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Baker on his way to legendary status

Tucked away in his cubicle on the first floor in the farthest corner of the Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel University, Dan Baker furiously scribbles down words and numbers on the commercial format sheet for last Sunday’s men’s basketball ga me.

“I’ll be right back,” he says, before half-sprinting down the narrow hallway to his secretary so she can type what he’s just written. Just as quickly, he half-sprints back, only to start on another format sheet. He does this three times, getting a little quicker with each trip.

Baker, 64, is the coordinator of broadcast operations at Drexel University as well as the Dragons’ radio playby- play announcer for the men’s hoops team, a position he has held for 12 seasons.

Those are just two of his jobs.

His others are what people really know him for.

Well sort of.

People know his voice.

Anyone who has been to a Phillies game since 1972 has heard the voice. The same can be said for an Eagles game since 1985. Baker serves as both teams’ public address announcer.

His public addressing career began in 1972 while he was an elementary school teacher in the Philadelphia School District. He was introduced to Bill Giles, then president of business operations for the Phillies, and was asked to interview for the job of public address announcer for Veterans Stadium.

“During my interview with Mr. Giles, he told me he wanted me to keep the ‘Game in Progress’ scoreboard with the balls, strikes and outs,” Baker said. “I told him that not only would I do that, but I would be the fastest and most accurate scoreboard keeper in all of Major League Baseball. And for 32 of the 33 years the Vet was open I believe that was the case.”

With the retirement of Yankees PA announcer Bob Sheppard in 2007, Baker is now the longest tenured PA announcer in Major League Baseball, an accomplishment he is quite proud of.

“I’m truly blessed,” Baker said. “I’m lucky enough to work for one of the classiest organizations in all of sports, and they ask me back every year.”

Not only is Baker the longest tenured PA announcer in the major leagues, but with the death of legendary Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas in 2009, he is also now the longest tenured Phillies announcer.

Since his hiring in 1972, he has announced five World Series, three NFC Championship games, two Major League Baseball All- Star games, the Army-Navy football games, and also the names of hundreds of hall of fame players as well as Presidents Gerald Ford, George W. Bush, and, most recently, Barack Obama. And of all those names, his two favorites are still local guys, he said.

“My favorites are usually the polysyllabic names,” Baker said. “Second baseman Mick-ey Mor-an-di-ni or number 19 Greg Lu-zinski are probably at the top of my list.”

A graduate of Glassboro State University, Baker was born in West Philadelphia and moved to Mt. Ephraim, Nj with his family at an early age. His family moved from the city to live the American dream of a backyard, he said.

Growing up near Philadelphia, Baker turned into a Big 5 basketball maniac. He loved everything about the Big 5, calling it, “one of the best things in sports”.

In 1977 he landed another one of his dream jobs and became an announcer for the Big 5 and held that position for 22 years. In 1997 he was inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame.

“Out of all the honors I have received throughout the course of my life, that was by far my proudest,” Baker said.

“To grow up a kid in love with the Big 5 and to then be included with all the great people in their history, it was just incredible.”

According to his colleagues, Baker is one of the nicest individuals to work with.

“Dan is always lightening the mood around here,” said Liz Yanak, who co-hosts “The Coaches Show” with Baker at Drexel. “Every day he walks in happy to see everyone. I love working with him.”

As much as people enjoy working with him, people seem to enjoy listening to him work just as much.

“His voice is awesome,” said Joe Steinbacher, 21, an art education major at Penn State University. “My favorite part of going to the games is getting to hear him.”

Baker hopes to make it to at least the year 2022 with the Phillies. That would mark his 50th season with the ball club and would put him in a select group of announcers who broadcasted for at least 50 years, joining Sheppard of the Yankees and Pat Pieper of the Cubs.

Baker said he plans to move forward with the same attitude he’s had since he started in this business in 1972.

“Don’t coast through life,” he said. “You only go through this side once, so leave your mark and let people know you were here.”

Contact Bill Goldhahn at communitarian@mail.dccc. edu

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