John David Barfield (October 15, 1964 – December 24, 2016) was an American

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played during three seasons (1989 to 1991) at the major league level for the Texas Rangers. He pitched in the affiliated minor leagues through 1997 and concluded his career the next year in the independent

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 died in a shooting in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

Early life

Barfield attended

Pine Bluff High School Pine Bluff High School (PBHS) is a comprehensive public high school in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States. It, a part of the Pine Bluff School District, is the largest of two public high schools in the Pine Bluff city limits and three public h ...

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff, officially the City of Pine Bluff, is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, tenth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, Jefferson County. The population of the city wa ...

. He starred for the baseball team, which won a state championship. Barfield played in the same Pine Bluff baseball program that produced future Rangers pitcher

Mike Jeffcoat James Michael Jeffcoat (born August 3, 1959) is an American retired professional baseball manager, former head coach in college baseball, and former professional player. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1983 and 1994 for four dif ...

. Barfield played college baseball at Crowder College in

Neosho, Missouri Neosho (; originally or ) is the most populous city in Newton County, Missouri, United States, which it serves as the county seat. With a population of 12,590 as of the 2020 census, the city is a part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Area, ...

, and at

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

. He was drafted by the Rangers in the 11th round (267th overall) of the 1986 amateur draft.

Career

Barfield played his first professional season with the Class A-Advanced Daytona Beach Admirals and Salem Redbirds in . By 1988, he had advanced to the Class AA

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

, where he was on the pitching staff with future major leaguers Kevin Brown,

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

and Steve Wilson. Barfield was a

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

All-Star and finished with a 9–9 record with a 2.88

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). He made his MLB debut in 1989. He appeared in four games for the Rangers that year, two of them starts, and he gave up eight

earned run 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 ...

s in innings. The next year, he appeared in 33 games, all as a relief pitcher. In 1991, Barfield was the long reliever for the Rangers, but in June, with starting pitchers Bobby Witt and Scott Chiamparino on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

, Barfield made his first start of the season. He pitched innings and earned the win. He started several more games that season, but he developed a

rib fracture A rib fracture is a break in a rib bone. This typically results in chest pain that is worse with inspiration. Bruising may occur at the site of the break. When several ribs are broken in several places a flail chest results. Potential complicat ...

which caused pain and poor pitching during his last three starts. In August, the injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. Between 1992 and 1997, pitched for minor league affiliates of several organizations and spent some time in the

Mexican 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 ...

. His last season in the affiliated minor leagues was with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. In 1998, he pitched in the independent Atlantic League for the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

and the

Atlantic City Surf The Atlantic City Surf were a professional minor league baseball team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Surf was most recently a member of the Can-Am League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Surf played its home gam ...

, winning one of his seven decisions that year.

Death

Barfield was shot during a dispute at his apartment in downtown

, on December 24, 2016. He was taken to a hospital, where he died during surgery. A 59-year-old acquaintance named William Goodman, who was the estranged husband of Barfield's girlfriend Mystic Goodman, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. On August 10, 2017, Goodman was convicted of manslaughter after a Pulaski County jury concluded that the killing was reckless but not deliberate and Goodman was sentenced to the maximum 25 years in prison with a $10,000 fine. Goodman was sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter and 15 years for firearm enhancement, with the sentences to be served consecutively.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barfield, John 1964 births 2016 deaths 2016 murders in the United States Algodoneros de Unión Laguna players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American manslaughter victims Atlantic City Surf players Baseball players from Pine Bluff, Arkansas Birmingham Barons players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Caribes de Oriente players Charlotte Rangers players Crowder Roughriders baseball players Daytona Beach Admirals players Deaths by firearm in Arkansas Major League Baseball pitchers Nashville Sounds players Newark Bears players Oklahoma City 89ers players Oklahoma City Stars baseball players People murdered in Arkansas Salem Redbirds players San Antonio Missions players Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo players Texas Rangers players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tulsa Drillers players 20th-century American sportsmen