William Baker

A former New York City police commissioner thrust into the role of Philadelphia Phillies president, William F. Baker oversaw the franchise’s first National League pennant, followed soon after by 13 consecutive years of mediocrity as Baker traded away most of his best players and churned through managers. Doing so earned Baker the reputation of being a cold-hearted money-grabber, treating baseball as a business in an era when many considered major–league teams to be public trusts. Baker’s habit of providing dubious (and sometimes ludicrous) explanations for his unpopular moves often made matters worse.

Baker held the club’s purse strings, but rarely did the purse hold enough to improve the team’s fortunes. In accepting cash and/or lower-salaried replacements for the likes of  Grover Cleveland Alexander, Dave Bancroft, and Lefty O’Doul, Baker was trying to keep the franchise afloat while vying with Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics for paying customers. Said sportswriter W. Rollo Wilson after Baker’s death, “The public at large did not know the problems which faced him and could not know the efforts that he made to solve them for the good of his club.”1

Guided by strong moral principles, Baker was intolerant of those who associated with gamblers, and unwilling to buck local blue laws that kept the Phillies from playing on Sundays.2 More forward-thinking than many of his peers, he was the first major-league executive to routinely hold spring training in Florida,3 pushed early for a league-wide trading deadline,4 and allowed the Phillies to become the first major-league team to have its games broadcast live on radio.5

Neither the owner nor builder of Baker Bowl, Baker was nonetheless the namesake of the north Philadelphia bandbox formerly known as National League Park that the Phillies called home from 1895 to 1938.

Current-day sources list 1866 as William Frazer Baker’s year of birth, consistent with his Philadelphia Inquirer obituary.6 However, he was born six years earlier, the month and day unknown, to Isaac Baker, a Pennsylvania-born toll taker from a pioneering Pittsburgh family, and his wife Mary.7 A volunteer with Pennsylvania’s 102nd Regiment, Isaac died from “brain fever” a few months into the Civil War.8 William appears in the 1870 US census as a nine-year-old living in the Allegheny City, Pennsylvania household of a widowed aunt, M.A. Locke, along with his mother Mary and older brother James.9 Further evidence of Baker’s 1860 birth includes a marriage license for his August 1888 betrothal to the former Laura Randolph Wilson and a 1905 Brooklyn Times article that puts his age as “about forty-five.”10

Educated in Allegheny public schools, Baker attended preparatory school at Western University, later the University of Pittsburgh. By November 1880, he and his brother were living in St. Louis and working at the Vulcan Steel Company rolling mill.11  Five years later, Baker moved to Brooklyn and became secretary to William P. Shinn, a former Vulcan executive who ran New York Steam, New York City’s commercial steam provider. Soon after, he took a similar position with Wallace C. Andrews, also affiliated with New York Steam, and worked for the former Standard Oil Company director until about 1893.12  

While in Andrews’ employ, Baker saw opportunity in the business of transporting goods. In June 1889, he, James and another partner formed the Baker Transfer Company.13 Headquartered in Manhattan near the Hudson River, they bought, sold, stored, and shipped coal, merchandise, and farm produce in NYC and nearby New Jersey.14 The business survived an 1893 accident that left one of their truck horses dangling over the side of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the 1895 death of a youngster trampled by a company wagon, but suffered financial failure in January 1898.15

By that time, Baker had become active in Democratic politics. Tammany Hall had its tentacles in the trucking business, and Baker would have understood that aligning with the Democratic machine that then dominated city government was a way to get ahead.16 Before Baker Transfer went belly up, Baker’s political connections helped him land a clerical position with a Manhattan bank founded by Bird Coler. Elected NYC Controller in 1897 (with Tammany Hall support), Coler made Baker his secretary.17 While in Coler’s service, a lingering debt incurred by the transfer company forced Baker to declare bankruptcy, an embarrassing experience that probably contributed to Baker’s frugal posture as Phillies president in later years.18

After Coler’s term as city controller expired, Baker served as his de facto campaign manager during an unsuccessful campaign for governor of New York.19 In 1905, Coler rewarded Baker, his loyal assistant, by recommending that Baker succeed him as president of the NYC Civil Service Commission.20  Tammany Hall officials were stunned when Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. concurred, certain that the plum patronage slot would be filled by one of their own.21

Baker spent the next three years fighting collusion between civil service exam takers and examiners while sparring with critics who pressed him to do more.22  His work with NYC Police Commissioner Theodore Bingham in rooting out police fraud led to Baker’s appointment as deputy police commissioner in January 1908, responsible for policemen assigned to Brooklyn and Queens.23 The next summer, when an internal scandal forced Bingham’s departure, McClellan tapped Baker to be the NYC’s sixth police commissioner.24

Much of Baker’s dealings as commissioner were mundane, but his policy of allowing policemen to use their nightsticks liberally when dealing with gangsters was credited with markedly reducing gang activity.25 Baker resigned on October 10 amid allegations that police were protecting illegal gambling and prostitution rackets – but insisted he was stepping down because “he was tired and wanted to get out.”26 When asked to address rumors that he’d taken graft, Baker was livid. “If any man ever made such a charge against me, I would smash him right in the face … I defy anyone to prove that I ever performed an improper act.”27

It was during Baker’s stint as police commissioner that he first became involved with major-league baseball. Invited to speak at a 1909 Baseball Writers’ Association banquet held in Manhattan, Baker shared his hope that the sport “will not be become as decayed as horse racing and as groggy as boxing.”  Both, he claimed (ironically), had paid “too much attention to the gate receipts and not enough to the public who come to see the sport.”28

Briefly out of the public eye while working for a millinery firm, in 1911 Baker and his cousin, Pittsburgh Pirates secretary William Locke, entered into negotiations to buy the NL Boston Doves.29 They were unable to close that deal, but in January 1913 purchased the Philadelphia Phillies. Baker was described as “the financial power behind the deal,” but he may have contributed less than one-quarter of the over $300,000 reportedly paid for the club.30

On April 13, Baker, his wife, and Locke were on hand at chilly Ebbets Field as the Phillies nipped the Brooklyn Superbas, 1-0, in the first regular season game played there.31 Four months later, Locke was dead after an extended illness. Locke’s widow was unwilling to run the club, and so Baker was named acting president.32

In late August, with the Phillies in second place and still seeking their first NL pennant, Baker told manager Red Dooin to “go ahead and get some players no matter what they cost.”33 Dooin committed over $10,000 to acquire catcher Ed Burns from the Double-A Montreal Royals, but the Phillies failed to catch the New York Giants. Rarely over the next 17 years would Baker again be so generous.

