John Baker (baseball)

Born in Alameda, California^[2] and raised in Walnut Creek, Baker graduated from De La Salle High School (Concord, California) in 1999 before attending the University of California, Berkeley.^[3][4] In 2000 and 2001, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, where he received the league's 10th Player award in 2000 and was named a league all-star in 2001.^[5][6][7][8] As a junior in 2002, he led the Pac-10 Conference with a .383 batting average and was selected to the All-Pac-10 team.^[9]

Baker was drafted in 2002 by the Oakland Athletics in the 4th round of the amateur draft. He was mentioned several times in Michael Lewis' 2003 book Moneyball. In March 2007, Baker was traded to the Florida Marlins for minor league first-baseman Jason Stokes.^[10]

Baker was called up to the majors on July 9, 2008, after Matt Treanor went on the disabled list. His first major league hit was a solo home run off Chan Ho Park of the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 10. In 2009 to 2010 Baker platooned with teammate Ronny Paulino; Baker played against right-handed pitchers while Paulino played against left-handed pitchers.

Baker went on the disabled list in May 2010 with a strained flexor tendon in his right arm. At the end of the 2010 season, he had Tommy John surgery when the elbow did not improve.^[11] He spent most of 2011 rehabbing and rejoined the Marlins that September, serving primarily as a pinch hitter.

On November 22, 2011, Baker was traded to the San Diego Padres for Wade LeBlanc.^[12][13] Baker served as backup to Nick Hundley and Yasmani Grandal in 2012, starting 52 games and batting .238 while throwing out 16% of base runners. In 2013, he began the year as the backup to Hundley. He started 12 games for the Padres in April and May, and then was optioned to the Triple-A Tucson Padres when Grandal returned from his 50-game suspension.^[14] He was designated for assignment on June 10, 2013.^[15]

On June 15, 2013, Baker was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers he was then optioned to AAA Albuquerque.^[16] He was outrighted off the 40 man roster on August 5. In 40 games with the Isotopes, he hit .203. He became a free agent on October 1.^[17]

On December 13, 2013, Baker signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training with the Chicago Cubs. Baker won the backup catcher job out of spring training when George Kottaras was released.^[18] On July 29, 2014, Baker pitched a scoreless top of the 16th inning with a popout and double play, as the Cubs had exhausted their bullpen in a game against the Colorado Rockies. In the bottom half of the inning, he walked from a full count, then reached third with the bases loaded and one out. He scored the winning run on a lineout by Starlin Castro, earning him the win in the longest game, by time, in Cubs history.^[19] Baker became the fourth position player to earn a win since 1968, and first since Chris Davis did so in 2012.^[20] John is the only Cubs position player to ever be credited with a pitching win in the history of the franchise.

On January 29, 2015, Baker signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners.^[21][22] He was released on May 20, 2015.

Baker joined the Chicago Cubs in 2015 as a special assistant with the baseball operations department. In his time with the Cubs, he spent time as the mental skills coordinator and head applied mental skills coach. On November 10, 2020, it was announced that the Pittsburgh Pirates had hired Baker as the director of coaching and player development.