Charlie Baker was a right fielder and backup infielder who played 15 games for Chicago of the Union Association in 1884. Baker died on his birthday in 1937.

Charles Arthur Baker (some sources say it was Charles Alfred) was born January 15, 1856 to Benjamin and Mary (Noonan) Baker in West Boylston, Massachusetts, the fourth of five kids born to the welder and his wife.  The first three kids were born in Weld, Maine – the original home of the family – before moving to Massachusetts.  After working on a farm, Baker’s dad did three years for the Union in the Civil War, a year of his duty in Andersonville prison as a captive of the Confederacy.  When not a soldier, Benjamin Baker was a tool and die maker.  By 1880, though, dad divorced mom and Charlie lived with his mother while working as a cobbler.

New England was loaded with opportunities to play baseball 140 years ago – and Charlie Baker learned the game in Massachusetts, playing on local teams and even being hired to play semiprofessional ball for a team in Waltham.   When he was added to the Chicago Unions, they listed his name as “Black” rather than Baker…  Anyway, Baker distinguished himself as a fielder more than a hitter (he batted all of .140). In a game on August 20, Dick Burns launched a ball into deep right field. “Baker made a hard run with it, turning once or twice as it came toward him to watch its course. When at his greatest speed, and as the ball was passing over his head, he made a leap, extending both hands high in the air, and to the surprise of the spellbound spectators jerked the sphere fairly out of the air. The cries and shouts that went up on the crowd fully realizing that the ball was caught were deafening, and play was delayed some minutes.” (“Daily’s Day,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 20, 1884: 2.)

All told, Baker lasted less than a month in Chicago and he returned home to Massachusetts.

Baker married Mabel Woodbury in 1887, he switched from making shoes to working at a rubber factory soon after.  By 1920, Mabel had passed away and he was living on a farm owned by his daughter Lena and her husband Carl Hendrick.  (Charlie and Mabel had a second daughter named Albine.)   

According to his NH death report, Baker died on January 15, 1937 of chronic myocarditis at the age of 81 (exactly). His wife, Mabel, had preceded him in death in 1915 of pneumonia.

Notes:

1865 Massachusetts State Census
1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 US Censuses
North American Family Histories
Massachusetts Marriage Records

Baseball-Reference.com
FindAGrave.com

Box Score, Boston Globe, May 14, 1884: 2.
“Waltham Base Ball Club Disbands,” Boston Globe, July 22, 1884: 1.
“Chicago vs. Cincinnati Unions,” Chicago InterOcean, August 2, 1884: 3.
“Daily’s Day,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 20, 1884: 2.