Corey A. Baker (born November 23, 1989) is an

Israeli-American , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan ar ...

former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

organization, and a former video replay coordinator for the Minnesota Twins."Corey Baker Register Statistics & History",
Baseball-Reference.com. He plays for the

Israel National Baseball Team The Israel national baseball team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בבייסבול) represents Israel in international competitions. It is managed by Israeli-American former Major League Baseball World Series champion, World Baseball Classic champion, ...

. While in high school, Baker played three seasons for the Bayside Yankees traveling baseball team and had a 20-1 record. He pitched in college for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, was named in 2010 to the All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

First Team, and to the ABCA/ Rawlings All-East Region First Team, and ended his college career as the university's all-time career wins leader, with 24. Baker was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 49th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. In 2013, he was a

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

All Star with the

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peor ...

. In May 2016, he was named

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

Pitcher of the Week while pitching for the AA

Springfield Cardinals The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They compete as a member of the Texas League's North Division. The Cardinals began play in 2005. The team is owned by the 11-time Major League Baseball ...

. In September 2016 Baker pitched as a starter for Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier, winning his only start. He also pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic main tournament. In October 2018, he became a dual Israeli citizen. Baker is competing on the

Israel national baseball team The Israel national baseball team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בבייסבול) represents Israel in international competitions. It is managed by Israeli-American former Major League Baseball World Series champion, World Baseball Classic champion, ...

for qualification for the 2020 Olympics.

Early and personal life

Baker was born in New York, New York, to Mark (a TV producer, who grew up in Brooklyn) and Leah Baker, and was raised in New City, New York."Corey Baker Bio",
PittsburghPanthers.comJeff Canning
"Pitcher Corey Baker Hopes to Make Mark in Pro Baseball",
''Peekskill, NY Patch'', August 9, 2011Zev Ben Avigdor
"Garrett Wittels and Corey Baker, St. Louis Cardinals prospects,"
''Jewish Baseball News'', August 16, 2012 He is Jewish, and grew up attending a

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

congregation in New City, where he attended Hebrew school twice a week and had his bar mitzvah.Jonathan Mayo
"Could Pitt's Corey Baker make it big in the Big Leagues?"
''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', April 29, 2011. Baker played in the

Maccabi Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

in the 11-to-12 age group. He now lives in Seattle, Washington. In October 2018 he became a dual Israeli citizen, partly to help Israel’s baseball team make the 2020 Olympics.

High school

Baker attended Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack, New York, where for three years he pitched and played second base. He was a two-time all-league selection as a junior and senior, and named all-county, all-section, and runner-up Section Player of the Year as a senior, and threw a no-hitter in his final season.Jake Thomases
"Baker commits to Pittsburgh,"
The LoHud Baseball Blog, August 1, 2007 He graduated in 2007. He also played three seasons of summer baseball for the Bayside Yankees traveling baseball team, for whom he had a 20-1 record.Mark Maturo
"Two Former Clarkstown South H.S. Pitchers Selected In MLB Draft,"
''New City, NY Patch'', June 14, 2011

College

Baker then pitched for the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, attending the school on a partial baseball scholarship, while majoring in history and minoring in political science. As a sophomore, in March 2009 he was named

Pitcher of the Week. As a junior, in 2010 he was 11-3 (with his 11 wins the third-most in the country) and was named to the All-Big East First Team, and to the ABCA/ Rawlings All-East Region First Team.Corey Baker Baseball Statistics [2008-2016]
the Baseball Cube He ended his career with the school as the Pittsburgh Panthers' all-time career wins leader, with 24, and fourth all-time in school history with 221 strikeouts. He plans to eventually return to school to study for a master’s degree in Sports Management.

