Home Run Baker
Third Baseman · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1908-1922)
Home Run Baker was a third baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922 for the Philadelphia Athletics and the New York Yankees, a span of 15 seasons. In 1,575 career games, he hit .307 with 1,838 hits, 96 home runs, and 987 RBI. Home Run Baker was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 22,634.
- AVG (Batting Average):
- Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
- HR (Home Runs):
- Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
- RBI (Runs Batted In):
- Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
- OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
- On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.
Data updated
- Position
- Third Baseman
- Bats / Throws
- L / R
- Height / Weight
- 5'11" / 173 lb
- Died
- 6/28/1963 in Trappe, MD, USA
- MLB Debut
- 1908-09-21
- Last Game
- 1922-09-29
- Hall of Fame
- Inducted 1955 (BBWAA)
Full name: John Franklin Baker
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,575 | 5,984 | 887 | 1,838 | 315 | 103 | 96 | 987 | 235 | 473 | 344 | .307 | .363 | .442 | .805 | 22,634 |
Career AVG .307 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +18.0% above league average.
Career OBP .363 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — +12.0% above league average.
Career SLG .442 vs. league average .345 across their career seasons — +28.1% above league average.
Career OPS .805 vs. league average .669 across their career seasons — +20.3% above league average.
Season-by-Season Batting
Click a stat to plot it across every season.
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | Lg AVG | Lg OBP | Lg SLG | Lg OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | PHA | AL | 9 | 31 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .290 | — | — | — | — | 0.0 |
| 1909 | PHA | AL | 148 | 541 | 73 | 165 | 27 | 19 | 4 | 85 | 20 | 26 | 48 | .305 | .244 (+25%) | .306 (+12%) | .312 (+43%) | .618 (+28%) | 2332.1 |
| 1910 | PHA | AL | 146 | 561 | 83 | 159 | 25 | 15 | 2 | 74 | 21 | 34 | 36 | .283 | .249 (+13%) | .317 (+4%) | .326 (+20%) | .644 (+12%) | 1004.0 |
| 1911 | PHA | AL | 148 | 592 | 96 | 198 | 42 | 14 | 11 | 115 | 38 | 40 | 38 | .334 | .266 (+25%) | .336 (+13%) | .356 (+42%) | .693 (+28%) | 2996.5 |
| 1912 | PHA | AL | 149 | 577 | 116 | 200 | 40 | 21 | 10 | 130 | 40 | 50 | 38 | .347 | .268 (+29%) | .335 (+20%) | .358 (+51%) | .694 (+36%) | 3948.1 |
| 1913 | PHA | AL | 149 | 564 | 116 | 190 | 34 | 9 | 12 | 117 | 34 | 63 | 31 | .337 | .259 (+30%) | .325 (+27%) | .345 (+43%) | .670 (+35%) | 3956.5 |
| 1914 | PHA | AL | 150 | 570 | 84 | 182 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 89 | 19 | 53 | 37 | .319 | .255 (+25%) | .322 (+18%) | .339 (+30%) | .661 (+24%) | 2632.6 |
| 1916 | NYA | AL | 100 | 360 | 46 | 97 | 23 | 2 | 10 | 52 | 15 | 36 | 30 | .269 | .248 (+8%) | .314 (+10%) | .326 (+31%) | .640 (+20%) | 1267.6 |
| 1917 | NYA | AL | 146 | 553 | 57 | 156 | 24 | 2 | 6 | 71 | 18 | 48 | 27 | .282 | .248 (+13%) | .312 (+10%) | .323 (+13%) | .635 (+12%) | 1258.2 |
| 1918 | NYA | AL | 126 | 504 | 65 | 154 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 62 | 8 | 38 | 13 | .306 | .255 (+20%) | .318 (+12%) | .326 (+25%) | .645 (+19%) | 1639.1 |
| 1919 | NYA | AL | 141 | 567 | 70 | 166 | 22 | 1 | 10 | 83 | 13 | 44 | 18 | .293 | .262 (+12%) | .322 (+7%) | .347 (+12%) | .670 (+9%) | 1062.3 |
| 1921 | NYA | AL | 94 | 330 | 46 | 97 | 16 | 2 | 9 | 71 | 8 | 26 | 12 | .294 | .286 (+3%) | .344 (+2%) | .395 (+10%) | .739 (+7%) | 431.7 |
| 1922 | NYA | AL | 69 | 234 | 30 | 65 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 36 | 1 | 15 | 14 | .278 | .285 (-3%) | .345 (-6%) | .397 (+12%) | .743 (+4%) | 105.9 |
| Career · 13 seasons | 1,575 | 5,984 | 887 | 1,838 | 315 | 103 | 96 | 987 | 235 | 473 | 344 | .307 | — | — | — | — | 22,634 | ||
Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 91 | 15 | 33 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 5 | 11 | .363 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | WS | NYA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1921 | WS | NYA | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .250 |
| 1914 | WS | PHA | 4 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .250 |
| 1913 | WS | PHA | 5 | 20 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | .450 |
| 1911 | WS | PHA | 6 | 24 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | .375 |
| 1910 | WS | PHA | 5 | 22 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | .409 |
Game Log & Splits
View full game log (1575 games) →Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).
