Frank "Home Run" Baker (
March 13,
1886 -
June 28,
1963) was an
American baseball player who played
Major League Baseball from
1908 to
1922. As a
third baseman, Baker helped the
Philadelphia Athletics win three
World Series (
1910,
1911 and
1913). He was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame in
1955.
Home Run Baker baseball card, 1911
Baker, who led the American League in home runs in 1911, earned the nickname "Home Run" during the 1911 World Series in which he hit a go-ahead home run off Rube Marquard in game two and a ninth-inning game-tying home run off Christy Mathewson in game three. Baker then solidified the nickname by leading the American League in home runs for three more consecutive seasons. Two of those seasons, he also led the American League in runs batted in.
He was born in Trappe, Maryland and broke into the major leagues in 1908 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Baker played thirdbase for the Athletics until 1915 when he sat out the entire season in a contract dispute. He was sold in 1916 to the New York Yankees where he finished his career.
External links
Two other men named Frank Baker played Major League Baseball:
- Frank Watts Baker (b. October 29, 1946 in Meridian, Mississippi) was an infielder for the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles in the early 1970s. Baseball-Reference.com
- Frank Baker (b. January 11, 1944 in Bartow, Florida) was an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians in 1969 and 1971. Baseball-Reference.com
