Great, great, great grandpa on the Freeport beat, covering Baker's milestone victory... May 3rd, 1901
Baker Cooks Up 300th Win
Others will surely follow, but for now Dave Baker is the only pitcher in the history of the game to win 300 games.
It happened in typical fashion, with the Freeport hurler holding the Sim City Capitols to 3 runs on 8 hits in 9 innings of work. The complete game, the 423rd of his career, is a league record. The 5052 innings he's thrown, also a league record. His 300 wins (and 292 losses), also the best of all-time.
"I guess this means I'm just really old," the 39 year-old told me after the game. "But I must be doing something right, because they keep letting me play."
The 1901 season has been a revelation for Baker. 7-2 with a 2.56 ERA through 9 starts, he's having his best season since 1897, his first with Freeport.
"I feel young again being around all these kids," Baker said. "Honest to God, these young whipper snappers have breathed some air in to these old sails."
And the way things are going, Freeport might just sail to another league championship. Their 19-9 record is the best in baseball. If they win a second straight title, it might just be the perfect end to an outstanding career for Baker, though he has no plans of retiring anytime soon.
"They'll have to pull me from that mound for me to stop playing. Baseball's the only thing I know."