He was first...again

As a reporter, whether real or imagined, one of the best things you can get is a tip from a solid source for a story. I wanted to do my annual Black History little known sports fact, but nothing crossed my laptop. In the past I had great ones like boxer Joe Gans who coined the phrase "bringing home the bacon" when winning championship fights and Charles Follis, the first professional football player.

Last night I got a text from one of my boyz about Gene Baker. My "source" has been a supporter of my blog from day one. But he never directly sent me anything until now. He doesn't even know about my sports fact thing. He just sent it because well, you know.

Gene Baker's career as a baseball player had it's highs and lows. A career .265 hitter, Baker was actually the first player of color signed by the Chicago Cubs in 1953 after playing for the Kansas City Monarchs. A few days later Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, was signed. They eventually became the first double play combination of color in the major leagues. Baker made the All-Star team two years later. After a trade to the Pirates, he was on the Pirates 1960 World Series championship team. He retired a year later.

He was selected to manage the Batavia (N.Y.) Pirates, becoming the first Black manager of a minor league team. He went 65-59 that year. But that's not the first I'm talking about.


He was promoted to the Pirates major leagues team in 1963. He was the second Black coach to make to the bigs. Buck O'Neill was hired six months earlier by the Cubs.  

I promise it's coming.

On September 21st 1963, the Pirates played the Dodgers. The Pirates were up 3-2 in the eighth inning when a Pirate rally was ended on a close call. Both managers Danny Murtaugh and Frank Oceak were tossed out of the game for arguing to the umpire. Upon returning to the dugout, Murtaugh told Baker to take over.

He said, ‘Skip, are you sure?’ ” recalled former Pirates pitcher Vern Law. “ ‘Yeah, you’re the man.’ ”

That simple. Baker became the first person of color to manage a major league baseball team.

Baker later managed in the minors for another year before becoming a scout for more than 23 years.

Bob Friend, a teammate said it best: “He was a good, solid baseball man. He knew what he was doing. Organizations latch onto people like that. You don’t have a guy stick around in an organization — unless he is liked or he is producing — as long as Gene Baker spent with the Pirates.”

There's something to be said for being in the right place at the right time. Especially if you're first.