Jim Baxes

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Dimitrios Speros "Jim" Baxes (July 28, 1928 - November 14, 1996) was a Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Indians for one season.

Baxes made his debut April 11, 1959, for the Dodgers. He played in 11 games for Los Angeles, mostly at third base, and hit .303 with a .515 slugging percentage. Then, on May 22, Baxes was traded to Cleveland for $10,000 cash and a player.

Baxes played in 77 games for the Indians - 48 at second base and 22 at third. He hit .239 for the Tribe and belted 15 home runs. Baxes finished with season and career totals of 17 home runs and a .246 batting average and was selected to the 1959 Topps All-Star Rookie Roster.

Baxes would end his career having accomplished a rare feat. On April 15, 1959, he hit his first major league home run off future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. Baxes, the first batter Gibson faced, would collect 16 more that year, while Gibson would surrender just three more in his rookie campaign.

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