Dimitrios Speros "Jim" Baxes (July 5, 1928 – November 14, 1996) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

for one season. After a long and successful minor league career, Baxes finally made his major league debut April 11, 1959, for the Dodgers. He played in 11 games for Los Angeles, mostly at third base, and hit .303 with a .515 slugging percentage. When the Dodgers removed Baxes from their roster on cut-down day, he considered the idea of quitting baseball. Then, on May 22, Baxes was traded to Cleveland for $10,000 cash and a player. Baxes played in 77 games for the Indians in 1959 – 48 at second base and 22 at third. He hit .239 for the Tribe and belted 15 home runs. Baxes finished with season and career totals of 17

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and a .246

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

and was selected to the Topps All-Star Rookie Roster. However, it was his only major league season, as he was back in the minor leagues in 1960. After the 1961 campaign, he retired from organized baseball. On April 15, 1959, he hit his first major league home run off future Hall of Famer

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

. Gibson had not previously pitched to any batter in the majors. Baxes would collect 16 more that year, while Gibson would surrender just three more in his rookie campaign. Jim was the older brother of fellow former major leaguer Mike Baxes. Jim and his wife Jeanne Yvonne Baxes (1927–2002) are buried together in Magnolia Memorial Park in Garden Grove, California.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxes, Jim 1928 births 1996 deaths Los Angeles Dodgers players Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball second basemen Santa Barbara Dodgers players Ponca City Dodgers players Newport News Dodgers players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Hollywood Stars players Fort Worth Cats players Mobile Bears players Portland Beavers players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Spokane Indians players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Baseball players from San Francisco American expatriate baseball players in Cuba Almendares (baseball) players