New Britain herald., 1916-02-16
 BAKER FOR $25,OO0
|nOuS Slugger Signs Three Year |ntraCt- Will Get S8,OOO a Year

8 New York, Feb. 16.-John Franklil
 tlSer of home run fame, the pIayel
 Slo on two occasions crushed the a Drld's championship aspirations O 6e e Giants at the Polo Grounds and ir
 Philadelphia with home-run hits wa.
 lrchased yesterday by the New York american league club, and will play
 ird base on the team next season
 aker signed contract for 1916, 1917
 bd 1918.
 The deal was consummated at a
 ur- hour conference at Ruppert' 8
 ewery yesterday between Colonel
 acob Ruppert, Captain T. L. Huston, 8ad Manager Connie Mack of the Ath- # tics. The price paid for the player &hs not been announced but it Is stat # that the New York club paid s25,- #D0 for the player and his contract
 Balls for $8,0O0 a year
 # Before the opening of the playing
 kason last spring Baker demanded #srger salary than that called for un- Fer his contract with the Athletics, y 8efused to grant the increase and I3a-
 Ter retired to his home at Trappe %Td., remaining out of professional Baseball all season. Mack was quoted Turing the season as saying that he %ouid refuse to sell Baker until his #ontract expired.
 Baker had a record in the American Bague which was unusual. Never 4I-i~ fI~ !, saluabie as a. batsman, and drove In bore runs than any player in the hague for five successive years. From B909 to 1914 Baker drove in more than loo runs a year. His hitting has al- i Fays been timely, and if he comes up 1 b his past prowess with the bat dur ] hg the coming season the Yankees |hould be one of the best clubs in the 1 Nmer1can league. ]
 The tale of how Baker acquired his l aone-run fame has not yet been for .otten by New York baseball fars Tn | he worlds series of 1911, after Math- wson, by his great pitching had beat | n the Athletics in the opening game, | Baker pounded the ball over the | ence in hiladelphia in the sixth in- l ing of the second game and the 4iants were beaten. It was in the third 1 sarne of the series with Mathewson 1 sgain pitching, and after he had held he Athletics scoreless for eight in- lings that Baker again swung his mighty bat and hit the ball into the fight field stands at the Polo Grounds lnd tied the score the Athletics win ling in the eleventh inning.
 Baker started as regular on the Athletics at the same time as Collins, n 1909 and in the first year finished with a batting average of 1905 led the eague in triples with nineteen, and tole twenty bases In 1909 he hit .283 ,tole twenty-on bases, made fifteen .ripIes. twenty-five doubles, and two 1ome runs, and in the worlds series against the Cubs, his batting average was .409.
 Tn 1911 Baker led the third base nen of the American league in field ng his position, batted .334, stole 5s oases, led the league in home runs with nine circuit swats, made forty doubles and fourteen triples. In the worlds series against the Giants he De- came the baseball hero of the country py deciding the series with two home run drives under conditions never be- fore equaled in a worlds series, and batted .375 for the series. In 1912 Ba- ker led the third basemen in fielding and led in home runs with ten, made forty doubles, twenty-one triples and was the leader in the country in driv- ng in runs.
 Bakers last year in the American ea e11e was 1914 He had a batting average of .319 and stole nineteen nases. He had a fielding average of 955.