Eugene Walter Baker, Sr.

Their Story

Eugene Walter Baker Sr., commonly referred to by Gene, was born on June 15, 1925,¹ in Davenport, Iowa. Gene was a lot like you growing up here in the Quad Cities! Gene spent his time playing “sandlot” or backyard baseball because when he was in high school, Davenport did not allow African Americans on the high school baseball team.² Gene was allowed to play basketball as a guard, and run track for Davenport High School. In 1943, he was named to the All-State team by the Iowa Daily Press Association being described as “[the] most improved player on thirst year’s Davenport cage team.”

Gene enlisted in the Navy after high school during the height of World War 2³ and become a Fireman First Class.⁴ While that was his job, it’s not what he did everyday. What would Gene do? What he did best – play baseball.

Gene played baseball at the naval air station in the small Iowa town of Ottumwa, which is 138 miles southwest of the Quad Cities. Gene would get sent to a different duty station in Iowa City to play for the Iowa Pre-Flight School Seahawks.⁵ Sports teams are not uncommon in the military, as you might be familiar with the yearly Army and Navy game in college football. The military has other competitive sports such as wrestling, basketball, and competitive shooting.

After his time in the Navy, Gene would go on to play for smaller baseball leagues, like the one in the Quad Cities, called the River Bandits. His first team was the Kansas City Monarchs, which was in the Negro American League.⁶ In 1950, Gene got recruited to the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, while he was playing for the Cubs’ farm team the Des Moines Bruins; he was the first African American to play for them. In June of 1950, Gene was called up to the Triple-A team Los Angeles Angels, which would become the MLB team Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.⁷

In 1957, Gene would eventually make it to “The Show” by being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.⁸ Unfortunately, Gene’s time in the MLB would not be the best. The following year he injured his knee and even with recovering would never quite be the best player. Gene did eventually become a member of the Pittsburgh coaching staff and due to the manager and coach being ejected during a game, he would become the first African-American to be a manager of an MLB team, even though it would just be for that game.⁹

Gene passed away from heart complications in December of 1999 in Davenport. He was survived by his mother Mildred, wife, Janice; daughter, Joy, stepdaughter Terrie, son Gene Jr. along with 12 grandchildren; and 14 great grandchildren.¹⁰ He is buried in Section L Site 16.¹¹