5 Questions with Philly Legend Dan Baker

by Posted on

If you’re a Philly sports fan, Dan Baker is probably a household name. If you’ve been to a Phillies or Eagles game in the past three decades, you’ve heard his welcoming and pleasant voice. Dan has been the public address announcer for the Phillies since 1972 and was the Eagles PA announcer from 1985-2014. Baker was also the radio announcer for Drexel men’s basketball from 1997-2012 as well as broadcasting Big 5 basketball games for 21 years.

Dan Baker is also one of the friendliest and nicest humans you’ll ever encounter. We sat down with him at O’Neal’s Pub where he sometimes announces away Phillies games. I highly recommend you attend one of Bakers events.

He also keeps score of the away games while hosting his events.

Mr. Baker was kind enough to sit with us and answer five questions, six technically.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONCERT:

First concert? Oh gosh, I could tell you my last concert.  I went to an oldies show at Ruth Eckerd Hall (Clearwater, FL) last St. Patrick’s Day Friday March 17 and the Tokens were there with Jay Siegel. The Marcells, they sang Blue Moon. The Tokens sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Let’s see, the Crests were there. Little Peggy March who sang I will follow him. That was my last concert.

WHAT’S YOUR GO TO FOOD AT CITIZENS BANK PARK:

I eat at the media dining room most of the time and they have all kinds of great food in there. I guess my favorite night is Italian Night when they have spaghetti and meatballs or spaghetti and sausage.

FAVORITE PLAYER AS A KID:

Robin Roberts, number 36 who won twenty games or more six straight years from 1950 through 1955.

MOVIE THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS WATCH:

The Godfather. Gladiator is another one I like a lot.

(follow up) FAVE CHARACTER IN GODFATHER:

I think Don Corleone, Marlon Brando, I thought it was a great performance. There are many great performances in that movie. And, the most recent movie that I saw that I really enjoyed was Lion, It’s terrific.

FAVE BIG FIVE MOMENT:

There’s been a lot of those. Being with Penn at the Final Four in 1979. Along the way you know they had some big upsets and I think one of the moments that I’ll remember is when they beat St. Johns to win the Eastern Regional to qualify them for the Final Four. In the semifinal game in the Eastern Regional in Greensboro they defeated Syracuse and Jim Boeheim. One of the sportswriters for the Daily Pennsylvania at the press conference following the game said to Jim Boeheim, “Coach Boeheim do you realize you just lost to an Ivy League Team?” And Boeheim said, “I beg your pardon. We just lost to a Big Five team”. So that was pretty neat.

To stay up to date with Dan Baker appearances and other interesting tidbits, follow Dan Baker on twitter.