SUMTER, S.C. — When Art Baker was the head coach at Eau Claire High School, his staff including future Furman head coaches Dick Sheridan, Jimmie Satterfield and Bobby Johnson.
Baker would also take over the Furman program before his head coaching career took him to The Citadel and East Carolina after jobs as an assistant took him to Clemson, Texas Tech and Florida State. His final job in athletics saw him hired as the Director of the Gamecock Club. He served in that capacity for nearly seven years before he retired in 1995.
But Baker's ascent through the coaching ranks saw him maintain a long relationship with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. On Saturday, friends, family and former players gathered in Baker's hometown of Sumter for a celebration of the coach's legacy and the official launch of the Art Baker Scholarship Fund. The money raised from this initiative will assist coaches and athletes in the 15 counties of Midlands FCA with the finances needed to participate in camps, retreats, and other ministry activities sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
One of Coach Baker's longtime friends who was on hand for the celebration was Sumter's Bobby Richardson who won three World Series titles with the New York Yankees in 1958, 1961 and 1962.