Del Baker

Baker in 1941

Catcher

Born: May 3, 1892
Sherwood, Oregon

Died: September 11, 1973 (aged 81)
Olmos Park, Texas

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

April 16, 1914, for the Detroit Tigers

Last MLB appearance

September 30, 1916, for the Detroit Tigers

MLB statistics

Batting average

.209

Home runs

Runs batted in

Teams

Detroit Tigers (1914–1916)

Career highlights and awards

Manager of 1940 American League champion Tigers

Delmer David Baker (May 3, 1892 – September 11, 1973) was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a manager, he led the 1940 Detroit Tigers to the American League pennant. As a coach, he was known as one of the premier "sign stealers" in baseball.^[1]

Player and minor league manager

Born in Sherwood, Oregon, and raised in neighboring Wilsonville,Baker played extensively in the minor leagues. He did appear in 172 Major League games over three seasons (1914–16) with the Tigers, batting .209 with no home runs and 22 runs batted in (RBIs). After managing Detroit's Texas League farm team, the Beaumont Exporters, to 100 victories and the 1932 championship, Baker was named a Tigers coach under Bucky Harris for 1933.

Tigers coach and skipper

He remained in that role under new playing manager Mickey Cochrane when the Tigers won back-to-back AL pennants in 1934–35, and their first ever World Series title in 1935. Baker, as Detroit's "senior coach," took over as acting manager three times: in 1933, when Harris was fired at the end of the season, then temporarily in the midseasons of 1936 (when Cochrane took a leave of absence for a bout of depression) and 1937 (when Mickey was hit in the head by a pitched ball and suffered a fractured skull that ended his playing career).^[2]

In 1938, the Tigers started poorly and by August 7 they had won only 47 of 98 games. Cochrane was released as skipper, and Baker was given the permanent job. He rallied Detroit to 37 wins in 56 games, enough to finish in the first division, but Detroit slipped to fifth in 1939.

Manager of 1940 AL champs

Baker meets with Hank Greenberg in 1941 before Greenberg departs for World War II.

The following season, 1940, saw the New York Yankees (league and world champions four years running) drop out of the race, and the Tigers and Cleveland Indians battle for the flag. On the final day of the season with the clubs tied, Baker chose obscure rookie pitcher Floyd Giebell to pitch the crucial contest — and he defeated future Hall of Famer Bob Feller and the Tribe, 2–0, to win the pennant by a game. In the 1940 World Series, however, Detroit lost in seven games to the Cincinnati Reds, despite the pitching heroics of well-traveled veteran Bobo Newsom.

With World War II on the horizon, the 1941 season was marked by the call to active military service of several baseball stars. One was the Tigers' great power hitter, Hank Greenberg. With him missing from the lineup, and with Newsom ineffective, Detroit fell below .500 that season, and again in 1942. Baker was released, and replaced by Steve O'Neill.

Late career

He then returned to the coaching ranks with Cleveland (1943–44) and the Boston Red Sox (1945–48; 1953–60). From 1949–51, he served as skipper of the Sacramento Solons and the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. In his final season, 1960, Baker managed one last time in the big leagues as Boston's interim pilot from June 8–12 between Billy Jurges' firing and Pinky Higgins' rehiring. Under Baker, the last-place Red Sox won two games and lost five. He retired from the game after his 50th season in baseball, his last day overshadowed by Ted Williams' last game as a player.

Baker died at age 81 in Olmos Park, Texas.^[3]

Baker's career major league managing record: 412 wins, 357 losses (.536) over all or parts of nine seasons.

References

↑ The New York Times. September 12, 1973. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Baseball Encyclopedia. The MacMillan.
↑ "Del Baker dies at 80". The Palm Beach Post. UPI. September 12, 1973. Retrieved June 5, 2014.

