Home Run Baker
Home Run Baker | ||
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Runs batted in | 991 | |
Teams | ||
Career highlights and awards | ||
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Member of the National | ||
Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
Induction | 1955 | |
Election method | Veterans Committee |
John Franklin "Home Run" Baker (March 13, 1886 – June 28, 1963) was an American professional baseball player. A third baseman, Baker played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922 for the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Yankees. Although he never hit more than 12 home runs in a season and hit only 96 in his major league career, Baker has been called the "original home run king of the majors".[1]
Baker was a member of the Athletics' $100,000 infield. He helped the Athletics win the 1910, 1911 and 1913 World Series. After a contract dispute, the Athletics sold Baker to the Yankees, where he and Wally Pipp helped the Yankees' offense. Baker appeared with the Yankees in the 1921 and 1922 World Series, though the Yankees lost both series, before retiring.
Baker led the
Early life
Baker was born on March 13, 1886, to Franklin Adams Baker and Mary Catherine (
Baker enjoyed working on his father's farm, but he aspired to become a professional baseball player from the age of ten. In Trappe, most of the residents attended the local baseball team's games on Saturdays.[5] Frank's older brother, Norman, was well known in the town for his playing ability. Norman once tried out for the Philadelphia Athletics, but he did not like that city and stopped pursuing a baseball career.[4]
Baker attended Trappe High School and played for their baseball team as a
In 1906, Baker played for Sparrows Point Club in Baltimore, earning $15 per week ($509 in current dollar terms). He received an offer to play for a team in the
Professional career
Minor leagues
A
In 1908, Baker began the season with the
Philadelphia Athletics
In a late season series against the Tigers in 1909,
In the 1910 season, Baker led the American League with 11 home runs in 1911, and batted .344.[2] Baker helped the Athletics win the 1910 World Series over the Chicago Cubs, four games to one, as he batted .409 in the five-game series.[12]
In the 1911 World Series, the Athletics faced off against the Giants. Based on Baker's past run-in with Cobb, Giants players believed they could intimidate him. Fred Snodgrass spiked Baker while sliding into third base in Game One, knocking the ball loose and requiring Baker to bandage his arm. In Game Two, Baker hit a go-ahead home run off Rube Marquard for an Athletics win. He hit a ninth-inning game-tying home run off Christy Mathewson in Game Three. Later in the game Snodgrass again attempted to spike Baker, but he was able to hold onto the ball and the Athletics won again.[2] A six-day delay between games as a result of rain, which turned Shibe Park into a "virtual quagmire", allowed Baker's feats to be magnified by the Philadelphia press, during which time he began to be referred to by the nickname "Home Run".[13] The Athletics defeated the Giants in six games, as Baker led the Athletics with a .375 batting average, nine hits and five RBIs in the series.[2][9]
Baker again led the American League in home runs in 1912, and led the league with 130 RBIs as well.
After the 1914 World Series, Mack began to sell off some of his best players[2] not including Collins, to whom he had given a multiyear contract during the regular season to prevent him from jumping to the upstart Federal League.[16] Baker, who had just completed the first year of a three-year contract, attempted to renegotiate his terms, but Mack refused.[20] Baker sat out the entire 1915 season as a result of this contract dispute.[21] He remained in baseball, playing for a team representing Upland, Pennsylvania, in the semi-professional Delaware County League.[2][22]
New York Yankees
Pressured by
Baker sat out of baseball during the 1920 season, as his wife died of scarlet fever. His two daughters were also affected, but they were able to recover.[2] Late in the 1920 season, Baker again played for Upland, and stated his desire to return to New York. He rejoined the Yankees in 1921, as the Yankees reached the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Missing the last six weeks of the 1921 season, Yankees' manager Miller Huggins started Mike McNally in his place. In the 1921 World Series, a best-of-nine series, Huggins opted to start McNally over Baker, though he wanted to be sure to take advantage of Baker's World Series experience.[26] The Giants defeated the Yankees five games to three; Baker played in only four of the eight games, though McNally struggled to a .200 batting average.[27]
In the 1922 season, Baker played in 66 games. Overshadowed by Babe Ruth as a home run hitter, Baker complained about the "rabbit ball", saying that the ball being used traveled much further than the ball used for the majority of his career.[2] The Yankees again faced the Giants in the World Series, losing four games to none. Baker received only one at bat in the 1922 World Series.[28] He finished his career as a Yankee with a .288 batting average, 48 home runs and 379 RBIs in 676 games.[29]
Managerial career
Following his retirement as a player, Baker managed the
Personal life
Baker was a modest man who never drank, smoked, or swore.
