Scott Baker (bakersc01)

Scott Baker

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 175 lb.
• School Taft College
• High School Basic High School
• Debut July 17, 1995
• Final Game July 17, 1995
• Born May 18, 1970 in San Jose, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Scott Baker pitched professionally for 13 seasons, logging one game in the major leagues. His career covered the three North American countries as well as South Korea. He won at least 72 and lost at least 60 games in his career.

Baker was taken in the 7th round of the 1990 amateur draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and debuted with the Johnson City Cardinals that year, striking out 62 in 51 1/3 innings and going 4-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 32 relief appearances. In 1991, he split the year between the Savannah Cardinals (2-3, 2.89 in 8 starts) and the St. Petersburg Cardinals (3-9, 4.42 in 16 starts and 3 relief appearances). In his age 22 season, he dazzled for St. Petersburg, with a 1.96 ERA and 10-9 record. He was second in the Florida State League in ERA behind Tavo Alvarez. The Florida Marlins grabbed Baker in the 1993 expansion draft, then dealt him to the Oakland Athletics as a player to be named later in a trade (with Eric Helfand) for Walt Weiss.

The A's assigned Baker to the Huntsville Stars in '93, for whom he went 10-4 with a 4.14 ERA. His control was poor, as he walked 84 in 130 1/3 innings. Returning in 1994, Baker improved to 10-4, 1.78 with 2 saves. He led A's minor leaguers in ERA and complete games (3). Had he qualified in innings, he would have easily led the Southern League in ERA as Blaine Beatty's 2.38 was the best mark among qualifiers. Baker was 2-1 with a 3.59 ERA for the Peoria Javelinas in the 1994 Arizona Fall League, 8th in the loop in ERA. In 1995, he had a 4-7, 5.28 record for the Edmonton Trappers. On July 17, he made his lone major league appearance. Facing Milwaukee, he replaced Dave Stewart with a 8-2 deficit in the 3rd inning. He struck out two in his first inning, but walked three in the 4th and allowed two hits and two runs. He also allowed runs in the 5th and 6th before leaving, a game Milwaukee won, 13-4. Overall, he walked five, plunked a batter and allowed five hits in 3 2/3 innings of work.

Baker moved to the independent leagues for the first of many times in 1996, going 0-2 with a 10.57 ERA for the Grays Harbor Gulls. In 1997, Scott went 7-7 with a 4.35 ERA for the Torreon Cotton Dealers and 2-1, 3.42 in 4 games for the Akron Aeros, walking only 4 in 26 1/3 innings. In 1998, the southpaw joined the Samsung Lions and went 15-7 with a 4.13 ERA, the best record for foreign-born pitchers, if not in ERA. After a year's hiatus, Baker split 2000 between the Tri-City Posse (5-3, 3.69) and Oaxaca Warriors (0-1, 8.44 in two games). He was sixth in the Western League in ERA and made the league All-Star team. In 2002, Baker struggled for the Solano Steelheads and Chico Heat with a composite 0-1, 10.64 line.

Sources: 1991-2003 Baseball Almanacs, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database