Catcher is a very difficult position to play, and John Baker is a man who works hard to be good at it. Born in 1981 in Alameda, Ca, John stayed in the area and attended Cal-Berkeley playing baseball. In his junior year, he led the Pac-10 in batting with a .383 batting average, which got the attention of the Oakland A's, who drafted John in 2002 with their 4th round pick. He was traded to Florida and made it to the majors in 2008. He has struggled with injuries over the last couple of years, but that didn't deter Padres GM Josh Byrnes from trading for John to help solidify our catching depth. John is also a player who gives back to the community. He has traveled overseas to Afghanistan to meet our troops serving there, and has worked with the charity Homes for Haiti when he was with the Florida Marlins. Truly a great man on and off the field.
Catching him before the Padres game, I was able to ask him who he loved as a player. "Will Clark" said John without a hesitation. "When I was a kid, I batted left handed like Will did and I loved the fact he was a clutch player".
I hope my Padres keep John Baker here. He's a good guy.
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