Brian Scott Barber (born March 4, 1973) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

starting pitcher, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and Kansas City Royals. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 1991 amateur draft, and was later signed to a minor league contract. Barber threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. Barber was named the amateur scouting director of the Philadelphia Phillies, following the 2019 season.

Early life

Barber's hometown is

Ocoee, Florida Ocoee () is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. According to the 2019 US Census population estimate, the city had a population of 48,263. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hist ...

. He attended Dr. Phillips High School in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

, where he won the Gatorade High School Baseball Player of the Year in 1991. Barber elected to play professional baseball, rather than attend college.

Major league baseball career

At the age of 22, Barber made his MLB debut on August 12, 1995, with the Cardinals, making him the youngest player on the team, at that time. On that day, he pitched four innings, giving up three

earned runs In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

. Barber had a record of 2–1 and 5.22

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). The following year, he pitched in only 3 innings, with an ERA of 15.00. Following the 1996 season, Barber found himself unhappy with the Cardinals, and on December 21, 1996, he was granted free agency. Two weeks later, Barber was signed by the Kansas City Royals. He missed the entire 1997 MLB season in the minors. In 1998, Barber re-emerged, pitching in 42 innings, while posting a 6.00 ERA. He also recorded a record of 2–4. The following year, Barber pitched in only 18.2 innings, with an ERA of 9.64, and a record of 1–3. On October 4, 1999, Barber was granted free agency again. About two months later, he was picked up by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. However, Barber would not pitch in an Indians uniform. Instead, he pitched the 2000 season for the Atlantic League Long Island Ducks, then retired. Barber’s career big league numbers included a 5–8 record, with a 6.77 ERA, 45 walks, and 59

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. He was 1 for 8 hitting, with a lifetime

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .125. Barber’s lifetime fielding percentage was 1.000.

Post-playing career

Barber spent 18 seasons with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, in several off-field positions, including various scouting positions. On October 22, 2019, Barber was named the Philadelphia Phillies’ amateur scouting director.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Brian 1973 births Living people Baseball players from Ohio Major League Baseball pitchers St. Louis Cardinals players Kansas City Royals players Long Island Ducks players Arkansas Travelers players Johnson City Cardinals players Louisville Redbirds players Omaha Golden Spikes players Omaha Royals players Prince William Cannons players Springfield Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Dr. Phillips High School alumni