External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Del Baker managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
The Deadball Era
Del Baker at Find a Grave

Preceded by Bucky Harris Mickey Cochrane	Detroit Tigers manager 1933 1938–1942	Succeeded by Mickey Cochrane Steve O'Neill
Preceded by Billy Jurges	Boston Red Sox manager 1960	Succeeded by Pinky Higgins

Detroit Tigers 1935 World Series Champions

2 Charlie Gehringer 3 Mickey Cochrane 4 Goose Goslin 5 Hank Greenberg 6 Gee Walker 7 Billy Rogell 8 Marv Owen 9 Pete Fox 10 Tommy Bridges 13 Elden Auker 14 Schoolboy Rowe 16 Alvin Crowder 17 Chief Hogsett 18 Vic Sorrell 19 Joe Sullivan 23 Ray Hayworth 24 Flea Clifton 25 Jo-Jo White

Manager 3 Mickey Cochrane Coaches 31 Cy Perkins 32 Del Baker

Regular season

Detroit Tigers managers

Bob Glenalvin (1894)
Con Strouthers (1895–1896)
George Stallings (1896)
Bob Allen (1897)
Frank Graves (1897–1898)
Ollie Beard (1898)
Tony Mullane (1898)
George Stallings (1898–1901)
Frank Dwyer (1902)
Ed Barrow (1903–1904)
Bobby Lowe (1904)
Bill Armour (1905–1906)
Hughie Jennings (1907–1920)
Ty Cobb (1921–1926)
George Moriarty (1927–1928)
Bucky Harris (1929–1933)
Del Baker (1933)
Mickey Cochrane (1934–1937)
Del Baker (1936)
Cy Perkins (1937)
Del Baker (1937)
Mickey Cochrane (1938)
Del Baker (1938–1942)
Steve O'Neill (1943–1948)
Red Rolfe (1949–1952)
Fred Hutchinson (1952–1954)
Bucky Harris (1955–1956)
Jack Tighe (1957–1958)
Bill Norman (1958–1959)
Jimmy Dykes (1959–1960)
Billy Hitchcock (1960)
Joe Gordon (1960)
Bob Scheffing (1961–1963)
Chuck Dressen (1963–1964)
Bob Swift (1965)
Chuck Dressen (1965–1966)
Frank Skaff (1966)
Bob Swift (1966)
Mayo Smith (1967–1970)
Billy Martin (1971–1973)
Joe Schultz (1973)
Ralph Houk (1974–1978)
Les Moss (1979)
Dick Tracewski (1979)
Sparky Anderson (1979–1995)
Buddy Bell (1996–1998)
Larry Parrish (1998–1999)
Phil Garner (2000–2002)
Luis Pujols (2002)
Alan Trammell (2003–2005)
Jim Leyland (2006–2013)
Brad Ausmus (2014–)

Boston Red Sox managers

Jimmy Collins (1901–1906)
Chick Stahl (1906)
Cy Young (1907)
Bob Unglaub (1907)
George Huff (1907)
Deacon McGuire (1907–1908)
Fred Lake (1908–1909)
Patsy Donovan (1910–1911)
Jake Stahl (1912–1913)
Bill Carrigan (1913–1916)
Jack Barry (1917)
Ed Barrow (1918–1920)
Hugh Duffy (1921–1922)
Frank Chance (1923)
Lee Fohl (1924–1926)
Bill Carrigan (1927–1929)
Heinie Wagner (1930)
Shano Collins (1931–1932)
Marty McManus (1932–1933)
Bucky Harris (1934)
Joe Cronin (1935–1947)
Joe McCarthy (1948–1950)
Steve O'Neill (1950–1951)
Lou Boudreau (1952–1954)
Pinky Higgins (1955–1959)
Rudy York (1959)
Billy Jurges (1959–1960)
Del Baker (1960)
Pinky Higgins (1960–1962)
Johnny Pesky (1963–1964)
Billy Herman (1964–1966)
Pete Runnels (1966)
Dick Williams (1967–1969)
Eddie Popowski (1969)
Eddie Kasko (1970–1973)
Eddie Popowski (1973)
Darrell Johnson (1974–1976)
Don Zimmer (1976–1980)
Johnny Pesky (1980)
Ralph Houk (1981–1984)
John McNamara (1985–1988)
Joe Morgan (1988–1991)
Butch Hobson (1992–1994)
Kevin Kennedy (1995–1996)
Jimy Williams (1997–2001)
Joe Kerrigan (2001)
Grady Little (2002–2003)
Terry Francona (2004–2011)
Bobby Valentine (2012)
John Farrell (2013–)
Torey Lovullo (2015)

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