John Franklin Baker

Background

He was born on March 13, 1886 in Trappe, Talbot County, the son of Franklin Adams Baker, a farmer and butcher, and Mary Catherine Rust.

Education

He grew up on the farm, attended grade school, played baseball, hunted and fished, and developed a deep attachment to the life of the Eastern Shore, where his family had lived for at least five generations.

Career

After some semipro and minor-league play at Reading, Baker signed a contract in 1908 with Connie Mack, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. He played nine games for the Athletics that year. In 1909 he became the regular third baseman.

A left-handed batter, Baker had a free swing, and with his heavy (fifty-two-ounce) bat he quickly established himself as one of the game's leading power hitters in the "dead-ball" era. In the six full years that he played for Philadelphia, he averaged more than 100 runs batted in, leading the American League in 1912 and 1913. He also led the league in home runs for four years (1911 - 1914), with twelve his highest total. In four World Series (1910, 1911, 1913, 1914) he batted 378, one of the highest World Series averages ever achieved. The Athletics won the first three but lost the last series to the "Miracle" Boston Braves. Baker's sobriquet was the result of his feats in the 1911 World Series against the New York Giants. In the second game his two-run homer in the sixth inning helped the Athletics to a 3-1 victory. The next day his home run in the top of the ninth inning tied the game 1-1 and his single kept the winning rally going in the eleventh. A New York Times writer referred to him then as "Home Run" Baker, a nickname that caught on and became part of baseball lore and legend. So, too, did the inspiration of another sportswriter, who referred to the great Athletics' infield of Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, and Baker as the "$100, 000 infield. " Because of a contract dispute with Connie Mack, Baker sat out the 1915 season. Mack vowed that Baker would never play in the majors again, but relented and sold his contract to the New York Yankees for $37, 500. He played for six years with the Yankees. The first four (1916 - 1919) were productive but not on a level with his years at Philadelphia. On February 12, 1920, Ottilie Baker died unexpectedly. Baker announced his retirement and did not play during 1920, the year that Babe Ruth joined the Yankees. He returned to the Yankees in 1921 and hit nine home runs, although he played in fewer than 100 games. He was used only part-time in 1922, and he retired before the start of the 1923 season.

The remainder of his life was devoted to his farm in Trappe, where he died. In his playing days Baker was a trim six-footer who weighed 175 pounds. He was not a colorful personality. Sportswriters and fellow players regarded him as a cool, steady player who apparently felt no tension and who was at his best in crucial games. They emphasized, too, his solid, dependable, rural virtues: his love of farming and hard work; his devotion to his family; his sense of loyalty and responsibility to his team and to baseball. Characteristically, Baker remarked that he would have retired in 1919 except that he felt that the Yankees had not received due return on their investment in him, and he felt a duty to help both baseball and the country return to normal after the war. It may be that his lack of color denied him the attention received by some of his more flamboyant contemporaries. As a player, Baker clearly ranks at a level immediately below the outstanding stars of the game. Ironically, given his nickname, his ninety-three career home runs are among his least impressive statistics. They have been used as a bench mark by which to measure Ruth's achievements and the differences between the "dead ball" and "live ball" eras. Yet Baker's name appears frequently in the record books for both offensive and, occasionally, defensive achievements. He played on two of baseball's greatest teams; he played with or against many of the greatest players of his era; and in his best years (1911 - 1914) he was their peer. But he did not sustain that level over a long enough period. Yet Baker's name appears frequently in the record books for both offensive and, occasionally, defensive achievements. He played on two of baseball's greatest teams; he played with or against many of the greatest players of his era; and in his best years (1911 - 1914) he was their peer. But he did not sustain that level over a long enough period. His lifetime batting average, for instance, is good but not outstanding.

Achievements

• In 1955 the Committee on Veterans elected Baker to the Baseball Hall of Fame, a belated but not undeserved honor. Like most Hall of Fame nominees, he made intangible contributions beyond those that show in the record books.

Connections

On November 12, 1909, he married Ottilie Rosa Tschantre; they had two daughters. On January 16, 1922, Baker married Margaret Elizabeth Mitchell. They had two children.

Father:

Franklin Adams Baker

Mother:

Mary Catherine Rust

Wife:

Margaret Elizabeth MitchelI

Wife:

Ottilie Rosa Tschantre

References

• Frank "Home Run" Baker: Hall of Famer And World Series Hero (Hall of Famer and World Series Hero)
• The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)