Jersey Bakely

Edward Enoch Bakely
born Edward Enoch Bakley

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Debut May 11, 1883
• Final Game August 20, 1891
• Born April 17, 1864 in Blackwood, NJ USA
• Died February 17, 1915 in Philadelphia, PA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"As usual, the Cleveland babies could not bat . . . and Indianapolis won by hard work, being puzzled by Bakely, who pitched a great game." - Sporting Life of Aug. 7, 1889, giving good words to Bakely when he lost 1-0

"Jersey Bakely is pitching a great game. He has won more contests than all the other pitchers put together and he is looked upon as Allentown's most reliable twirler." - Sporting Life, May 25, 1895

Edward "Jersey" Bakely played six seasons in the major leagues. Although some sites say that his best year was in 1888, when he won 25 games in the American Association, in fact his next year, 1889, was more notable because his 2.96 ERA was second in the National League. Bakely's ERA was about the same each year, but the league ERA was 3.06 in 1888 while it was 4.02 in 1889. Further, Bakely's record of 12-22 is a bit of a surprise in 1889 because his team went 61-72. Both Darby O'Brien (22-17) and Ed Beatin (20-15) had winning records for the team, in spite of having ERAs much higher than Bakely's.

Bakely played for Harrisburg and Pottsville in 1883 as well as for the 1883 Philadelphia Athletics, for whom he went 5-3. He spent the next season in the 1884 Union Association, in the only season of its existence, and had the dubious distinction of leading that league in losses. He pitched in the minors from 1885-1887 and came back to the majors with three different Cleveland teams - the Cleveland team in the 1888 American Association, the Cleveland team in the 1889 National League and the Cleveland team in the 1890 Players League. The following year, he pitched for two non-Cleveland teams in the 1891 American Association. In addition to his playing record, he umpired a couple of games as a fill-in, one in the American Association in 1888 and one in the Players League in 1890.

His birth name was Bakley and was used on certain occasions, although Bakely was more common. He was known more often by his middle name, Enoch, than by his first name Edward, when not called by his nickname.

". . . Bakely, a stolid, quiet sort of individual, who seldom would talk about base ball, would pitch his head off when he thought it was his regular turn to work, and somehow the (Cleveland) players would follow after him." - Sporting Life of May 11, 1912, reminiscing about Jersey Bakely

Notable Achievements

• 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1888)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 4 (1884 & 1888-1890)
• 300 Innings Pitched Seasons: 4 (1884 & 1888-1890)
• 400 Innings Pitched Seaons: 1 (1888)
• 500 Innings Pitched Seaons: 1 (1888)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 2 (1884 & 1888)

Related Sites

• Jersey Bakley at the SABR Bio Project