Opening Day Auction 2014
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/26/2014
Although he did lead the American League in home runs four consecutive seasons (1911-1914), Frank Baker received his hallowed nickname not for the amount of prodigious blasts he accumulated, but for the two he hit during the 1911 World Series. Baker hit a go-ahead home run off Rube Marquard in Game 2, and a ninth-inning, game-tying home run off Christy Mathewson in Game 3. Two World Series blasts off of two Hall of Fame pitchers! When the A's beat the Giants that year, Baker was the toast of baseball, and to capitalize on his rising popularity, Hillerich & Bradsby made a bat for Baker which included a title of "World's Championship Model", a name Baker created. This 34", 34 ounce bat is in nice shape, with zero deadwood, with some lightness to the handle where some tape may nave originally been applied. His name "Frank Baker" is burned into the barrel, and the label has the mid-1910s dash dot dash center brand. Nice collectible from the original home run hero.