Del Baker
Encyclopedia
Delmer David Baker was an American
catcher
, coach
and manager
in Major League Baseball
. 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.
, and raised in neighboring Wilsonvile
, 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 run
s and 22 RBI. 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
.
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).
In 1938
, the Tigers started poorly and by midseason 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
.
(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
.
(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 between Billy Jurges
and Pinky Higgins
. The 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
.
Baker's career major league managing record: 412 wins, 357 losses (.536) over all or parts of nine seasons.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
, coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
and manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. As a manager, he led the 1940
1940 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Detroit Tigers *All-Star Game, July 9 at Sportsman's Park: National League, 4-0-Awards and honors:*Most Valuable Player**Hank Greenberg - OF, Detroit Tigers...
Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
to the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
pennant. As a coach, he was known as one of the premier "sign stealers" in baseball.
Player and minor league manager
Born in Sherwood, OregonSherwood, Oregon
Sherwood is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located in the southeast corner of the county, it is a residential community in the Tualatin Valley southwest of Portland. The population was 11,791 at the 2000 census. The 2006 estimate is 16,115 residents...
, and raised in neighboring Wilsonvile
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
, Baker played extensively in the minor leagues
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
. He did appear in 172 major-league games over three seasons (1914–16) with the Tigers, batting
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.209 with no home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 22 RBI. After managing Detroit's Texas League
Texas League
The Texas League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the South Central United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The league was founded in 1888 and ran through 1892...
farm team, the Beaumont Exporters
Beaumont Exporters
The Beaumont Exporters were a franchise in American minor league baseball that played in the Texas League from 1920-49 and 1953-55. The city of Beaumont, Texas, was also represented in the Texas League from 1912-17 and 1919 as the Oilers, from 1950-52 as the Roughnecks, and from 1983-86 as the...
, to 100 victories and the 1932 championship, Baker was named a Tigers coach under Bucky Harris
Bucky Harris
Stanley Raymond "Bucky" Harris was a Major League Baseball player, manager and executive. In 1975, the Veterans Committee elected Harris, as a manager, to the Baseball Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
for 1933
1933 in baseball
-Headline Events of the Year:* First Major League Baseball All-Star Game, July 6 at Comiskey Park: American League, 4-2.* First Negro League Baseball All-Star Game.-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Giants over Washington Senators...
.
Tigers' coach and skipper
He remained in that role under new playing manager Mickey CochraneMickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...
when the Tigers won back-to-back AL pennants
American League pennant winners 1901-68
Each season in Major League Baseball , one American League team wins the pennant, signifying that they are the league's champion and have the right to play in the World Series. The pennant was presented to the team with the best win–loss record each year through the 1968 season, after which the...
in 1934-35, and their first ever World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
title in 1935
1935 World Series
The 1935 World Series featured the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, with the Tigers winning in six games for their first championship in five Series appearances. They had lost in , , , and ....
. Baker, as Detroit's "senior coach," took over as acting manager three times: in 1933
1933 in baseball
-Headline Events of the Year:* First Major League Baseball All-Star Game, July 6 at Comiskey Park: American League, 4-2.* First Negro League Baseball All-Star Game.-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Giants over Washington Senators...
, when Harris was fired at the end of the season, then temporarily in the midseasons of 1936
1936 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over New York Giants *All-Star Game, July 7 at Braves Field: National League, 4–3-Awards and honors:* Most Valuable Player**American League: Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees, 1B...
(when Cochrane took a leave of absence for a bout of depression) and 1937
1937 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over New York Giants *All-Star Game, July 7 at Griffith Stadium: American League, 8-3-Awards and honors:*MLB Most Valuable Player Award**American League: Charlie Gehringer, Detroit Tigers, 2B...
(when Mickey was hit in the head by a pitched ball and suffered a fractured skull that ended his playing career).
In 1938
1938 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Chicago Cubs *All-Star Game, July 6 at Crosley Field: National League, 4-1-Awards and honors:*Most Valuable Player**Jimmie Foxx, Boston Red Sox, 1B...