The Federal League’s emergence in late 1913 presented Baker with his first crisis as a Phillies executive,34 as members of the upstart association were determined to lure away his best ballplayers. He retained NL home run king Gavy Cravath, Hans Lobert, a .300-hitting third baseman, and Dode Paskert, a fine defensive center fielder, but was outbid for shortstop Mickey Doolin, second baseman Otto Knabe, and two frontline pitchers, Ad Brennan and NL wins leader Tom Seaton.35 The first Organized Baseball executive to take the FL to court, Baker prevailed in a federal case that barred catcher Bill Killefer from playing for the Chicago Whales.36

Listing badly from Federal League defections, the Phillies finished the 1914 season in sixth place. Baker let Dooin’s contract expire and replaced him with his players’ first choice: coach Pat Moran.37 The roster that Moran inherited was a strong one, including the league’s reigning winningest pitcher (Alexander), home run king (Cravath), and RBI leader (Sherry Magee), but not Lobert, who was sent off to the Giants in the first of many deals that Baker would make with John McGraw.38

The Phillies took the 1915 NL pennant behind an offense that led the senior circuit in home runs for the third consecutive year, and a pitching staff that boasted the league’s lowest ERA – thanks in large part to Alexander’s 31 wins, 1.22 ERA and 12 shutouts, all major-league highs. Underdogs heading into the World Series, the Phillies split the first two games, played in Philadelphia.39 Baker had his wife throw out the ceremonial pitch before Game One, but for Game Two he persuaded Woodrow Wilson to become the first US president to throw out the first pitch before a World Series game.40

Like all major-league clubs at that time, the Phillies required that fans return foul balls hit into the stands. For Game Two, an exception that allowed spectators to keep “every ball fouled into their midst just to remember the game” was adopted.41 Eight years later, Baker’s overzealous business manager Bill Shettsline insisted that the police arrest and bring to trial an 11-year-old boy who refused to return a foul ball he’d corralled during a game. The presiding judge dismissed Shettsline’s complaint with a ruling that paved the way for foul balls to be kept as souvenirs at major-league ballparks everywhere.42 

After dropping Games Three and Four in Boston, Philadelphia returned home needing a win in Game Five to stay alive. They came up short in that game, losing 5-4, with Harry Hooper’s eighth-inning home run the deciding margin. Both that round-tripper, and one hit earlier by Boston’s Duffy Lewis, landed in temporary center field bleachers that Baker had erected in late September to accommodate an extra 500 paying customers.43 “New Bleacher Seats Cost the Phills $33,000” screamed a headline in the Wilkes-Barre Record, estimating the net gate receipts that would’ve been earned in a Game Six had the bleachers not been installed.44

Another questionable Baker decision, made a year earlier, may have had an even greater impact on the Phillies’ fortunes in that World Series and beyond. According to a 1939 re-telling, Jack Dunn, manager of the International League Baltimore Orioles, offered Dooin the opportunity to purchase three of his ballplayers for $19,000. Presented with the deal, Baker refused, saying he wouldn’t pay that much for the whole league. The Red Sox scooped up Dunn’s trio, including Ernie Shore, who defeated the Phillies in Game Four and a 19-year-old pitcher who watched most of the Series from the dugout – Babe Ruth.45

Pleased at having reached the World Series, Baker gave Moran a three-year contract and retained the core of the Phillies roster for the next two years.46 The team finished a close second to the Giants in 1916, then a distant second the year after. In November 1917, with World War I raging, US officials signaled that major-leaguers would no longer be exempt from military service, as they had been since the country entered the war.47 Expecting a big drop in attendance during the 1918 season (51% as it turned out), Baker feared an additional hit from losing Alexander, his biggest drawing card, to the military. So he sent Killefer and Alexander, the three-time reigning NL pitching Triple Crown winner and the highest-paid pitcher in the major leagues, to the Chicago Cubs for $55,000 and “two obscure, mediocre … players”: pitcher Mike Prendergast and catcher Pickles Dillhoefer.48

The baseball world was stunned. “Selling Alexander … is like … demolishing a cathedral or destroying priceless works of art,” said former manager Dooin.49 The Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger called the Phillies “wrecked,” and the New York Sun asserted that the team was “reduced to a weak and colorless mass that cannot be reckoned with as better than a second-division outfit.”50 Baker justified the deal by claiming Alexander’s effectiveness had diminished and that he had not kept himself “in the best of condition.”51 “It is a business matter pure and simple with me,” Baker told the Washington Times.52 Years later, he admitted that the club needed the money.53

Without Alexander, the Phillies finished below .500 in 1918, and Moran lost his job. Asked why, Baker mentioned (a) Moran’s firm stance during contract talks three years earlier, (b) Moran’s lack of communication with him after the season, and (c) the skipper’s habit of spending nights away from the team during the season, which Baker considered detrimental to maintaining team discipline. The Sporting News accused Baker of “explaining too much.”54 Summing up the local mood over Moran’s firing, Philadelphia sportswriter James C. Isaminger wrote “To say that patrons of the club are disgusted and dismayed is putting it mild.”55

