Lyle “Lee” Baker was a famed sportswriter who made numerous contributions to the MAC and high school athletics in Mississippi. Lee was inducted into the MAC HOF as an honorary member. He was born in Staten Island, NY, and raised in Wood River, Illinois. He is a graduate of Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina, and Millsaps College, where he attended from 1948-51. His five-decade career began in 1948 when he wrote for the Jackson Daily News. He wrote for both the Jackson Daily News and the Jackson Clarion Ledger from 1950-51 and 1958-1998. He worked for the Alton Illinois Telegraph from 1951-55. He was a writer for the Jackson State Times from 1955 to 1958. Lee served as sports editor of the Millsaps Purple & White in 1948 and was the Millsaps Sports Information Director from 1950-51. His famous “Baker’s Dozen” column appeared in the Jackson State Times from 1955-58. Baker served as Sports Editor for the Jackson Daily News from 1958 to the late 1980’s. He was the first mainstream media writer to cover predominantly black colleges and high schools in the state. He was the first beat writer to cover the New Orleans Saints for Jackson newspapers. He was selected as Mississippi Sportswriter of the Year on five occasions. Lee served as National Director of the National Basketball Writers and Vice President of the National Track & Field Writers. He was a charter member of the Mississippi Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 1980 and was inducted posthumously into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Lee Baker passed away on April 22, 2003.