Batting — Home / Away
| Split | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 781 | 2879 | 450 | 923 | 70 | 522 | .321 |
| Away | 794 | 3107 | 437 | 914 | 26 | 492 | .294 |
Last 10 Games — Batting
| Date | Tm | Opp | Res | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922-09-29 | NYY | BOS | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-09-28 | NYY | BOS | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-09-21 | NYY | DET | W | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-09-13 | NYY | CHW | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-09-05 | NYY | BOS | L | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-07-31 | NYY | CHW | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-07-30 | NYY | CHW | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1922-07-22 | NYY | DET | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1922-07-19 | NYY | DET | L | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1922-07-17 | NYY | CHW | L | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3B | 1548 | 300 | 2154 | 3155 | 322 | 259 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | PHA | 3B | 9 | 9 | 12 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 1909 | PHA | 3B | 146 | 146 | 209 | 277 | 42 | 16 |
| 1910 | PHA | 3B | 146 | 145 | 207 | 313 | 45 | 35 |
| 1911 | PHA | 3B | 148 | 0 | 217 | 274 | 30 | 26 |
| 1912 | PHA | 3B | 149 | 0 | 217 | 321 | 34 | 25 |
| 1913 | PHA | 3B | 149 | 0 | 233 | 280 | 44 | 19 |
| 1914 | PHA | 3B | 149 | 0 | 221 | 292 | 24 | 20 |
| 1916 | NYA | 3B | 96 | 0 | 133 | 210 | 22 | 16 |
| 1917 | NYA | 3B | 146 | 0 | 202 | 317 | 28 | 21 |
| 1918 | NYA | 3B | 126 | 0 | 175 | 282 | 13 | 30 |
| 1919 | NYA | 3B | 141 | 0 | 176 | 286 | 22 | 28 |
| 1921 | NYA | 3B | 83 | 0 | 84 | 173 | 11 | 16 |
| 1922 | NYA | 3B | 60 | 0 | 68 | 108 | 7 | 7 |
Career Games by Position
Circle size = games played at each position.
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Third Base | 1544 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 3B |
| 1914 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 3B |
| 1913 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 3B |
| 1911 | Baseball Magazine All-Star | 3B |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 3rd | 17.0 | 64 | 0 |
| 1913 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 5th | 21.0 | 64 | 0 |
| 1912 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 7th | 17.0 | 64 | 0 |
| 1911 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 11th | 8.0 | 64 | 0 |
Most Similar Players
Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.
Home Run Baker (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.
Compare Home Run Baker
Home Run Baker: the record in brief
Home Run Baker's major league career runs from a debut on September 21, 1908 to a final game on September 29, 1922. The season rows list, in order, the Philadelphia Athletics (1908 to 1914) and the New York Yankees (1916 through 1922). Born on March 13, 1886, in Trappe, MD, USA, Baker is listed as a third baseman and hit left-handed while throwing right-handed. Size on record: 5'11" and 173 pounds. Baker's death is recorded on June 28, 1963, in Trappe, MD, USA. The given name on file is John Franklin Baker.
Baker's career batting table shows 1,575 games, 5,984 at bats and 1,838 hits, a .307 average, along with 96 home runs, 987 RBI, and 235 stolen bases. On-base and slugging figures of .363 and .442 give Baker a career OPS of .805. Set against a .260 league average for the same years, Baker's .307 average sits 18.0% above it. In OPS terms, Baker's .805 stands 20.3% above the league's .669.
Frequently Asked Questions about Home Run Baker
- What years did Home Run Baker play?
- Home Run Baker played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922.
- Was Home Run Baker a pitcher?
- No. Home Run Baker was a position player (Third Baseman).
- How many home runs did Home Run Baker hit?
- Home Run Baker hit 96 career home runs with 1838 hits.
- Is Home Run Baker in the Hall of Fame?
- Yes. Home Run Baker was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.
- What was Home Run Baker's career batting average?
- Home Run Baker batted .307 over his career, with 1,838 hits in 5,984 at bats.
- How many RBI did Home Run Baker have?
- Home Run Baker drove in 987 runs in his career.