What do you think?
Rate this book
The Legend of Hobey Baker
Hobey Baker was sixteen when he stepped into the sports spotlight, "golden and godlike," with his shock of blond hair and phenomenal athletic ability.
And he was never to leave that spotlight in the ten years left to him.
An Ivy League superstar of football and ice hockey, Hobey played for St. Paul's, then for Princeton. John Davies has brilliantly recaptured the exhaustive excitement of games, in which Hobey's speed and skill dazzled audiences, in this warm remembrance of glory of another era.
Hobey Baker Plays Tonight, the signs read. And that was enough to draw the crowds, sometimes in evening dress in chauffeured limousines. For college games were glamorous at the turn of the century—and it was stars like Hobey who made them so. In ten years of play, Hobey never lost his temper, and in his entire college career, he was penalized only twice. For Hobey, the epitome of self-confidence, daring and perfection, was also a gentleman sportsman amateur who played solely for the game and despised publicity.
"Here he comes!" the crowd would yell when he took the puck and flashed down the ice. "Here he comes!" they'd yell, too, when he caught a punt on a dead run. Watching Hobey play hockey was like watching him play football, says the author, "a morality play in which the solitary hero was pitted against a hostile host."
But college days had to end. Hobey turned, then, to aerial combat, often practicing with Eddie Rickenbacker in the months preceding his assignment to the 103rd Aero Squadron. In flying, he found even more danger and excitement than he had in ground contact sports—and Hobey needed both.
When he died, the "golden boy" was only twenty-six. But in those twenty-six fabulous, cheer-filled years, Hobey Baker had become a legend.
John Davies was educated at Hotchkiss School, Harvard, Yale and Princeton. He has been professor of American history at the University of Minnesota and Smith College and is presently writing a history of Princeton in the twentieth century.
The Legend of Hobey Baker involved two years of interviewing Baker contemporaries and research into old scrapbooks and newspaper files in an attempt to "put some flesh on the bare bones of the Baker fable." The reality, the author found, to his surprise, is more astounding than the legend.
And he was never to leave that spotlight in the ten years left to him.
An Ivy League superstar of football and ice hockey, Hobey played for St. Paul's, then for Princeton. John Davies has brilliantly recaptured the exhaustive excitement of games, in which Hobey's speed and skill dazzled audiences, in this warm remembrance of glory of another era.
Hobey Baker Plays Tonight, the signs read. And that was enough to draw the crowds, sometimes in evening dress in chauffeured limousines. For college games were glamorous at the turn of the century—and it was stars like Hobey who made them so. In ten years of play, Hobey never lost his temper, and in his entire college career, he was penalized only twice. For Hobey, the epitome of self-confidence, daring and perfection, was also a gentleman sportsman amateur who played solely for the game and despised publicity.
"Here he comes!" the crowd would yell when he took the puck and flashed down the ice. "Here he comes!" they'd yell, too, when he caught a punt on a dead run. Watching Hobey play hockey was like watching him play football, says the author, "a morality play in which the solitary hero was pitted against a hostile host."
But college days had to end. Hobey turned, then, to aerial combat, often practicing with Eddie Rickenbacker in the months preceding his assignment to the 103rd Aero Squadron. In flying, he found even more danger and excitement than he had in ground contact sports—and Hobey needed both.
When he died, the "golden boy" was only twenty-six. But in those twenty-six fabulous, cheer-filled years, Hobey Baker had become a legend.
John Davies was educated at Hotchkiss School, Harvard, Yale and Princeton. He has been professor of American history at the University of Minnesota and Smith College and is presently writing a history of Princeton in the twentieth century.
The Legend of Hobey Baker involved two years of interviewing Baker contemporaries and research into old scrapbooks and newspaper files in an attempt to "put some flesh on the bare bones of the Baker fable." The reality, the author found, to his surprise, is more astounding than the legend.
116 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
10 people want to read
About the author
John Dunn Davies
2 booksJohn Dunn Davies (1918-1994) was educated at Hotchkiss School, Harvard, Yale and Princeton. He was professor of American history at the University of Minnesota and Smith College.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Read
January 1, 2026Very cool book about a Yale athlete, good in hockey, football, and other sports - a kind of Gatsby character in real life. Baker ends up crashing his plane while doing a final flight, testing it's repairs so the next pilot wouldn't have to, dying. It was one of those books that feels like an unreal documentary, kind of like Zelig or George Plimpton's Sidd Finch. And I'm kind of still wondering if he was real or not...Surprised that I haven't heard of Baker before.
I found my copy of this book in an estate sale. Interestingly, it had 4 or 5 signatures at the front of the book, along with their class year, all but one at Yale, mostly just after WWI. These were a handful of former Yale athletes who must have known of Hobey Baker.
I found my copy of this book in an estate sale. Interestingly, it had 4 or 5 signatures at the front of the book, along with their class year, all but one at Yale, mostly just after WWI. These were a handful of former Yale athletes who must have known of Hobey Baker.
Displaying 1 of 1 review