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Pat Baker (lacrosse)

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Pat Baker
Born(1939-05-27)May 27, 1939
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
DiedOctober 4, 2022(2022-10-04) (aged 83)
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
PositionGoaltender
OSALL/
NLA team
Peterborough Lakers (OSALL)
Peterborough Lakers (NLA)
Brooklin Redmen (OSALL)
St. Catharines Athletics (OSALL)
Brampton Ramblers (OSALL)
Pro career1959–1973
Career highlights

Minto Cup: 1958
Mann Cup: 1966, 1973
Mann Cup MVP: 1973
NLA Championship: 1969
Harry Lumley Award: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972

Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, 1980

Patrick David Baker (May 27, 1939 – October 4, 2022) was a Canadian professional and amateur box lacrosse goaltender. He was an elite goaltender in his time, winning the Mann Cup Canadian Major Championship two times and being named the top goaltender in the Ontario Lacrosse Association eight times.[1] Baker is a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.[2] He is considered a pioneer of the breakout pass.[3]

Career

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Baker first played lacrosse at the age of nine in Port Dalhousie, Ontario.[3] After three years of playing, he helped his team win the Ontario peewee championship. The next day he and his family moved to Peterborough, Ontario. At 17, he almost died of a childhood illness.[3]

In 1958, Baker signed with the Brampton ABC's of the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League and won the Minto Cup as Canadian Junior A Champions with them that season.[4] During his winters he played in the Ontario Hockey Association with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs (the Detroit Red Wings junior entry) for three seasons as a forward.[3]

Baker started off his Major/Senior A career in 1959 with Peterborough Lakers. The team went belly up after two seasons and he signed with the Brooklin Redmen instead. After five seasons in Brooklin he returned to a newly formed Peterborough club in 1966 until 1973.[3]

In 1968, he and his team joined the National Lacrosse Association and turned professional for two seasons. In his second season in the league he won the NLA's professional championship.

Baker would win two Mann Cup Canadian Major Senior A championships: 1966 and 1973 with Peterborough. He also won the 1969 NLA Championship with Peterborough at the professional level. He was named 1973 Mann Cup most valuable player and won best goaltender in the Ontario Lacrosse Association ten times. Baker was named Peterborough's sportsman of the year in 1969, to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1980, the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1981, and the Peterborough and District's Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[1][5] In 2008, Baker and his 1958 Minto Cup winning junior team were named to the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame.[6] In 2012, the 1956-59 Brampton Minto Cup dynasty was inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame, Baker playing for the 1958 edition of the team.[7]

Pat Baker died from complications of COVID-19 in Peterborough, Ontario, on October 4, 2022, at the age of 83.[8]

Stats

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Source: Wamper's Bible of Lacrosse[9]

Season Team League GP G A P PIM Team GAA
1955 Peterborough OJALL - 0 0 0 - -
1956 Peterborough OJALL - 0 23 23 - 12.85
- Peterborough P/O - - - - - -
1957 Peterborough OJALL - 0 27 27 - 7.50
- Peterborough P/O - - - - - -
1958 Brampton OJALL - 0 4 4 - -
- Brampton P/O - - - - - -
- Brampton Minto 2 0 0 0 0 5.00
1959 Peterborough OSALL 12 1 3 4 2 8.52
1960 Peterborough OSALL 23 1 13 14 6 10.96
- Peterborough P/O 5 0 2 2 0 13.60
1961 Brooklin OSALL 21 1 7 8 6 10.08
- Brooklin P/O 7 0 2 2 0 -
1962 Brooklin OSALL 24 1 25 26 9 8.17
- Brooklin P/O 10 0 6 6 4 -
- Brampton Mann 3 0 1 1 0 -
1963 Brooklin OSALL 24 0 8 8 4 7.46
- Brooklin P/O 7 0 8 8 10 -
- St. Catherines Mann 3 0 5 5 2 -
1964 Brooklin OSALL 24 0 16 16 17 8.21
- Brooklin P/O 13 0 8 8 2 -
- Brooklin Mann 7 0 5 5 2 -
1965 Brooklin OSALL 23 0 18 18 10 8.13
- Brooklin P/O 11 0 5 5 4 -
- Brooklin Mann 7 0 2 2 2 -
1966 Peterborough OSALL 7 0 6 6 6 9.48
- Peterborough P/O 8 0 8 8 4 -
- Peterborough Mann 5 0 3 3 0 -
1967 Peterborough OSALL 18 0 12 12 11 8.83
- Peterborough P/O 7 0 3 3 8 -
1968 Peterborough NLA 37 0 43 43 25 10.45
- Peterborough P/O 11 0 4 4 10 -
1969 Peterborough NLA 24 0 41 41 32 11.36
- Peterborough P/O 18 0 23 23 9 -
1970 Peterborough OSALL 22 2 45 49 29 11.13
- Peterborough P/O 5 0 9 9 0 -
- Peterborough Mann 4 0 3 3 0 -
1971 Peterborough OSALL 31 1 38 39 28 10.66
- Peterborough P/O 11 0 12 12 6 -
1972 Peterborough MSL 31 0 13 13 14 13.00
- Peterborough P/O 13 0 6 6 4 -
1973 Peterborough MSL 23 0 10 10 - 12.92
- Peterborough P/O 9 1 2 3 - -
- Peterborough Mann 1 0 0 0 0 5.00

References

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  1. ^ a b Patrick Baker | Peterborough and District Sports Hall of FamePeterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame
  2. ^ Box Players - 1980
  3. ^ a b c d e Looking back with…Pat Baker | IL Indoor.com
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-01-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  6. ^ Brampton ABC (Armstrong Bros. Construction) Junior Lacrosse Excelsiors: 1957-1959
  7. ^ Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame [dead link]
  8. ^ "Patrick David Baker". Legacy. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Bible of Lacrosse - statistics".
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