David Monroe Barbee (May 7, 1905 – July 1, 1968) was an American

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

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 ...

. He played for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, finishing his MLB career with a .246

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 ...

. He also won three

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 ( ...

titles in the minor leagues. Barbee was 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighed 178 pounds."Dave Barbee Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.

Career

Barbee was born in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

, in 1905. He started his professional baseball career in 1925 with the

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Cities represented The following cities hosted teams th ...

's Greensboro Patriots. In 16 games that season, he batted .333. Barbee hit well in 1926, and he was batting .372 with 29 home runs before being acquired by the major league Philadelphia Athletics in July."Dave Barbee Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011. The 29 homers were good enough to lead the Piedmont League, even though he did not play there the entire season. With the Athletics, he appeared in 19 games and batted .190. Barbee then spent 1927 in the International League before going to the

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 ...

in 1928. He hit 16 home runs during his first PCL campaign, 22 during his second, and then 41 in 1930 to lead the league. In 1931, while playing for the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles–based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars ( ...

, he batted .332, and his 47 home runs were 10 more than any other PCL player. In 1932, Barbee received another shot in the majors, this time with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the Pirates' starting

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

in the middle of the season but lost the job in August and was a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

for the last two months."Dave Barbee 1932 Batting Gamelogs"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011. In 97 games played, he batted .257 with five home runs. Barbee went back down to the minor leagues in 1933. His batting average stayed under .300, and he retired in 1935. He returned to professional baseball for one more season, in 1942, and hit 17 home runs in 58 games. Barbee died in

Albemarle, North Carolina Albemarle () is a city in and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,432 in the 2020 census. History Etymology This place-name is derived from the English surname Albemarle. According to a 190 ...

, in 1968 and was buried in Guilford Memorial Park.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbee, Dave 1905 births 1968 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Pittsburgh Pirates players Greensboro Patriots players Reading Keystones players Portland Beavers players Seattle Indians players Hollywood Stars players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Birmingham Barons players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Atlanta Crackers players Burlington Bees players Baseball players from Greensboro, North Carolina