Brian David Barden (born April 2, 1981) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. He played for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, and

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB), and for the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB).

Early life

Barden attended St. Augustine High School in San Diego's North Park neighborhood and

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

. In 2001, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Bro ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

Professional career

Arizona Diamondbacks

Barden was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks on April 3, 2007, against the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

, grounding out as a pinch hitter. His first hit was a single to center field off Shawn Hill of the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

on April 8. That was his only hit in 6 at-bats for the Diamondbacks in the 8 games he played for them in 2007, with the rest of his time being spent with the AAA Tucson Sidewinders.

St. Louis Cardinals

He was selected off waivers by

on August 13, 2007. Barden was batting .295 with nine

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 35 RBI for the Cardinals' Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, when his season was ended as the result of being named to the USA Olympic Baseball Team. On May 5,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, he was named NL Rookie of the Month for April.

Florida Marlins

On December 14, 2009, Barden signed a minor league contract with the

. He was added to the Major League roster on April 3, but designated for assignment on July 3, 2010.

Texas Rangers

For the 2011 season, he signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers and played for the AAA

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

before opting out on July 1.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Brian signed a 1-year contract with the

on July 18, 2011. He played in 64 games and hit .281.

Los Angeles Dodgers

He signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

on January 5, 2013, and was assigned to the AAA

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

. He played in 123 games and hit .277, while playing primarily

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Piratas de Campeche

On April 1, 2014, Barden signed with the Piratas de Campeche of the

Mexican Baseball League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He was released on April 14, 2014.

Leones de Yucatan

On March 31, 2014, Barden signed with the Leones de Yucatan of the

. He was released on May 29, 2014.

Somerset Patriots

On June 10, 2014, Barden signed with the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. He became a free agent after the 2014 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barden, Brian 1981 births Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Baseball players from San Diego County, California Brewster Whitecaps players El Paso Diablos players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Lancaster JetHawks players Leones de Yucatán players Living people Major League Baseball infielders Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Memphis Redbirds players Mexican League baseball third basemen New Orleans Zephyrs players Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Nippon Professional Baseball third basemen Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in baseball Oregon State Beavers baseball players Piratas de Campeche players Round Rock Express players Somerset Patriots players Baseball players from San Luis Obispo County, California St. Louis Cardinals players Tucson Sidewinders players Yakima Bears players