Baker and his wife had twin babies in late January 1914. The babies were reported as doing well a couple of days later, but they died before they were two weeks old. The twins were initially reported as being a boy and a girl by The New York Times, but they were reported as twin girls by the same publication a few days later.[32][33] After the 1919 season, his wife contracted scarlet fever and died.[2] He remarried, to Margaret Mitchell, after leaving the Yankees.[2]
In addition to working on his farm, Baker served Trappe as a member of the Trappe Town Board, a tax collector, and a volunteer firefighter. He was also a director of the State Bank of Trappe.[2] In 1924 Baker intervened to stop the lynching of a black man in Easton, Maryland who had assaulted Baker's sister-in-law.[34][35]
On June 28, 1963, Baker died about two weeks after having a stroke.[36] He was survived by his wife and two children from each of his two marriages.[37] He was interred in Spring Hill Cemetery in Easton, Maryland.[2]
Legacy
Though nicknamed "Home Run", Baker hit only 96 home runs in his career, and never more than 12 in a season as he played during the dead ball era.[9] Walter Johnson referred to Baker as "the most dangerous batter I ever faced."[9]
Baseball historian Bill James rated the 1914 edition of the $100,000 infield as the greatest infield of all time, and also ranked the 1912 and 1913 editions in the top five of all time.[38]
In 1955, the
Home Run Baker Park in his hometown of Trappe is named for him.[6]
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball home run records
- List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
- Major League Baseball titles leaders
References
- ^ "Home Run Baker Accepts Bid to Banquet Here: Oldtimers To Honor Swat King of Past". Reading Eagle. January 20, 1950. p. 20. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
- ^ Society of American Baseball Research. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "Baker, Frank". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c Sparks, p. 5.
- ^ Sparks, p. 3.
- ^ a b "Eastern Shore Legends: Home Run Baker".
- ^ Sparks, pp. 7-8.
- ^ a b Sparks, p. 11
- ^ a b c d e f g Reading Eagle via Google News Archive Search
- ^ The Pittsburgh Press via Google News Archive Search
- ^ a b c Sparks, p. 31
- ^ "1910 World Series – Philadelphia Athletics over Chicago Cubs (4-1)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ Sparks, p. 75
- ^ "1912 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "1912 Philadelphia Athletics Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ a b Sparks, p. 134
- ^ a b Sparks, p. 137
- ^ Sparks, p. 136
- ^ "1914 World Series – Boston Braves over Philadelphia Athletics (4-0)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ The Pittsburgh Press via Google News Archive Search
- ^ The Day via Google News Archive Search
- ISBN 0-89950-988-6.
"Semiprofessional" may be a euphemism. Upland employed other major leaguers between 1915 and 1919 (including Baker's longtime teammate Chief Bender), but by 1919 the Delaware County League was declared an outlaw league by organized baseball. - ^ a b Anderson, Bruce (June 29, 1987). "A Pipp of a Legend: The Man Who Was Benched in Favor of Iron-Horse Lou". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ^ The Day via Google News Archive Search
- ISBN 9780786432110.
- ^ Sparks, pp. 227-228
- ^ "1921 World Series – New York Giants over New York Yankees (5-3)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "1922 World Series – New York Giants over New York Yankees (4-0)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ISBN 978-0810883949. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ The Milwaukee Journal via Google News Archive Search
- ^ The Day via Google News Archive Search
- ^ "Home Run Baker father of twins" (PDF). The New York Times. February 3, 1914. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
- ^ ""Home Run" Baker's twins dead" (PDF). The New York Times. February 10, 1914. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
- ^ "Talbot Negro Held on Assault Charge – Seize by "Home-Run Baker" After Alleged Attack On Ball Player's Sister-in-Law – Big Posse Joins in Hunt – Suggestion That Suspect Be Lynched Silenced By Manager of Easton Club". The Sun. Baltimore. August 28, 1924. p. 1. Retrieved December 21, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Cep, Casey (September 12, 2020). "My Local Confederate Monument". New Yorker. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ^ "Home Run Baker Recovering". The New York Times. The Associated Press. June 23, 1963. p. 4S. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ "Home Run Baker Dies at 77; Slugger in Era of the Dead Ball – 3d Baseman in the Athletics' $100,000 Infield – Later Sold to the Yankees An Auspicious Start Sold to Yankees". The New York Times. The Associated Press. June 29, 1963. p. 23. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ ISBN 0-684-80697-5.
- ^ The Day via Google News Archive Search
Further reading
- Sparks, Barry (2005). Frank "Home Run" Baker: Hall of Famer and World Series Hero. McFarland. ISBN 0786423811.
- Jones, David. "Home Run Baker". SABR. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
- Obituary via The Deadball Era
External links
- Home Run Baker at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Home Run Baker at Find a Grave