Great Uncle "Chuck," the Four Horsemen, and the Rest of the Story

 

Charlie "Chuck" Baker, in an image from The Cleveland Press, November 1927.

¹

 

Mention the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to me and football is not what immediately pops into my mind. But in my family history, mentioning the Four Horsemen brings up the name Charles "Charlie" Baker (1908-1955), my grandmother's brother. I've heard the phrase, "Charlie was one of the Four Horsemen," more than once over time, from my dad, cousins, maybe even an aunt or uncle. Not being raised in a football-centric household, however, the significance of the phrase was lost on me.

But curious about Charlie's connection to the fabled football heroes who played under Knute Rockne at Notre Dame in the 1920s, I went in search of the story. And I found a great story—one with a surprising Texas twist that grabbed my attention, as I live here. Much of what I learned was from an account of this greatest of Cathedral Latin football stories, written by Robert Kelley, available on the school's alumni association's history page.  

The 1927 version of the "Four Horsemen" referred to the backfield players on the Cathedral Latin High School Lions football team. That included Charlie—known on the team as "Chuck" Baker—who played halfback, as well as quarterback Ed Gowan, halfback Marty Sammon, and fullback Steve Jakubowski. They were integral to the 1927 Latin team which vied for the high school national championship title against...Texas' Waco High School Tigers.²

Kelley writes that the Lion's coach at the time was Dan Duffy. He played basketball and football at Notre Dame, where he spent some time as quarterback under Coach Rockne. Duffy played alongside Don Miller, one of Rockne's famed Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, historically considered one of the best college football backfields of all time.³

In 1927, Waco and Cathedral Latin's teams were the best of the best in their respective football universes.

Kelley notes in his piece, "Waco had won its third straight championship, fourth overall, and had achieved a 13-0 record. In 1927 they had scored 740 points and allowed only 21." They appeared in six straight state title match-ups. Together, these achievements were "...unprecedented at the time in Texas high school football history." Fans' thoughts naturally turned to whether the Tigers had the stuff to win a national championship.⁴

For its part, Latin's Lions were Catholic, city, and state high school champions in 1927, vanquishing St. Ignatius for the Catholic school title, West High for the city crown, and Coshocton High for the state honors.⁵ As they steamrolled over their opponents, the quartet of Sammon, Baker, Gowan, and Jakubowski were "dubbed the Four Horsemen by all of the Ohio sports scribes," due to their fierce competitiveness and Coach Duffy's connection to its college counterpart.⁶

But how did this powerhouse Ohio team end up in Waco? Chalk it up to some "smack talk" between businessmen, in part. Kelley explains in his piece that Waco businessman Cecil Shear, who had been in Cleveland around the time of Latin's state championship, was hearing glowing reports about how Cathedral's team was the best in the nation. Shear and his Texas colleagues contended that Waco was the best team in the country. A journalist who overheard the exchange announced in the paper that Waco had challenged Latin and Ohio sports writers sought confirmation from Waco's coach Paul Tyson and others. Tyson refuted the claim. Waco sports writers and businessmen supported the idea, and finally, Coach Tyson announced that if the Waco players, school district administration, and the school's athletic council agreed to host the game, he would also agree. All parties agreed, negotiations between the schools began, and by December 20th a championship game between the Cathedral Latin Lions and the Waco High Tigers was announced. December 26th was set for game day in Waco.⁷

This cartoon of the Cathedral Latin football team appeared in The Cleveland Press on 22 Dec. 1927. Chuck Baker is pictured top row, right. The cowboy is Latin's Coach Duffy.⁸

 

On December 22, 1,000 or so fans gathered at Cleveland's Union Station to see off the 19 Cathedral players, including Chuck Baker. After an overnight stop in St. Louis, the team continued on their way to Waco.⁹

 

Cathedral's team photo was published in the Waco-Times Herald, 23 December 1927. Chuck Baker is seated in the first row, second from left.¹⁰

Meanwhile, in Waco, residents were being urged to welcome the Cleveland players with trademark Southern hospitality. When the team's train arrived at the Katy, Texas, station on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1927, a crowd about 5,000 strong—including a band, hundreds of students, civic authorities, businessmen, and other local residents—were on hand to greet them.¹¹

 

The Texas Cotton Palace football field as it appeared in 1917.¹²

After a Christmas day of rest, the teams met up at Waco's Cotton Palace Field on 26 December at 2 p.m. More than 18,000 fans filled the stands, possibly the largest crowd to see a high school football game up to that time in Texas. 

