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Clemson's all-time leader in home runs with 59 in three
seasons...the 59 homers is fourth-most in ACC history...has
tremendous power to all fields...has a career .337 batting average
along with 221 RBIs and a .634 slugging percentage...the 221 RBIs is
second-most in Clemson history...has 12 career multi-homer
games...the only Tiger to ever have two 20-homer seasons.
2002: Third-Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball...hitting .335 with 25 homers and 82 RBIs along with a .694 slugging percentage...his 25 homers is second-most in a season in Tiger history...drafted by the Rockies in the fourth round in the Major League Draft...has 16 steals, tied for best on the team...Second-Team All-ACC pick...hit .388 with nine homers and 28 RBIs in 21 ACC regular-season games...has at least three RBIs in 16 games and has 26 multi-hit games...finalist for the Golden Spikes Award...semi-finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy...semi-finalist for the Rotary Smith Award...hit home runs in each of his first two at-bats of the season against #25 Auburn on Feb. 22...named ACC Co-Player-of-the-Week on Feb. 25 when he was 5-for-10 with two homers and eight RBIs in the previous week...had two hits and four RBIs against Georgia Southern on Mar. 12...went 3-for-5 with two homers, a double, three runs scored, and six RBIs against UNC Asheville on Mar. 19...went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs, and two steals against Maryland on Mar. 29...went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs against Maryland on Mar. 30...became the tenth Tiger to hit three homers in one game against Winthrop on Apr. 3; he also hit the game-winning walk-off homer in the ninth inning and accounted for five of Clemson's six RBIs...his three homers was the most in a game since Shane Monahan hit three at N.C. State in 1993; Baker also scored four of Clemson's six runs...went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs against N.C. State on Apr. 7...named a Louisville Slugger National Player-of-the-Week by Collegiate Baseball for five games from Apr. 2-7; he was 8-for-18 with five homers and nine RBIs on the week...hit a grand-slam homer at #13 North Carolina on Apr. 14...went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a two-run homer against Western Carolina on Apr. 16...hit a key, two-out, two-run homer at Duke on Apr. 20...went 3-for-4 at Duke on Apr. 21...had two hits, three RBIs, and a homer, the 50th of his career, against Furman on Apr. 23...went 3-for-4 with an RBI at #9 Georgia Tech on May 5...had a hit, three RBIs, and a steal against Wofford on May 8...went 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored at Virginia on May 11...hit two homers and drove in four runs at Virginia on May 12...hit his 53rd career homer at Virginia on May 13, tying the Tiger career record...broke the Clemson career record for homers with his 54th at Western Carolina on May 15; the homer broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning, as Clemson won the game 12-4...First-Team Preseason All-American according to Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, and NCBWA...went 4-for-5 with two RBIs against N.C. State in the ACC Tournament on May 24...went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs against #2 Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament on May 25...hit two homers and drove in three runs to tie the Clemson single-season homer mark at 24 against Georgia Southern in the Clemson Regional on May 31...named to the Clemson Regional All-Tournament team; he had two homers, a double, and four RBIs in the three games...hit a two-run homer against #18 Arkansas in the Clemson Super Regional on June 7; the homer was his 25th of the year, setting a new Tiger single-season record.
2001: Named first-team All-American by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, the first Tiger so honored since Kris Benson in 1996... was a second-team All-America pick by Baseball Weekly, The Sporting News and the American Baseball Coaches Association... first team All-ACC selection who led the ACC in home runs (23) and RBIs (75)... tied for the ninth best season RBI total in school history... his slugging percentage of .738 is the eighth best in Clemson history for a single season... ranks 26th in school history with a .3385 career batting average... led Clemson and ranked in the top five in the conference in several categories including total bases (172), runs scored (66), on-base percentage (.464) and slugging percentage (.738)... second on the team with a .369 batting average... had a 15-game hit streak, the longest of any Tiger for the season... started every game until his wrist was injured after being hit by a foul ball against Georgia Tech... hit a three-run home run and belted first career grand slam in a 14-4 win against Richmond... went 4-8 with three RBIs and three runs scored in two games against Oregon State... moved from shortstop to third base during the trip to Las Vegas... hit 2-4 with an RBI in a 7-4 win against Furman... batted 7-9 with two home runs and seven runs scored in the first two games against South Carolina, including a 5-5 performance in Clemson's 7-4 win... upped his team-leading home run total after hitting two against Ohio University, including his second grand slam of the season... finished the three-game series 9-11 with nine RBIs... drove in four runs with a 3-5 performance in an 8-6 win over Maryland... went 2-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored in a 24-3 win over New York Tech... went 3-5 with a three-run home run in a 14-0 win over New York Tech... went 4-5 with two home runs in a 7-6 loss to Florida State... homered twice against Coastal Carolina three days after accomplishing the feat at Florida State... returned from a two-game absence and went 2-5 with a home run and three RBIs against Western Carolina on April 24... won the Bob Bradley award as the most valuable Clemson player in the four-game series with South Carolina... belted his 15th home run of the year in a 6-3 victory over North Carolina on April 27... keyed a 10-inning victory over the Tar Heels one day later in dramatic fashion... homered twice, including a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and Clemson down by two runs, to lead the Tigers to a 10-9 win... hit his 18th home run of the year in a 7-6 win over N.C. State and blasted his 19th one day later... hit his 20th home run against Furman and smashed his 21st in the regular season finale against Virginia... went 2-4 with two RBIs against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament... hit a towering home run to left field in the ACC Tournament against Florida State, his 22nd of the season... batted .400 with four RBIs and five runs scored during the Clemson Regional and was named to the All-Tournament Team... smashed his 23rd home run in his final at bat of the season at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in the Tigers' 8-2 win over Seton Hall.