Out of the blue, in June 1918 Baker purchased the Waterbury (Connecticut) club of the Eastern League.56 Rumors suggested Baker bought the club as a front for Morton Plant, a Phillies stockholder who owned another Eastern League club and presumably wanted a beard to skirt Organized Baseball’s conflict of interest rules.57 By March 1919, the Eastern League had suspended operations, Plant had died, and Baker had abandoned the club to league officials.58

Baker hoped that fans would rally around a local favorite, and so replaced Moran with Jack Coombs, former standout hurler for the Philadelphia Athletics. On July 8, with the Phillies in last place and suffering through their second 13-game losing streak of the season, Baker announced that Coombs had resigned. Coombs claimed he hadn’t quit, that Baker had released him.59 Angry over Coombs’ raw deal, a quartet of Phillies refused to play that afternoon for his replacement, Cravath. Wearing street clothes, they sat in the bleachers and jeered. Baker fined Gene Packard, Frank Woodward, and Forrest Cady; told Cady that he’d be released, and let Harry Pearce off with a lecture.60

Baker’s intolerance for insubordination may have been matched only by his intolerance for gambling. He forbade ballplayers from gambling at cards and more than once had detectives ferret out gamblers at home games.61 In May 1920 he told reporters that “[g]ambling is baseball’s curse.”62 Four months later, rumors spread that several crooked Cubs had thrown a game played against the Phillies on August 31. A Chicago grand jury investigation into that charge uncovered evidence that the 1919 World Series had been fixed – the Black Sox scandal, for which Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis handed down lifetime bans to eight White Sox players.63

In late 1918, Baker had endorsed replacing Organized Baseball’s three-person ruling body, the National Commission, with a single Commissioner.64 Reluctant to do so, club owners did agree to replace the Commission chairman, August Herrmann. Baker was part of the four-man committee that nominated Judge Landis for that position before owners pivoted to a single Commissioner.65 A member of the NL board of directors from 1924 on, Baker had an outsized influence on league officials dating back to his arrival on the scene; he was the driving force in the December 1913 election of Pennsylvania governor John Tener as the NL’s eighth president.66

On June 7, 1920, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of both the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution and the Volstead Act, confirming Prohibition as the law of the land. That same day, Baker gave many Phillies fans reason to crave a stiff drink when he traded shortstop Dave Bancroft to the Giants. Arguably the league’s best fielding shortstop, Bancroft would captain the Giants to three consecutive NL pennants and twice finish in the top 10 in MVP voting while with the Boston Braves. The player that Baker received in return, 35-year-old shortstop and former Giants captain Art Fletcher, played only 212 games for the Phillies, but Baker had bigger things in mind for him when making the trade.  

Convinced that the Phillies needed a new field general after two last-place finishes under Cravath, Baker hired Bill Donovan, manager of Jersey City in the International League and a veteran of 18 major-league seasons. Midway through the 1921 season, Baker insisted that Donovan suspend left fielder Irish Meusel, the club’s top hitter, for “indifferent play,” then dealt Meusel to the second-place Giants for two unproven youngsters and cash.67 Coming on the heels of another lopsided trade in which Baker sent outfielder Casey Stengel and second baseman Johnny Rawlings to New York, Philadelphians were irate. So were the first-place Pirates.68 The Brooklyn Eagle charged that Baker and McGraw had a “secret working agreement” that funneled talented ballplayers to New York, and suggested Landis void the deal.69 With the Black Sox trial underway, the Commissioner declined to intervene.

Donovan was among those testifying at the Chicago proceedings, called to corroborate the testimony of gambler Bill Burns, a key prosecution witness and teammate of Donovan’s on the 1912 Detroit Tigers.70 Furious that Donovan “knew too much about the plot to throw the … Series,” Baker demanded that he quit or face termination.71 When Donovan protested, Baker canned him, telling reporters that his former skipper wasn’t “disciplinarian enough.”72 Landis cleared Donovan of any wrongdoing, but Baker was unmoved. On a grim day two years later, Baker would have a very different perspective.

In the early morning hours of December 9, 1923, Donovan was aboard a Chicago-bound train that was rear-ended in central New York amid heavy fog and rain. Baker and NL president John Heydler were in another car on that train, heading to the NL winter meetings, as was Donovan. Among the first to reach the damaged car, Heydler wielded a fire ax and Baker a crowbar to help free surviving passengers, but Donovan and eight others perished.73 Baker had dined with Donovan earlier, but declined an offer to join him later in the doomed car – a decision that may have saved his life.74

Donovan’s 1921 successor in Philadelphia, Irving “Kaiser” Wilhelm, inherited a lineup that featured slugger Cy Williams, arguably Baker’s finest trade acquisition,75 but the league’s worst pitching staff, and so the Phillies ended in the NL cellar. Sportswriter Frank Menke blamed Baker. “His love of gold has caused him to sell every player that is saleable and reduce his lineup to a collection of athletes little better than sandlotters.”76 After another dismal finish in 1922, Baker gave Wilhelm his walking papers and appointed Fletcher manager.