And though Cathedral earned 294 yards during the game and 20 first downs—more than any of Waco's opponents up to that time—the Lions fell short in the end, losing 44-12. Chuck Baker scored one of Cathedral's two touchdowns.¹³ In the days before television, the entire game play-by-play was recounted in a two-page spread in the next day's newspaper.¹⁴

Chuck Baker's touchdown is recounted in this play-by-play published in The Waco News-Tribune the day after the game.¹⁵

The Cleveland Press sportswriter Bill Dvorak wrote of the Cathedral Latin team, "Cleveland's fighting Irish were heroic in defeat, gaining in prestige through their cleancut play more than enough to balance what they may have lost in figures that go down in the record books." He went on, "Cleveland's champions gamely and unflinchingly handled all Waco could give them—and shouted for more. The basis of good sportsmanship on which the game was conducted probably did more to champion the cause of interscholastic football than anything in the history of intersectional grid meetings."¹⁶

And now we know "the rest of the story."

I've greatly summarized Kelley's excellent write up about this game. To get the full flavor, be sure to download the document and enjoy reading it for yourself. 

This was such a fun story to research, and it actually solved more than one mystery. By comparing photos, I can now guess that the third person in this photo of my grandmother Mary Josephine "Jo" Baker (center) and her big brother Charlie (left) was Marty Sammon, captain of the Cathedral Latin 1927 team.¹⁷

Charlie Baker, my grandmother Jo Baker, and Marty Sammon.

 

Marty Sammon, team captain, from an Oct. 1927 newspaper article, and a closeup of the photo.¹⁸

 

 

I also discovered that Chuck played on John Carroll University's Blue Streaks football team in 1929, though it appears his career there lasted only one year.¹⁹

It was really fun to get to the bottom of this piece of family history, as well as discover the Texas connection. 

C'mon cousins, what family story should I research next?

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved. 

NOTES

¹ "Latin Presents Tricky Combination," The Cleveland Press, 25 November 1927, p. 18, cols. 3-6; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/1164390644/ : accessed 4 Nov. 2025). 

² Robert Kelley, "1927 Cathedral Latin vs. Waco National Football Championship," undated manuscript, 5; PDF available at Cathedral Latin Alumni Association (https://www.clatin.com/history/ : accessed 3 November 2025), "History." Kelley is the brother of John Kelley, a Cathedral lineman, who also played on the 1927 team. Also, "Opposing Teams Protect Latin's 'Four Horsemen,'" The Cleveland Press, 29 October 1927, p. 2, cols. 5-6; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/1164307227/ : accessed 4 Nov. 2025).

³ Kelley, "1927 Cathedral Latin vs. Waco National Football Championship," 5.

⁴ Ibid., 3.

⁵ Ibid., 5. 

⁶ "Call Latin '4 Horsemen' and 'Fighting Frosh,'" The Waco Times-Herald [Waco, Texas] p. 3, col. 5; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/960328250/ : accessed 3 Nov. 2025).

⁷ Kelley, "1927 Cathedral Latin vs. Waco National Football Championship," 3, 5.

⁸ "Rope 'Em Cowboy," The Cleveland Press, 22 December 1927, p. 22, cols. 5-7; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/1164545024/ : accessed 4 Nov. 2025).

⁹ Kelley, "1927 Cathedral Latin vs. Waco National Football Championship," 11.

¹⁰ "Well, Look 'Em Over-They're from Cleveland, Ohio," The Waco Times-Herald [Waco, Texas], p. 1, cols. 2-4; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/960328050/ : accessed 4 Nov. 2025).

¹¹ Kelley, "1927 Cathedral Latin vs. Waco National Football Championship," 12. 

¹² "Wacos Cotton Palace Field...," 1917; Picryl.com (https://www.dvidshub.net/ : accessed 4 November 2025); citing Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

¹³ Kelley, "1927 Cathedral Latin vs. Waco National Football Championship," 17.   

¹⁴ Jinx Tucker, "First Touchdown Against Latin High Is Made on Play No. 13," The Waco News-Tribune [Waco, Texas] 27 December 1927, p. 4-5; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/85041578/ : accessed 3 Nov. 2025).

¹⁵ Ibid., p. 5, col. 7-8, 'Play No. 57'.

¹⁶ "What Cleveland Papers Will Say In Editions Appearing Tuesday Morn," The Waco News Tribune, [Waco, Texas] 27 December 1927, p. 6, col. 7-8, "by Bill Dvorak"; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/85041582/ : accessed 3 November 2025).

¹⁷ Charlie Baker, Josephine Baker, and Marty Sammon, photograph, ca. 1927; scanned image ca. 2021, privately held by Nancy Gilbride Casey, [address for private use,] Tioga, Texas, 2025. Original photo is owned by Rebecca Firestone, who received it from her mother, Margaret Gilbride Firestone; Margaret was the daughter of Josephine Baker Gilbride. Rebecca lent the photograph to Nancy Gilbride Casey for scanning in 2021.

¹⁸  "Opposing Teams Protect Latin's 'Four Horsemen." Also, Charlie Baker, Josephine Baker, and Marty Sammon, photograph, privately held by Nancy Gilbride Casey.

¹⁹ "Streaks Get Going," The Cleveland Press, 26 Oct. 1929, sec. 2, p. 9, col. 8, 'Baker Gets Going"; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/1164560237/ : accessed 4 November 2024).