Kirtley Baker

{{Short description|American baseball player (1869–1927)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Kirtley Baker

|position=Pitcher

|image=Kirtley Baker.jpg

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date|1869|6|24|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Aurora, Indiana

|death_date={{death date and age|1927|4|13|1869|6|24}}

|death_place=Covington, Kentucky

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=May 7

|debutyear=1890

|debutteam=Pittsburgh Alleghenys

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=June 14

|finalyear=1899

|finalteam=Washington Senators

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=9–38

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=6.28

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=115

|teams=

• Pittsburgh Alleghenys ({{mlby|1890}})
• Baltimore Orioles ({{mlby|1893}}–{{mlby|1894}})
• Washington Senators ({{mlby|1898}}–{{mlby|1899}})

}}

Kirtley Baker (June 24, 1869 – April 15, 1927) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Alleghenys (now Pirates), and Washington Senators.

The Orioles attempted to convert Baker from pitching to hitting but was released when the short-lived experiment failed. After his career, he lived in Lawrenceburg, Indiana after his baseball career ended where he variously operated a soda fountain, candy store, movie theater and grocery store. He was also active in Freemasonry, the Knights of Pythias and Improved Order of Red Men.{{cite news |last1=Buchberger |first1=Jim |title=Discovering Kirtley Baker |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-dearborn-county-register-discovering/127023814/ |access-date=24 June 2023 |work=The Dearborn County Register |date=10 July 2014 |page=1B}}