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Mark Nicholas Baker (born March 27, 1961) is a bowling coach and retired professional bowler who won four titles on the Professional Bowlers Tour. He was one of the top bowlers on the Pro Tour before suffering a painful back injury that would eventually cut his career short.

Following his days as a touring pro Baker remade himself into a bowling coach, working with some of the top superstars on the modern tour including Bill O’Neill and Hall of Famers Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes. Baker is also the head coach of the Silver Lake Atom Splitters of the PBA League and has been an assistant coach with Team USA since 2017.

Early life
John Nicholas Baker, a bank executive at Security Pacific Bank Patsy Jo Mayes born Georgia grew up Oak Ridge, Tenn. Her father, Howard Pearce Mayes, was a crane operator for the Atomic Energy Commission at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/105230984:62308

Baker grew up in Garden Grove, California and graduated from Garden Grove High School. As a teenager, Baker was one of the top basketball players in Southern California as well as an all-star bowler. After high school, Baker played for two seasons as a forward for Golden West Junior College in Huntington Beach before giving up basketball to concentrate on bowling.

He joined the Professional Bowlers Tour in 1980, but didn't see real success until 1983 when he reached his first televised finals in May at the Houston Open in Texas. Baker had a solid week of qualifying staying in the top 5 from Wednesday to Saturday, but despite entering the finals as the second seed, Baker was defeated 224—196 by journeyman Ray Shackelford. He would also reach the finals at the Molson Bowling Challenge in August of that year, qualifying fourth. He won for the first time on TV, beating Steve Wunderlich 206—190 before losing to Sam Zurich in the next match 210—176.

Baker's career took off in 1984, seeing him earn his first career victory, finishing runner-up once and reaching the final round a total of four times. https://www.newspapers.com/image/630101512/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-07-11-sp-336-story.html

Southern California Bowler of the Year https://www.newspapers.com/image/404930721/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/154117473/

https://www.bowlingthismonth.com/bowling-tips/an-interview-with-a-pro-bowler-turned-coach/

https://bowl.com/news/mark-baker-signs-to-rep-900-global

PBA Tour titles
Major championships are in bold type.
 * 1) 1984 Miller High Life Classic (Miami, Florida)
 * 2) 1986 King Louie Open (Overland Park, Kansas)
 * 3) 1987 Kessler Open (Dublin, California)
 * 4) 1990 PBA Oregon Open (Portland, Oregon)