Baker filled the resulting hole at shortstop with Heinie Sand, obtained from the Pacific Coast League’s Salt Lake City Bees. Over the next six seasons, Sand handled more chances than any other NL shortstop (4,512), but it was a chance he didn’t take before a September 27, 1924, contest against the Giants that proved his most important. During batting practice, Sand was approached by the Giants’ Jimmy O’Connell and offered $500 to throw the game. Sand refused and notified Fletcher, who contacted Baker. Within days, Commissioner Landis began an investigation that resulted in lifetime suspensions for O’Connell and the Giants coach who put him up to it, former Phillie Cozy Dolan.77

Fletcher’s honesty, lack of ego, and tenacity greatly impressed Baker – so much so that Baker offered him a three-year extension in the middle of the 1923 season, calling him “the finest manager in the league today” despite Philadelphia’s 39-78 (.333) record at that time.78 Fletcher’s response, that he’d only earned a one-year deal, endeared him to Baker even more. Over the next two years, Fletcher elevated the team to seventh and then sixth-place finishes, improvements that helped the Phillies “[regain] much of their lost popularity in the Quaker City,” as evidenced by a 31% increase in attendance between 1922 and 1925.79

A sea of empty seats at a September 1922 Phillies home games prompted New York Tribune sportswriter John Kieran to refer to National League Park as “the famous William F. Baker mausoleum.”80 By the following June, the ballpark at Broad and Huntingdon was being called Baker Bowl, a name that immediately stuck.81 Though he never owned it, Baker had the chance to level it. Charles Murphy, the former owner of the Chicago Cubs and Phillies stockholder who had purchased the 20,000-seat ballpark in 1912, wanted to put a car dealership on the property. He tried to persuade Baker to sell him back the Phillies’ long-term lease and move into roomier Shibe Park, home of the Athletics, but Baker refused.82  

Baker felt that the Phillies’ level of play had improved under Fletcher, and so in October 1925 announced that Fletcher “can be the manager as long as he wants the job.”83 A year later, Baker fired him. He gave no reason why, but the press speculated that it was an umpire-baiting incident in the second game of a September 16 doubleheader that caused NL president Heydler to suspend Fletcher for the balance of the season.84

Baker’s next manager was Stuffy McInnis, the first baseman in Connie Mack’s “$100,000 Infield.” A few months later, Baker replaced business manager Shettsline with Jerry Nugent, husband of club secretary Mae Nugent. Little was made of that move in Philadelphia newspapers, but the firing of Shettsline, who had served as Phillies business manager, team secretary, manager, and president over the previous 40-plus years, was considered disgraceful by local sportswriters.85

The Phillies’ 1927 season was marked by the second fatal grandstand collapse in Baker Bowl history.86 During the seventh inning of a May 14 game with the Cardinals, one fan was killed and 50 were injured when a covered section of the right field stands collapsed after hundreds of bleacherites had crowded there to get out of the rain.87 Baker arranged for the Phillies to play their next dozen games at Shibe Park while the damage was repaired, and had workers install a screen to keep bleacher-goers out of the grandstand.88

After yet another last-place finish, McInnis was out. Baker wooed “strong, silent” Burt Shotton away from the Cardinals organization to become his ninth and ultimately final manager. He dubbed Shotton the “best [Phillies] manager … since the days of Pat Moran” but the team’s 1928 record didn’t reflect it, as the Phillies set a new club record for most losses in a season (109).89 The next year was a different story, with the team finishing in fifth-place, thanks in large part to two of Baker’s finest acquisitions. Left fielder Lefty O’Doul hit a league-leading .398 and strapping right fielder Chuck Klein clubbed a league-record 43 home runs, many over the 60-foot high right-field fence at Baker Bowl that loomed only 280 feet from home plate.90

In 1930, the Phillies offense hit an impressive .315 – but their pitching staff was atrocious, setting an NL/AL record for the highest team ERA in a season (6.71), a mark that may never be broken. One contributor to that record was 43-year-old Gover Cleveland Alexander. Reacquired by Baker at Shotton’s request, Alexander was winless over nine games in what proved to be his final season.91  

As the season came to a close, Baker declined an offer from Branch Rickey to trade Klein for Cardinal standouts Jim Bottomley, Jesse Haines, and Chick Hafey. However, he dealt O’Doul to the Brooklyn Robins and slick-fielding shortstop Tommy Thevenow to the Pirates.92  Asked why he was again selling his stars, Baker said “they produced only a last place ball team for us.”93

On the morning of December 4, 1930, Baker was in Montreal attending a minor-league convention when he was stricken by a fatal heart attack. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, he had been battling a heart ailment for several years.94

“We in Philadelphia and in the major leagues are going to miss him very much,” said Mack on Baker’s passing. “He was devotedly interested in baseball and the welfare of the game, and I admired him greatly.”95 Philadelphia sportswriter S.O. Grauley wrote that “Probably there was no more misunderstood man in baseball than the late leader of the Phils.”96

Baker’s funeral was attended by executives from across the baseball world, with league presidents, owners and team presidents serving as honorary pallbearers. Commissioner Landis also attended, later calling Baker “a pillar of baseball.”97 Baker, whose primary residence remained in Brooklyn throughout his Phillies tenure, was buried in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, joined in 1936 by his wife Laura.98 The couple had no children.

Lewis C. Ruch, a minority stockholder dating back to Locke’s 1913 purchase, assumed the Phillies presidency after Baker’s death. The club held a moment of silence for Baker during 1931 Opening Day ceremonies and flew the Stars and Stripes at half-mast throughout April.99

Baker, who was earning $25,000 a year when he died, left an estate valued at only $37,000 (less than $750,000 in 2025 dollars), exclusive of his Phillies stock. He bequeathed 500 of his 1,257 Phillies shares to club secretary Mae Nugent and the rest to his wife.100

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Terry Bohn.

Photo credit: William Baker, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, the author consulted a 2009 reprint of Frederick G. Lieb and Stan Baumgartner’s The Philadelphia Phillies; Rich Westcott and Frank Bilovsky’s The New Phillies Encyclopedia (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993), and websites Baseball-Reference.com, retrosheet.org, statscrew.com, and stathead.com.

Notes

1 W. Rollo Wilson, “The Sudden Death,” Pittsburgh Courier, December 13, 1930: 2-5.

2 “A’s Hope to Play Sunday Games,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Record, July 24, 1926: 17. 

3 “President of Phillies Goes Back to Home,” Tampa Times, March 23, 1926: 13. Beginning in 1915, the Phillies held 26 of their next 28 pre-season camps in the Sunshine State, including every year from 1922 to 1937. “Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training,” Spring Training Online, https://www.springtrainingonline.com/teams/philadelphia-phillies.htm, accessed September 13, 2025.

