It isn’t easy living up to the nickname “Home Run”, but Frank Baker did so as the best home run hitter of the pre-World War I era. In the 1911 World Series he hit clutch game-winning or game-tying home runs in back-to-back games against the Giants, and he led his league in the category four straight seasons.

Nicknames
"Home Run," which he earned after his performance in the 1911 World Series.

Played For
Philadelphia A's (1908-1914), New York Yankees (1916-1919, 1921-1922)

Post-Season
1910 World Series, 1911 World Series, 1913 World Series, 1914 World Series, 1921 World Series, 1922 World Series

World Champion?
Yes, as member of Connie Mack's 1910, 1911 and 1913 A's.

Honors
Baker finished in the top ten in MVP voting three times. Had there been a World Series MVP he most likely would have won two of them.

Full Bio
Frank Baker was one of the best World Series performers in history. In 25 World Series games he collected 33 hits, batted .363, slugged .538, hit three home runs, scored 15 runs, and batted in 18. He played on four Philadelphia A’s pennant winners, winning three World Series titles with Connie Mack. Baker collected nine hits in three straight Series.

Baker was the cleanup hitter on the great A’s teams that included Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, Stuffy McInnis, Harry Davis, Chief Bender and Eddie Plank. Along with Collins, McInnis, and Barry, he formed the famed $100,000 Infield.

In the 1911 Series Baker earned his famous moniker. In Game Two he hit a two-run blast off Rube Marquard in the sixth inning that beat the Giants 3-1. The next day in Game Three he hit a solo-homer in the ninth off Christy Mathewson, tying the game, which the A’s eventually won in the 11th. Baker's homers on back-to-back days was quite unusual in an era when 7-12 homers was a league-leading figure for an entire season. The A’s won the 1911 World Series and the 1913 Fall Classic as well. Baker batted .450 in the 1913 set.

Following the disappointing 1914 sweep at the hands of the Braves in the World Series, Mack broke up his team and sold off his stars. Baker was the only man Mack kept, but he refused to report and sat out the entire 1915 season in a contract dispute. Instead he played for Upland, Pennsylvania’s semipro team. In 1916 he was sent to the New York Yankees, where he finished in the top five in home runs each season from 1916 to 1919.

In 1920 Baker’s first wife died, leaving him with two daughters to care for. He chose to sit out the entire season but returned in 1921 to help the Yankees win their first pennant. He appeared as a utility player in both the 1921 and 1922 World Series. He retired after the ’22 campaign with a .307 lifetime average and a modest (by today’s standards) 96 career home runs. Yet, from 1909 to 1919, no player in the AL hit more homers than Baker, and only Ty Cobb had more RBI.

Position
Third base (1,548 games). Baker never appeared at another position in the regular season. He was the best third baseman of the first 25 years of the 20th century.

Major League Debut: September 21, 1908

Transaction Data (courtesy Retrosheet.org)
February 15, 1916: Purchased by the New York Yankees from the Philadelphia Athletics.

Best Season, 1912
The slugging third sacker led the AL in homers (10) and RBI (130), while slugging .541. He batted .347 (6th) and posted a .404 OBP (6th). He swiped 40 bases, had 40 doubles, and 21 triples. Though it was the only year the A's failed to win the pennant between 1910 and 1914, Baker's efforts were not the reason.

Major League Home Run Leaders, 1908-1922
Babe Ruth... 197
Gavvy Cravath... 119
Tilly Walker... 116
Cy Williams... 108
R. Hornsby... 99
Frank Baker... 96

Replaced
38-year old Jimmy Collins, who retired following the 1908 season. That means, Baker, a future Hall of Famer, replaced another Hall of Fame third baseman.

Replaced By
"Jumping" Joe Dugan, in 1922 and for good in 1923, on the Yankees.

Best Strength as a Player
Power

Largest Weakness as a Player
Base stealing. Baker was, like many players with average or less-than-average speed in his era, a poor percentage base stealer.