William Baker was the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League from 1913 through 1930. In 1913, Baker purchased the club from Horace Fogel after Fogel was banned from baseball. He was at the helm two years later when the Phillies played in the 1915 World Series.
Baker was known for being extremely tight-fisted. For most of his tenure as owner, the Phillies had only one scout, and used a flock of sheep to trim the grass at Baker Bowl, which was named for him. He was so tight-fisted that he traded star pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1917 rather than increase his salary. Within a year, the Phillies had fallen to last place—the first of 15 straight years (and 29 out of 30) without a winning record.
He died in 1930 and was succeeded as Phillies owner by Gerald Nugent.
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