4 “Phillies to Let Out Three Veteran Hurlers,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 22, 1916: 16. Although an earlier date was adopted when the deadline was first implemented in 1923, Baker’s suggestion of an August 1 date is reflected in the July 31 deadline that has largely been in place since 1986. “Trading deadline, Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Trading_deadline, accessed September 13, 2025.

5 Two years earlier, the Phillies played in the first baseball game ever broadcast by a commercial radio station. John Fredland, “August 5, 1921: KDKA’s Harold Arlin broadcasts first baseball game over commercial radio as Pirates rally to beat Phillies,” SABR Games Project, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-5-1921-kdkas-harold-arlin-broadcasts-first-baseball-game-over-commercial-radio-as-pirates-rally-to-beat-phillies/

6 “William F. Baker, President of Phils, Succumbs to Heart Attack in Montreal,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 5, 1930: 18. See, for example Baseball-Reference.com.

7 1860 US Census, Brimingham Borough, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Page 1, dated June 4, 1860.

8 “Death of an Allegheny Volunteer,” Pittsburgh Gazette, September 9, 1861: 3; “The Pennsylvania Thirteenth,” Pittsburgh Gazette, January 14, 1862: 3. Brain fever is an outdated term for various conditions involving inflammation of the brain.

9 1870 US Census, Allegheny City, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 3rd Ward, Page 215, dated June 21, 1870.

10 “Coler Dictates New Civil Service Head,” Brooklyn Times, February 1, 1905: 1.

11 1880 US Census, St. Louis, Missouri, Supervisors District No. 71, Enumeration District 421, Page 7, dated November 9, 1880; Gould’s 1881 St. Louis City Directory, 107.

12 “W.F. Baker Dead; Head of Phillies,” New York Times, December 5, 1930: 25; “William F. Baker, President of Phils, Succumbs to Heart Attack in Montreal.”

13 At the time, the Baker brothers shared a Brooklyn apartment. Lain’s 1889 Brooklyn Directory, 39.

14 Lain’s 1892 Brooklyn Directory, 40. An 1893 Brooklyn directory identified Baker as working in the flooring business. Lain’s 1893 Brooklyn Directory, 42-43.

15 “A Horse Dangling in Mid-Air,” New York Sun, August 22, 1893: 1; “A Youthful Roller-Skater Killed,” New York Tribune, April 16, 1895: 11; “Business Troubles: New York City,” New York Times, January 8, 1898: 9. The company’s assets, which included 17 horses and 13 trucks, were dispersed in a sheriff’s sale.

16 For details on Tammany Hall’s involvement in the NYC trucking industry, see, for example, “Harlem’s Richard Croker, An Irish American Tammany Hall Political Boss, 1843 – 1922,” Harlem World, November 26, 2022, https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/richard-boss-croker-an-irish-american-tammany-hall-political-boss-1843-1922/ and Thomas F. Comiskey, “Baseball, bars, no blarney: Charles F. Murphy’s path from Gas House District to Tammany Hall boss,” The Village Sun, May 7, 2024, https://thevillagesun.com/baseball-bars-no-blarney-charles-f-murphys-path-from-gas-house-district-to-tammany-hall-boss

17 “The New Commissioner,” Syracuse Herald, July 5, 1909: 10; “Secretary Sworn In,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 27, 1898: 2; “Borough of Brooklyn,” New York Sun, January 28, 1898: 3.

18 The Brooklyn Times found Baker’s situation amusing – declaring bankruptcy over a $1,522 debt despite earning a $5,000 annual salary. See “The Controller’s Secretary,” Brooklyn Times, May 18, 1899: 8.

19 “Hill Imports Mystery,” New York Tribune, October 7, 1902: 9.

20 “Baker Succeeds Coler,” Brooklyn Eagle, February 2, 1905: 19. Baker was back working at Coler’s banking concern when he was appointed to the Commission.

21 “Coler Dictates New Civil Service Head,” Brooklyn Times, February 1, 1905: 1; “Baker Slated for Job When Coler Gave It Up,” Brooklyn Eagle, February 5, 1905: 12.

22 “Beware of Civil Service Swindlers,” New York Times, January 21, 1906: 12; “Police ‘Exam’ Frauds,” New-York Tribune, March 17, 1906: 10; “Baker Hurls Defiance at Reform Association,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 10, 1906: 14. Baker’s most prominent critic was former US Senator and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz, who led the Municipal Civil Service Reform Association.

23 “Bingham Gets the Names,” New York Sun, March 21, 1906: 12; “O’Keefe Resigns; Gets Better Job,” Brooklyn Standard Union, January 9, 1908: 1. One unusual assignment that Baker’s charges performed particularly well was collecting and tabulating election results, a responsibility assigned to the NYC police department before the advent of civilian boards for administering elections. “Police Made Record in Collecting Returns,” Brooklyn Citizen, November 6, 1908: 2.  

24 “General Bingham Removed by Mayor; William F. Baker is Made Commissioner,” Brooklyn Eagle, July 1, 1909: 1.

25 “Beau Brummels of Gangland and the Killing They Did in Feuds,” New York Sun, August 3, 1919: Magazine-9.

26 “Police Official Confesses to Acting Mayor Mitchel?” Brooklyn Citizen, September 17, 1910: 1.

27  “Baker is Tired,” Brooklyn Times, October 21, 1910: 2.

28 “President Ebbets, as a Prognosticator, Makes a Big Hit,” Brooklyn Standard Union, December 16, 1909: 10. The banquet was held to honor the 1909 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates, with a lineup of speakers that included Pirates manager Fred Clarke, journalist Francis C. Richter, Detroit Tigers manager Hughie Jennings, former Chicago White Stockings manager Cap Anson, Brooklyn Superbas executive Charles Ebbets, and National League president John Heydler. Baker also announced that he was reversing an order that banned policemen from providing security at ballparks during games. He was later credited with doing a fine job in deploying policemen at ballparks in a manner that cut down on rowdyism. “Protecting Players from Rowdy Fans,” Buffalo News, May 21, 1912: 14.

