{{Short description|American baseball owner (1866–1930)}} {{Infobox congressman | image = Police Com'r Baker LCCN2014683705.jpg | office = 6th [[New York City Police Commissioner]] | term_start = July 1, 1909 | term_end = October 20, 1910 | appointer = [[William Jay Gaynor]] | predecessor = [[Theodore A. Bingham]] | successor = [[James Church Cropsey]] | birth_date = 1866 | birth_place = [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], U.S. | death_date = {{death date|1930|12|4}} | death_place = [[Montreal]], Quebec, Canada }}
'''William Frazer Baker''' (1866 – December 4, 1930) was the owner of the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] of the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] from {{baseball year|1913}} through {{baseball year|1930}} and New York City Police Commissioner from 1909 to 1910.
==Early life== Baker was born in [[Pittsburgh]] in 1866. After leaving school he went to work for the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad as a messenger boy. In 1885 he moved to [[Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn]], where he worked as a secretary to industrialist William P. Shinn, worked in the railroad and oil businesses, and was in the contracting business with his brother, and was a clerk for the W. N. Coler & Co. banking house.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news |title=W.F. Baker Dead; Head of Phillies |work=The New York Times |date=December 5, 1930}}</ref>
==Government service== In 1898, Baker was hired as a secretary to [[New York City Comptroller]] [[Bird Sim Coler]]. Baker was active in Coler's [[1902 New York state election|1902 gubernatorial campaign]]. Following Coler's loss, Baker went to work on [[Wall Street]]. In 1905, Baker returned to government service as a member of the [[New York City Civil Service Commission]]. He was made president of the board the following year.<ref name="Obituary" /> In 1908, Baker switched jobs with first deputy police commissioner Arthur J. O'Keeffe.<ref>{{cite news |title=O'Keeffe and Baker Exchange Places |work=The New York Times |date=January 10, 1908}}</ref> He was in charge of [[Brooklyn]] and [[Queens]] until 1909 when he was transferred to police headquarters and placed in charge of the bureau of repairs and supplies.<ref name="Obituary" />
On July 1, 1909, Mayor [[George B. McClellan, Jr.]] fired police commissioner [[Theodore A. Bingham]] and promoted Baker to succeed him.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ousts Bingham, Puts Baker In - Mayor Acts Quickly When the Commissioner Refuses to Obey All His Orders – A Clean Sweep Follows – Hanson, Slattery, and Woods Resign – Stover Succeeds Hanson – Russell Reduced to Captain. "I'll Be Back" -- Bingham - Sees Politics in His Removal and Leaves Office Full of Fight - A Mr. Pratt May Take Charge in Brooklyn|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/07/02/101889118.html?pageNumber=1|accessdate=17 December 2015|work=New York Times|date=July 2, 1909|page=1}}</ref> During his brief tenure, he was accused of interfering in gambling investigations.<ref>{{cite news|title=Talk of Bribery at Gravesend Track - Police Official Said to Have Got $1,000 a Day to Keep Hands Off Betting on Races - Charges Against Baker - Commissioner and Sheriff Hobley May Be Accused of Neglect of Duty - Track Evidence Complete|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/09/19/106721660.html?pageNumber=7|accessdate=20 December 2015|issue=September 19, 1909|page=7|work=New York Times}}</ref> Baker was one of two department heads retained by McClellan's successor [[William Jay Gaynor]]. He resigned from his position on October 20, 1910.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mayor Drops Police Heads; New Men In - Baker, Bugher, and Kirby Go — James C. Cropsey Is Made Commissioner - Driscoll First Deputy - Flynn, the Secret Service Head, Second Deputy and Chief of Detective Bureau - The Upheaval Sudden - The Appointees Hurry to Headquarters and Find Baker Locked in His Office - Bugher Attacks Gaynor - Says the Mayor Broke Faith with Him - His Honor Doesn't "Acquiesce" in That Statement|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/10/21/105096143.html?pageNumber=1|accessdate=17 December 2015|work=New York Times|date=October 21, 1910|page=1}}</ref>
== Philadelphia Phillies owner == In 1911, Baker joined Warren M. Lincoln & Co., a [[hatmaking]] business.<ref>{{cite news |title=W.F. Baker in Millinery |work=The New York Times |date=July 2, 1911}}</ref>
In January 1913, Baker was part of a group led by his cousin, [[William H. Locke]], that purchased the Philadelphia Phillies.<ref>{{cite news|title=Phillies Sold to Locke - Pittsburgher Takes Over Shares Held by Charles P. Taft|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/01/16/100606471.html?pageNumber=15|accessdate=20 December 2015|work=New York Times|date=January 16, 1913|page=15}}</ref> Baker was elected team president in October 1913, following the death of Locke earlier in the year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Phillies Retain Dooin - Ex-Police Commissioner Baker President of Club|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/10/21/100574900.html?pageNumber=7|accessdate=20 December 2015|work=New York Times|date=October 21, 1913|page=7}}</ref> He was at the helm two years later when the Phillies played in the [[1915 World Series]].
Baker was known for being extremely short sighted and tight-fisted. For most of his tenure as the Phillies' owner, the team had only one scout, and used a flock of sheep to trim the grass at their ballpark, mockingly nicknamed "[[Baker Bowl]]" by the press in 1923.
Baker was so cheap that he sold star pitcher [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]] and catcher [[Bill Killefer]] to the Chicago Cubs in {{baseball year|1917}} rather than increase their salary. Within a year, the Phillies had crumbled to sixth place—the first of 14 straight seasons (and 30 of the next 31) without a winning record{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} and Alexander and Killefer led the Cubs to the pennant.
Baker died of a heart attack on December 4, 1930 while attending a league meeting in Montreal and was succeeded as Phillies owner by [[Gerald Nugent]].<ref>{{cite news|title=W.F. Baker Dead; Head of Phillies - President df National League Team of Philadelphia Stricken in Montreal - Once Police Head Here - Served Under Mayors McClellan and Gaynor—Manager of Coler's Campaign for Governor|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/12/05/96177171.html?pageNumber=25|accessdate=17 December 2015|work=New York Times|date=December 5, 1930|page=25}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} *[http://mlb.mlb.com/phi/history/owners.jsp Philadelphia Phillies owners]
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|92512536}} * [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/william-baker/ William Baker] at [[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]] Bio Project
{{s-start}} {{s-civ|pol}} {{succession box| before=[[Theodore A. Bingham]]| title=[[NYPD Commissioner]]| years=1909–1910 | after=[[James Church Cropsey|James Cropsey]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Philadelphia Phillies owners}} {{New York City Police Commissioner}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, William}} [[Category:1866 births]] [[Category:1930 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery]] [[Category:Major League Baseball executives]] [[Category:Major League Baseball owners]] [[Category:New York City police commissioners]] [[Category:People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Pittsburgh]] [[Category:Philadelphia Phillies executives]] [[Category:Philadelphia Phillies owners]]