Minor leagues

Baker was drafted by the

in the 49th round of the

(a round that no longer exists, as the following year the MLB draft was limited to 40 rounds), and signed for a small bonus. He made his professional debut in 2011 with the

Batavia Muckdogs The Batavia Muckdogs are a collegiate summer baseball team in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL). They are located in Batavia, a city in Genesee County, New York, United States. Their home field is Dwyer Stadium in the city of ...

of the Class A- New York-Pennsylvania League. He started the 2013 season playing for the

of the Class A

where he was an All Star, and then pitched for the

Palm Beach Cardinals The Palm Beach Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home games at Rog ...

of the Class A+ Florida State League, before joining the

of the Class AA

at the end of the season. In 2014, he pitched for Palm Beach and Springfield, and in a combined 37 games (5 starts) he was 6-2 with a 2.87 ERA and 2 saves. On August 31, 2015, Baker pitched his first career

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

for Springfield. That year, after leading all Springfield pitchers with 88 strikeouts as he split time between the starting rotation and the bullpen, he led Springfield to the Texas League playoffs."Right-hander Corey Baker of the Springfield Cardinals has been named the Texas League’s top pitcher last week",
St. Louis - Scout, May 2, 2016 Springfield pitching coach Jason Simontacchi said of Baker that he:

can pitch as a closer ... middle relief, and as a starter. Baker throws strikes. ... He’s got a super sinker, when it is right, it is very good, and I think that pitch could play at the big-league level. His
changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...
is a swing and miss pitch, can throw it in any count, and he mixes in a
slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...
towards righties.

Pitching for Springfield again the following season, he was named Texas League Pitcher of the Week for April 25-May 1, 2016. Baker then ended the season pitching as a starter for the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. Baker was a non-roster invitee to the Cardinals major league spring training camp in 2017. He began the season pitching in relief as a closer for Springfield. At mid-season, he was a Texas League All-Star. On July 13, 2017, Baker was released from Cardinals organization after having spent 7 years in their minor league system.Karraker, Patrick
"St. Louis Cardinals release RHP Corey Baker from organization"
FanSided, July 15, 2017 Pitching for the Springfield Cardinals in 2017, in 40 innings over 25 relief appearances he had a 2.48 ERA and led the team with six saves, in six save opportunities. In the 2017-18 season, Baker pitched for the

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of C ...

of the

Venezuelan Winter League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

, where he was 1-0 with a 3.74 ERA in 15 games.

Minnesota Twins replay coordinator

At the start of the 2018 season, Baker retired as a player. He joined the Minnesota Twins as their replay coordinator for the 2018 season.

Team Israel

Baker pitched for Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier. As part of demonstrating that Baker was Jewish and therefore eligible to pitch for Team Israel, his family sent the team a bar mitzvah photo of Baker at age 13, wearing a

yarmulke A , , or , plural ), also called ''yarmulke'' (, ; yi, יאַרמלקע, link=no, , german: Jarmulke, pl, Jarmułka or ''koppel'' ( yi, קאפל ) is a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill the c ...

and dark suit, and holding a

torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

. Baker's only appearance in the tournament was a start in the second game against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Israel won the game 1-0, advancing to the finals, and Baker was credited with the win. Baker threw 83 pitches over 5 shutout innings, while giving up a hit, three walks, and striking out six. Baker pitched as the # 2 starter for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in the main tournament, in March 2017. Baker is competing on the

for qualification for the 2020 Olympics."Four U.S. baseball players immigrating to Israel to join Olympics bid,"
''Haaretz'', April 7, 2019. He pitched in one game in relief as the team played in the

2019 European Baseball Championship - B-Pool 2019 European Baseball Championship - B-Pool was the second tier of Confederation of European Baseball men competition. It featured 14 teams, competing in two groups of 6 and 8 teams in early July 2019. The two group winners, Team Israel and Team ...

in early July 2019 in

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( bg, Благоевград ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, winning all of its games and advancing to the playoffs against Team Lithuania in the 2019 Playoff Series at the end of July 2019 for the last qualifying spot for the 2019 European Baseball Championship.Scott Barancik (July 8, 2019)
"For Israel, sweet victory; Long road to Olympic berth begins with triumph in Bulgaria,"
''Jewish Baseball News''. He was 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two innings.
baseballstats.eu.

References

External links

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Corey 1989 births Batavia Muckdogs players Jewish American baseball players Living people Memphis Redbirds players Palm Beach Cardinals players Baseball players from New York City People from New City, New York Sportspeople from Rockland County, New York Peoria Chiefs players Pittsburgh Panthers baseball players Springfield Cardinals players 2017 World Baseball Classic players Israeli American Israeli baseball players 21st-century American Jews