29 “Russell May Stick as Boston President,” Brooklyn Times, July 20, 1911: 2; “Dove Deals Fall Through,” Indianapolis Star, July 21, 1911: 9.

30 “Locke and Baker Come Here Today,” Philadelphia Inquirer, January 3, 1913: 10; “Locke Finally Secures Phila. Baseball Blub [sic],” Philadelphia Inquirer, January 16, 1913: 1. Based on the cumulative face value of the 1,257 shares of Phillies stock that Baker held at his death – $62,850. “Baker, Part Owner of Phillies, Left $99,972 Estate,” Brooklyn Eagle, December 4, 1931: 2.

31 “Notes on the Chilly Opener,” Brooklyn Standard Union, April 10, 1913: 12.

32 “Phillies Owned by Mrs. Locke,” Trenton (New Jersey) Evening Times, August 21, 1913: 11.

33 “Manager Dooin is Authorized to Go Limit for Players,” Detroit Free Press, August 28, 1913: 10.

34 “William F. Baker Named President of Phillies’ Club,” Kane (Pennsylvania) Republican, October 21, 1913: 7. Elected to a one-year term by Phillies directors after the 1913 season, Baker was re-elected annually until January 1918 when stockholders lengthened Baker’s terms to five years. “Phils Stockholders Approve Big Deal,” Philadelphia Inquirer, January 8, 1918: 14.

35 When the liner Lusitania docked in New York in early March carrying ballplayers returning from the Chicago White Sox – New York Giants world tour, Baker and American League president Ban Johnson came aboard looking to snap up players before they could accept offers from Federal League representatives who were waiting on the dock. Baker persuaded Lobert to return to the Phillies, but fellow Giant fill-in Doolin signed that day with the Baltimore Terrapins. Fourteen months later, the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland, taking the lives of nearly 1,200 passengers and crew. “Warmly Welcome Touring Players,” Camden (New Jersey) Post-Telegram, March 6, 1914: 11; “Doolan [sic] and Evans Sign With Federals,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, March 8, 1914: 16. Paul Mittermeyer, Mickey Doolin, SABR Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Mickey-Doolin/.

36 “Phillies to Fight for Seaton and Killifer [sic],” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Democrat, March 26, 1914: 15; “Lawyer for Phillies Files His Answer in Killifer [sic] Case,” Chicago Tribune, April 4, 1914: 15; “Philly President Stands Firm for Organized Ball,” Springfield (Massachusetts) News, July 2, 1914: 16; “Federals Sued,” Washington Post, April 14, 1914: 8. The morning of the Phillies’ 1914 season opener, the club filed suit in a Chicago federal court seeking an injunction to prevent Doolin, Seaton, Knabe, and Brennan from playing for the Federal League, plus $25,000 in damages. Baker later sued Brooklyn Tip Tops owner Robert B. Ward for $30,000 over the loss of Seaton. The first case was dismissed, and the latter went away when Ward died in October 1915. “Today’s Chat,” Franklin (New Jersey) Evening News, January 27, 1915: 3

37 Robert Edgren, “Manager Pat Moran Real Miracle Man of Baseball,” New York Evening World, August 16, 1919: 6.

38 “Giants Give Phillies Three Players and Cash for Third Sacker Lobert,” Washington Post, January 5, 1915: 8.

39 George R. Holmes, “Red Sox Enter World’s Series Short Favorite,” Muscatine (Iowa) News-Tribune, September 28, 1915: 8.

40 “Some Sidelight of Battle of the Diamond,” New-York Tribune, October 9, 1915: 17; “Tenseness of Struggle Makes Hearts Beat Fast,” New York Sun, October 10, 1915: 13. At Wilson’s side was his fiancé, the widowed Mrs. Norman (Edith) Galt, in the couple’s first public appearance since announcing their engagement a few days earlier.

41 “World’s Series Notes,” Chicago Tribune, October 10, 1915: 22.

42 Larry DeFillipo, “July 18, 1923: Phillies outlast Cubs but lose ‘landmark’ decision to 11-year-old over a foul ball,” SABR Games Project, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-18-1923-phillies-outlast-cubs-but-lose-landmark-decision-to-11-year-old-over-a-foul-ball/#_edn11

43 “Phillies Finish Schedule with Double Victory,” Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, October 6, 1915: 1; “New Bleacher Seats Cost the Phills $33,000,” Wilkes-Barre Record, October 15, 1915: 19. Hooper’s home run, his second of the game, bounced into the temporary bleachers. Installed a few days before the start of the Series, the bleachers also captured a home run hit by Phillie pitcher Erskine Mayer on the last day of the regular season. Jim Nasium, “Phils Throw Away Chance for Win,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 14, 1915: 12.

44 “New Bleacher Seats Cost the Phils $33,000.” The accompanying article gave a figure of $35,000 in projected gross receipts, less $1,500 in temporary bleacher ticket sales for the three World Series games played in Philadelphia. Presumably the $500 difference accounted for the cost of having the bleachers installed.

45 “Rosie’s Round-Up,” Bayonne (New Jersey) Times, March 15, 1939: 10. The third player offered was shortstop, Claud Derrick, who previously had served as a backup to the Philadelphia Athletics’ famed $100,000 infield. Ruth made one appearance in the 1915 World Series, grounding out in Game One as a pinch-hitter for Shore. 

46 “Pat Moran Signs Up For 3 Years,” Wilmington (Delaware) Every Evening Journal, December 15, 1915: 15.

47 “New Draft May Ruin Major League Clubs,” Buffalo Commercial, November 22, 1917: 1.