, the Tigers started poorly and by midseason 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
1939 in baseball
-Headline Event of the Year:*On May 17, 1939, Princeton University and Columbia University played the first televised baseball game. On August 26, the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers played the first televised Major League Baseball game...
.
Manager of 1940 AL champs
The following season, 1940, saw the New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
(league and world champions four years running) drop out of the race, and the Tigers and Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
battle for the flag. On the final day of the season with the clubs tied, Baker chose obscure rookie pitcher Floyd Giebell
Floyd Giebell
Floyd George Giebell was an American Major League Baseball player who is best remembered as the pitcher who shut out Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians in his third career start to clinch the American League pennant for the Detroit Tigers over the Indians.Born in Pennsboro, West Virginia,...
to pitch the crucial contest — and he defeated future Hall of Famer Bob Feller
Bob Feller
On December 8, 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy, volunteering immediately for combat service, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Feller served as Gun Captain aboard the USS Alabama, and missed four seasons during his service...
and the Tribe, 2-0, to win the pennant by a game. In the 1940 World Series
1940 World Series
The 1940 World Series matched the Cincinnati Reds against the Detroit Tigers, with the Reds winning the Series in seven games for their second championship, their first since the scandal-tainted victory in...
, however, Detroit lost in seven games to the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
, despite the pitching heroics of well-traveled veteran Bobo Newsom
Bobo Newsom
Louis Norman Newsom was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Also known as "Buck", Newsom played for a number of teams from 1929 through 1953...
.
With World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
on the horizon, the 1941
1941 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*Joe Dimaggio hits in 56 consecutive games. After being hitless in the 57th game, he hit safely in 16 more consecutive games for a streak of 72 of 73 games.*Ted Williams ended the season with a .406 batting average...
season was marked by the call to active military service of several baseball stars. One was the Tigers' great power hitter, Hank Greenberg
Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...
. With him missing from the lineup, and with Newsom ineffective, Detroit fell below .500 that season, and again in 1942
1942 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees *All-Star Game, July 6 at Polo Grounds: American League, 3-1-Other champions:*Negro Leagues World Series: Kansas City Monarchs over Homestead Grays...
. Baker was released, and replaced by Steve O'Neill
Steve O'Neill
Stephen Francis O'Neill was an American catcher, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball.Born to Irish immigrants in Minooka, Pennsylvania , O'Neill was one of six brothers who escaped a life in the coal mines by playing in the major leagues...
.
Late career
He then returned to the coaching ranks with Cleveland (1943–44) and the Boston Red SoxBoston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
(1945–48; 1953–60). From 1949-51, he served as skipper of the Sacramento Solons
Sacramento Solons
The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods . The current Sacramento River Cats began play in 2000...
and the San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres (PCL)
The San Diego Padres were a minor league baseball team which played in the Pacific Coast League from 1936 through 1968. The team that would eventually become the Padres was well traveled prior to moving to San Diego. It began its existence in 1903 as the Sacramento Solons, a charter member of the PCL...
of the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
. In his final season, 1960
1960 in baseball
-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over New York Yankees ; Bobby Richardson, MVP*All-Star Game , July 11 at Municipal Stadium: National League, 5-3*All-Star Game , July 13 at Yankee Stadium: National League, 6-0...
, Baker managed one last time in the big leagues as Boston's interim pilot between Billy Jurges
Billy Jurges
William Frederick Jurges was an American shortstop, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in Bronx, New York. During the 1930s, he was central to three National League champion Chicago Cubs teams...
and Pinky Higgins
Pinky Higgins
Michael Franklin "Pinky" Higgins was an American third baseman, manager, front office executive and scout in Major League Baseball who played for three teams and served as manager or general manager of the Boston Red Sox during the period of through . He batted and threw right-handed.-Playing...
. The 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
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
' last game as a player.
Baker died at age 81 in Olmos Park, Texas
Olmos Park, Texas
Olmos Park is a city located within San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,343 at the 2000 census. The city is the second wealthiest location in the San Antonio metropolitan area after Hill Country Village.- Government :...
.
Baker's career major league managing record: 412 wins, 357 losses (.536) over all or parts of nine seasons.
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career managing record and playing statistics
- The Deadball Era
- Del Baker at Find a GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...