sporting News, Baylor had interviewed for the Cardinals managerial job in 1990 before it went to Torre. Baylor was impressed Torre wouldn’t feel his job security was threatened by having him on the staff.
Baylor’s impact was substantial. Outfielders Ray Lankford and Bernard Gilkey, in particular, blossomed under Baylor’s instruction. Lankford, who hit .251 with 9 home runs and 69 RBI in 1991, improved to .293, 20 homers and 86 RBI under Baylor in 1992. He led the Cardinals in 13 offensive categories that season. Gilkey’s batting average jumped from .216 in 1991 to .302 in 1992.
The 1992 Cardinals led the National League in batting average (.262) and hits (1,464) and ranked third in on-base percentage (.323).
After the season, the expansion Rockies hired Baylor to be their first manager. “We will miss his leadership and expertise,” Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill said of Baylor. “His importance to the Cardinals was demonstrated by the development of our young hitters last season, especially Lankford.”
The Cardinals replaced Baylor with Chris Chambliss.
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