48 Jim Nasium, “Alexander is Signed at Highest Salary,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 22, 1917: 10; “Phillies Startle the Baseball World by Selling Alexander and Killefer to the Chicago Cubs,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 12, 1917: 16; “Sale Death Blow to Phils’ Hopes,” Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, December 12, 1917: 13. Initial estimates were that Baker received as much as $85,000 cash in the deal.

49 “It is German Ruthlessness,” Anadarko (Oklahoma) American-Democrat, April 18, 1918: 2.

50 “Sale Death Blow to Phils’ Hopes”; Dan Daniel, “High Lights and Shadows in All Spheres of Sport,” New York Sun, December 12, 1917: 13.

51 H.C. Hamilton, “Alex the Great Soon All Thru,” Beloit (Wisconsin) News, January 3, 1918: 7.

52 Louis A. Dougher, “Short Sport Talks,” Washington Times, December 14, 1917: 24.

53 “Pres. Baker Hits Back at Words of “Just a Fan,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 23, 1924: 26.

54 “Baker Tells Why He Let Moran Go,” New York Herald, December 15, 1918: 20; “Baker Explains Too Much,” The Sporting News, January 2, 1919: 7.

55 James C. Isaminger, “Baker Deals Phils Their Hardest Blow,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1918: 1.

56 “Baker of Phillies Buys Waterbury,” Hartford Courant, June 25, 1918: 11.

57 Ralph Davis, “Not Baker’s Money,” Pittsburgh Press, July 3, 1918: 20; “Morton F. Plant, Some Magnate,” Springfield (Massachusetts) News, July 3, 1918: 10.

58 Joe Vila, “Death of Plant Blow to Baseball,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 7, 1918: 14; “Waterbury Fans May Take Team,” Hartford Courant, March 31, 1919: 9.

59 Edwin J. Pollock, “Coombs Resigned, Says Baker; Didn’t, Retorts Ex-Pilot,” Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, July 9, 1919: 19.

60 “Philly Players Heavily Fined,” Scranton (Pennsylvania) Republican, July 10, 1919: 14; “Philly Bolshevik Revolt Put Down; Gavvy in Control; Coombs Given Mug,” Pittsburgh Post, July 10, 1919: 20.  

61 “Gamblng Baseball Curse,” Portland Oregonian, May 23, 1920: 54; “Detectives for Phillies’ Park,” New York Times, April 15, 1921: 19; “Betting Clique at Phils’ Park Rests for Day,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 22, 1927: 1. Describing the measures that the Phillies president took to keep gamblers out of the Baker Bowl, Philadelphia Director of Public Safety George Elliott said “There is no more zealous anti-gambling figure in Philadelphia than … Baker.”

62 “Gamblng Baseball Curse,” Portland Oregonian, May 23, 1920: 54. In making the comment, Baker alluded to the recent release by the Pacific Coast League’s San Francisco Seals of former Phillie Tom Seaton and a teammate on suspicion of throwing games.

63 “Charges Cubs “Threw” Game Tuesday; Gambling Pool Has a ‘Clean-Up;’ Probe Develops,” Everett (Washington) Herald, September 4, 1920: 1; Frank O. Klein, “Sox Reveal ‘Inside’ of Big Scandal,” (Chicago) Collyer’s Eye, September 18, 1920: 1; Sharon Hamilton, “August 31: 1920: Cubs-Phillies game leads to grand jury investigation, Black Sox confessions, and a stabbing,” SABR Games Project, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-31-1920-cubs-phillies-game-leads-to-grand-jury-investigation-black-sox-confessions-and-a-stabbing/

64 William F. Baker, “Baker Favors One Man National Commission,” Brooklyn Standard Union, December 6, 1918: 18.

65 “Judge Landis May Become Major League Dictator,” Buffalo Commercial, August 13, 1919: 7.

66 “Johnson Refuses to Be Questioned,” Chattanooga (Tennessee) News, December 10, 1924: 10; “How Tener Got There,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Intelligencer, November 24, 1913: 4.

67 “Scribbled by Scribes,” The Sporting News, August 18, 1921: 4; “Giants Trade Walker and Henline for Irish Meusel, Phillies’ Slugger,” New York Evening World, July 26, 1921: 17.

68 “Philly Fans Are Angry Over Trade of Irish Meusel,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Times-Leader, July 27, 1921: 20; “Pirates Fans Are Irate Over Deal,” Philadelphia Evening Ledger, July 29, 1921: 12.

69 “Time Landis Called a Halt to Activities of J.J. McGraw,” Brooklyn Eagle, July 27, 1921: 18.

70 William K. Hutchinson, “’Wild Bill’ Donovan Takes Stand Against Black Sox in Chicago Baseball Trial,” Minneapolis Star, July 19, 1921: 6.

71 “Donovan Out as Manager of Phillies, is Story from West,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 30, 1921: 8; “Donovan Must Quit or Be Fired is Said to Be Baker’s Ultimatum,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 6, 1921: 8; “He Gets a Square Deal from Landis,” The Sporting News, August 25, 1921: 3.

72 “Wild Bill Donovan is Ousted as Manager of the Phillies, But Draws His Pay,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 10, 1921: 14.

73 Sharing a sleeping compartment with Donovan was George Weiss, president of the Eastern League’s New Haven club, for which Donovan was managing. Weiss suffered serious back injuries in the accident. The Hartford Courant reported that Donovan and Weiss planned to make offer to buy the Phillies at the winter meetings. “Building Players for The Majors,” Hartford Courant, July 11, 1926: D1.

74 “President of Phillies Aboard First Section,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 10, 1923: 10. Doug Skipper, “Bill Donovan,” SABR Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bill-donovan/

75 Baker acquired the then-30-year-old Williams from the Chicago Cubs in December 1917 for declining 36-year-old outfielder Dode Paskert. During his 13 years with Philadelphia, Williams collected 251 home runs, 795 RBIs and over 1500 hits.  

