Thomas Henry Baker (May 6, 1934 – March 9, 1980) was a left-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

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), ...

who played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in 1963.

Career

In , Baker was signed as an amateur free agent by 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 hav ...

. After years in the Cardinals system, Baker was drafted by the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

in the minor league draft in 1959. However, two years later Baker was again in the minor league draft, this time being drafted by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. In 1963, Baker was sent to the Washington Senators as part of a conditional deal. Baker didn't stay in Washington long. On March 26, 1963, just about three months after being sent to the Senators, Baker was sent back to the Orioles. About two months later, on May 27, 1963, Baker was purchased from the Orioles by the Chicago Cubs. It was in Chicago where Baker spent the remainder of his career. Baker made his major league debut on August 2, 1963, with the Cubs at age 29. On that day, Baker faced only one batter,

Willie McCovey Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch", "Mac" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a mem ...

. Baker was pulled after hitting McCovey with a pitch. This made Baker one of the few pitchers to hit the first batter they ever faced. The Cubs won the game 12–11. Baker played his final major league game for the Cubs on September 14, 1963. During Baker's time in the majors, he was one of four left-handed pitchers on the Cubs staff, the others being

Dick Ellsworth Richard Clark Ellsworth (March 22, 1940 – October 10, 2022) was an American professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1958, 1960–1966), Philadelphia Phillies (1967), Boston Red ...

Jim Brewer Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

, and Dick LeMay. At the time of his retirement, Baker had earned a career

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 3.00. He finished with 18 innings pitched, striking out 14 batters, and playing in a total of 10 games. He allowed 20 hits, 2

home runs 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 ...

, and 7 walks. Baker's lifetime record was 0–1. Baker came to bat only three times in his career, recording a batting average of .000. His lifetime

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

is 1.000.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Tom 1934 births 1980 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Washington (state) Chicago Cubs players Hawaii Islanders players Rochester Red Wings players Seattle Angels players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Salt Lake City Bees players People from Port Townsend, Washington Dallas Rangers players