BUENA PARK – You can count on Don Baylor, the Angels’ best acquisition of this offseason so far, to come back.
The former Angels All-Star outfielder took the podium earlier this month in front of a crowded Los Coyotes Country Club ballroom at the Angels Baseball Foundation 65 Roses dinner fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
This was the 35th annual event and Baylor’s 35th appearance. Every year since he lent his name and his fame to the cause in 1978, Baylor has faithfully made this trip from his home in Austin, Texas, or Venezuelan winter ball, or wherever his playing, coaching or managerial career had taken him.
So, on Nov. 3, as more than 300 supporters celebrated 35 years of research strides, the $5 million they have raised and the life expectancy of CF patients that has surged from 8 to 41 years, everyone warmly welcomed Baylor home for a longer stay.
“He’s returning to the Angels!” rejoiced emcee Ed Arnold, whose introduction of Baylor brought the crowd to its feet for a standing ovation.
The Angels last month hired Baylor, 64, as its hitting coach, bringing back a gracious, gentleman ballplayer who spent 19 years in the majors and 22 seasons as a coach and manager.
He has already gone to work, reaching out to the All-Stars. Shortly before the function, he had phone conversations with Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Howie Kendrick and left messages for Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo.
Stunningly absent from the postseason since 2009, the Angels are looking for redemption and reuniting with the slugger who first led them there in 1979 with an AL West title and an AL MVP award for Baylor.
“They say life’s a journey, one that I’m thrilled about,” said Baylor, who played for the Angels from 1977-82. “The circle is complete. I’m back where I belong.”
He left his job as hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks for the “great opportunity that I really didn’t think would even happen” with his former Angels, many people he knows and people he trusts.
Baylor was hired by Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto, the pitcher who was Baylor’s closer in 1997 and 1998 while he was manager of the Colorado Rockies (1993-98). He will work with Angels manager Mike Scioscia, Baylor’s longtime co-host of the 65 Roses dinner and golf tournament.
“Things happen for a reason,” said Scioscia at the podium. “What I’ve figured out is as an Angels ballclub and as an organization, we’ve struggled for four years. We have. But we got Don Baylor back.
“If we didn’t struggle, there was no way we were getting this guy back. … When you’re around good people, good things happen, and we expect Don to be a part of our next championship.”
Baylor, who signed a two-year contract with the Angels, described his baseball philosophy as a mix of teachings culled from his well-traveled playing days under Earl Weaver in Baltimore (1970-75), Gene Mauch with the Angels (1977-82), Billy Martin with the New York Yankees (1983-85) and Tony LaRussa in Oakland (1988).
He played 2,292 games for six teams, won a World Series with Minnesota in 1987, was a three-time Silver Slugger with the Yankees (1983, 1985) and Boston (1986), and finished his career with 338 home runs, 1,276 RBI and a .260 batting average.
But Baylor never forgets being in the minors in the Orioles farm system, listening to Joe Altobelli say, “The hardest thing that you’re going to have to do is watch somebody fail. But that’s the only way you can teach them because they’ll be grasping for what you need to give them.”
He understands struggles because he has had his own. He recalls his offensive funk in 1977 and working with Angels hitting coach Frank Robinson, the Hall of Famer and two-time MVP who helped transform him into an RBI machine. (He still holds the Angels’ single-season RBI record with 139 in 1979.)
When Baylor began his managerial career with the Rockies, he reconnected with Robinson who gave him a piece of advice: “Remember they’re not going to play like you played. Everybody is different so you need to adjust.”
So, Baylor has already begun adjusting, getting to know the formidable All-Star-studded Angels offense he wants to help live up to its reputation next season.
The potential reminds him of being an Angel in 1982 on that stacked, 93-victory team with three other MVPs in Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson and Fred Lynn, and nine players who tallied at least 100 hits.
“I see this (2014) team being able to do the same thing as we did back then, pounding guys with 51/2 runs a game,” Baylor said. “The club right now can scare people that way. People need to know the Angels aren’t going to be a doormat for anybody, and that’s the mentality, the swagger we have to have.”
He has been planning drills for spring training and knows that the Angels need to avoid the early-season power outages and slow starts of the past two seasons.
A priority will be working with five-time All-Star Hamilton, who was batting .220 through Aug. 10 before finishing his first Angels season with a career-low .250 average.
“We talked about how I’m going to try to get him back to where he was. You just don’t stumble into being the (2010 AL) MVP,” Baylor said. “I told him, ‘You’ve already gone through the rough part in that first year, trying to do so much. I’ve been there. I’ve done that.’”
Baylor and Hamilton shared stories about their families and their Texas homes. The new coach also told Hamilton about his 1977 season with the Angels when Bobby Grich and Joe Rudi got hurt “and I was the lone soldier out there, trying to do so much. I know how you felt, and we’re going to work on the mindset.’”
Hamilton was receptive, and Baylor encouraged.
At Los Coyotes, Baylor was joined by his former Orioles and Angels teammates, Grich and Doug Decinces, whose grandson, Beckett, 4, has cystic fibrosis. It was a night filled with hope.
“It’s like you’re getting the band back together,” Scioscia joked while Baylor, Grich and DeCinces posed for a photo.
There was no doubt Baylor would be here for this event. He always comes back.
Now Angels are counting on Baylor to help with their comeback.
Contact the writer: masmith@ocregister.com