76 See, for example Frank Menke, “Blames Phillies’ Owner for Team’s Poor Showing in Race This Year,” Omaha Evening Bee, August 27, 1921: 3.

77 Lowell Blaisdell, “Mystery and Tragedy: The O’Connell-Dolan Scandal,” Baseball Research Journal, 1982, https://sabr.org/journal/article/mystery-and-tragedy-the-oconnell-dolan-scandal/

78 Gordon Mackay, “Fletcher Signs for One Year as Manager,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 24, 1923: 18.

79 “Karpe’s Comment,” Buffalo Evening News, November 23, 1925: 25.

80 John Kieran, “Giants Lose to Phillies, 8 to 4,” New York Tribune, September 9, 1922: 8.

81 “300 Students Going to Washington, D.C.,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Morning Call, June 24, 1923: 5. The Baker Bowl name stuck so well that multiple sources ascribe it to games played in National League Park decades before it was coined. See, for example the box score posted at Retrosheet.com for the first home game played by the Phillies in the 20th-century. https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1901/B04180PHI1901.htm

82 “Baker Bowl,” Ballparks of Baseball, https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/baker-bowl/, accessed September 16, 2025; “Owner of Phillie Park Awaits Baker’s Word,” Springfield (Missouri) Leader, May 17, 1927: 11; James J. Long, “Sport Comment,” Pittsburgh Telegraph, October 17, 1931: 13; Lenny Jacobsen, “Charles Murphy,” SABR Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/charles-murphy/

83 “Live Tips and Topics,” Boston Globe, October 31, 1925: 12.

84 “Reds and Cards Again Tied,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 17, 1926: 1; Peter M. Gordon, “Art Fletcher,” SABR Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/art-fletcher/. In the fifth inning of that game, Fletcher was ejected by umpire Bill Klem after Klem had tossed the Phillies’ fiery catcher, Jimmie Wilson. Shortly after Klem had given Fletcher his say, a chalkboard that read “Catfish Klem” was hung outside a clubhouse window that faced the field. Furious, Klem forfeited the game to the opposing Cardinals, then thought better of the idea and resumed play. His damning report to Heydler triggered Fletcher’s suspension.

85 James C. Isaminger, “Tris’ Visit Quickens Pulse of Old Philly,” The Sporting News, February 3, 1927: 1; Frederick G. Lieb and Stan Baumgartner, The Philadelphia Phillies (Kent, Ohio: Kent University Press, 2009), 171.

86 On August 8, 1903, fans rushing to witness a commotion outside the ballpark overloaded a section of the left field bleacher balcony, causing a collapse that killed 12 and injuring more than 230. Robert T. Warrington, “Baseball’s Deadliest Disaster,” The National Pastime, 2013, https://sabr.org/journal/article/baseballs-deadliest-disaster-black-saturday-in-philadelphia/

87 “1 Dies, 50 Injured in Stand Collapse at Phillies’ Park,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 15, 1927: 1.

88 “Phillies Will Play Games at Shibe Park,” Allentown Morning Call, May 16, 1927: 27.

89 John Kieran, “The Big Baker Boys,” New York Times, April 27, 1931; 30.

90 Various sources mistakenly claim that the 20-foot screen at the top of the right field wall was installed at Baker’s direction to cut down on the number of home runs Klein hit. (See, for example L. Robert Davids, Baker Bowl, Baseball Research Journal, 1982, https://sabr.org/journal/article/baker-bowl/ or The New Phillies Encyclopedia, 269). A history of Baker Bowl posted at https://thisgreatgame.com/ballparks-baker-bowl/ indicates that the screen was installed in 1915, consistent with a 1916 game account that refers to George Whitted hitting a game-winning home run hit “over the right field screen.” Jim Nasium, “Phillies Win in 11th,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 24, 1916: 14.

91 “Baseball Confab,” Indiana (Pennsylvania) Evening Gazette, December 13, 1929: 10.

92 “Phils Will Not Give Klein for Three Cards,” Chester (Pennsylvania) Times, September 4, 1930: 14. Rickey was not alone in coveting Klein. Cubs owner William Wrigley Jr. reportedly offered $100,000 for him. Hardin Burnely, “The Siege Gun of Philly,” Galion (Ohio) Inquirer, March 9, 1933: 4.

93 “Baker Explains His Shift of Phillies,” Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times, November 30, 1930: D-3.

94 “William F. Baker, President of Phils, Succumbs to Heart Attack in Montreal.” The newspaper speculated that the Phillies’ poor showing during the previous season had hastened his death.

95 “William F. Baker, President of Phils, Succumbs to Heart Attack in Montreal.”

96 S.O. Grauley, “To William F. Baker,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 5, 1930: 18.

97 “Notables of Baseball Attend the Funeral of William F. Baker,” Brooklyn Citizen, December 8, 1930: 6. 

98 “Widow of Former Phillies’ Head Dies,” Allentown Morning Call, February 7, 1936: 31. Beginning in 1922, the Bakers briefly maintained another residence in Rydal, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb. “Baker, Phils Pres., to Reside Here,” Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, April 27, 1922: 21.

99 “Phils Pry Off Lid with Giants Today,” Camden Courier-Post, April 14, 1931: 20; Otts Hulleberg, “Phillies Bow to Giants in Opener,” Camden Courier-Post, April 15, 1931: 14.

100 “William F. Baker, President of Phils, Succumbs to Heart Attack in Montreal”; “Baker, Part Owner of Phillies, Left $99,972 Estate.” When Laura Baker died, she gave her shares to Mae and Mae’s son. When added to shares that Jerry Nugent had accumulated, the Nugent family possessed enough to become majority owners of the Phillies.  Rich Westcott, “Philadelphia Phillies team ownership history,” SABR Team Ownership History Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/philadelphia-phillies-team-ownership-history/