Gene Baker

Who was Gene Baker?

Eugene Walter Baker was an American Major League Baseball player. A native of Davenport, Iowa, he primarily played second base for the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was selected for the National League All Star game in 1955. He played eight seasons from 1953 to 1958 and 1960 to 1961, threw and batted right-handed, and was listed at 6 feet 1 inch, 170 pounds. Baker was a reserve infielder for the 1960 World Series champion Pirates and made three pinch-hit appearances during the Series.

In 1961, Baker became the first African-American manager in Organized Baseball when the Pirates named him skipper of their Batavia Pirates farm club in the New York-Penn League. In 1962, he became the first black coach in Organized Baseball when the Pirates named him player-coach of their Triple-A International League affiliate Columbus Jets. In 1963, the Pirates promoted him to coach on the Major League team. He was the second black coach in the big leagues, following Buck O'Neil by a half-season. Baker then spent many years as a scout for the Pirates.

He died in Davenport at the age of 74. He is buried in Rock island National Cemetery