2000: Freshman All-America shortstop (one of three) according to Collegiate Baseball... was the starting shortstop from day one... hit .313 with a team-best 11 homers and 64 RBIs... his 11 homers tied for the second most in a season by a Tiger freshman... hit 11 of Clemson's 37 home runs (30 percent)... started 67 of the 69 games... had a respectable .920 fielding percentage for a freshman, committing 23 errors... had a .950 fielding percentage in ACC regular-season games... batted in the middle of the Tiger lineup (including 42 times as the cleanup hitter), and did so all season... was 6-for-15 (.400) with the bases loaded... had 26 two-out RBIs... hit .348 at home... hit a team-best .360 in March... had 26 multi-hit games and a team-best 17 multi-RBI games... named to the All-ACC Tournament team by hitting .333 (6-for-18) with a double, two homers, and nine RBIs in five games despite being nagged by a calf injury... went 3-for-4 with a double against #7 Rice on Jan. 28 in the ACC Disney Blast at Lake Buena Vista, FL in his first collegiate game... had a key two-run infield single against #4 Miami (FL) on Jan. 29 in the ACC Disney Blast at Lake Buena Vista, FL... had two doubles and three RBIs against James Madison on Feb. 27... went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs against Ohio on Mar. 11... went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBIs in the first game of a doubleheader against Maryland on Mar. 18... went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs against UNC Charlotte on Mar. 22... had two hits, two runs scored, and an RBI against The Citadel on Mar. 26; giving him six straight multi-hit games... went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs against Western Carolina on Apr. 4... went 3-for-4 with three RBIs against N.C. State on Apr. 9... went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two sacrifice flies against Georgia on Apr. 11... went 4-for-6 with two RBIs against Elon on Apr. 18... went 2-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBIs, and a homer that proved to be the game-winning run at #5 Georgia Tech on Apr. 30... hit two homers, scored three runs, and drove in five runs against Virginia in the ACC Tournament on May 20... in his first NCAA Tournament game, he hit two solo homers against Middle Tennessee in the Clemson Regional on May 26... listed as the #1 freshman prospect in the ACC and country, along with being named the ACC Freshman-of-the-Year and top newcomer in Baseball America's College Preview issue... one of the first 20 players invited to the USA National Team trials.
Before Clemson: One of 18 players selected for the United States Junior National Baseball team, which played in the IBA Junior World Championships in Taiwan in the summer of '99; he was the team MVP for the United States team that captured the World Championship... was 13-for-27 (.481) with eight runs scored, four doubles, a homer, 12 RBIs, and three stolen bases in just seven games as the starting shortstop... also drove in the winning run in the championship game against Chinese Taipei; he lined a two-out, two-run single to center field to break an 8-8 deadlock in the eighth inning; Team USA went on to win 10-9; ironically, the 10th and winning run was scored by South Carolina signee Drew Meyer... finished second in the voting (by one vote), behind tennis star Andre Agassi, for the September (1999) Male Athlete-of-the-Month award given by the U.S. Olympic Committee... drafted in the fourth round by the Cleveland Indians in the '99 June Draft... appeared in'Sports Illustrated's'"Faces in the Crowd" in the summer of '99... Virginia State Player-of-the-Year as a senior at Gar-Field Senior High School... was also an All-State selection and Gatorade Virginia Player-of-the-Year as a senior... All-American according to Baseball America... #2 high school prospect in Virginia by Baseball America... played in the Virginia Commonwealth Games in 1997 and 1998... also a member of the USA Youth National Team in '97 and the National Team One in 1998... in 29.2 innings pitched in Legion in''98, he allowed just 13 hits and two walks while striking out 59; also had six saves and a 0.47 ERA... All-Cardinal District and All-Metro selection as a junior... hit .365 in 63 at bats as a junior... was 4-1 on the mound with a 0.70 ERA and 58 strikeouts against nine walks as a junior; he also allowed just 24 hits in 40.0 innings... in the summer of''97, he played for the USA Junior National Team, hitting .444 with 13 RBIs in just 27 at bats... led the '97 Youth National Team in RBIs with 97... All-Cardinal District, All-Metro, and All-Region pick as a sophomore... as a sophomore, his team was 20-3, including district champions, state quarterfinalists, and ranked #19 in the nation by USA Today... batted .405 in 79 at bats and had a 0.48 ERA in 29.1 innings as a sophomore... high school team was 19-5 as a freshman, including regional champions and state semi-finalists... lettered four times in baseball... coached by Mike Wright at Gar-Field Senior High.
Personal: His father, Larry, played baseball at Army... Larry worked in the Air Defense division of the Army for 22 years... the Baker family has lived in nine different cities around the world, including in Germany, Hawaii, Phoenix, and Key West along with living in the United Arab Emerites... the family has lived in Woodbridge, VA, their current hometown, longer than any other place, just four years... nicknamed "Bakes"... majoring in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management... named to the ACC Academic honor roll for the 2000-01 academic year... born Jeffrey Glen Baker on June 21, 1981 in Badkissagen, Germany.
Baker Career Stats Year AVG G-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB HBP SF OB% SB 2000 .313 68-67 275 54 86 16 0 11 64 135 26 6 6 .377 4-4 2001 .369 60-60 233 66 86 13 2 23 75 172 32 11 2 .464 5-9 2002 .335 64-63 248 68 83 10 2 25 82 172 37 11 3 .438 16-23 Total .337 192-190 756 188 255 39 4 59 221 479 95 28 11 .425 25-36
