Kevin Stewart Barker (born in July 26, 1975) is an American baseball analyst and 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 ...

player. In his career, he played in

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) as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

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

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

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, and

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

. He currently co-hosts the

sports talk show Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-a ...

''Blair and Barker'' alongside Jeff Blair on

Sportsnet 590 the FAN CJCL (590 AM, ''Sportsnet 590 The Fan'') is a Canadian sports radio station in Toronto, Ontario. Owned and operated by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media since 2002, CJCL's studios are located at the Rogers Building at Bloor an ...

radio and on multiple Sportsnet TV channels, out of Toronto. He began co-hosting Blair and Barker after Sportsnet parted ways with

Gregg Zaun Gregory Owen Zaun (; born April 14, 1971) is an American baseball analyst, public speaker and a former professional baseball catcher, currently he is the interim manager for the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League. He played for nine ...

Player Career

Barker is from the small community of Mendota in

Washington County, Virginia Washington County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 53,935. Its county seat is Abingdon. Washington County is part of the Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol, TN-VA Metr ...

. He played for three years at John S. Battle High School, before transferring to Virginia High School in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the Twin cities (geographical proxi ...

as a senior in 1993. Barker attended

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

. The

selected Barker in the third round of the 1996 MLB draft. He made his major league debut on August 19, 1999, with the Brewers. He went 2 for 5 in his debut, with his first hit a single to right field off Chris Holt of the

Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. He hit his first home run on September 5, 1999, off of Larry Luebbers of the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

. Though the Brewers hoped that Barker would be their long-term

, he was soon surpassed by

Richie Sexson Richmond Lockwood Sexson (born December 29, 1974) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, and New York Ya ...

. He played in a total of 78 games with the Brewers in 1999 and 2000 and hit .253. After spending the 2001 season in the minors, the Brewers traded him to the

on March 24, 2002, in exchange for Dusty Wathan. He appeared in only 7 games for the Padres and spent most of the season in AAA with the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

. He spent 2003–2006 in the minor league systems of the

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 ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

and

and was named the

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

player of the week in 2006 while playing with the

Syracuse SkyChiefs The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which opened in 1997 and has ...

. He received a September call-up with the Blue Jays and on September 3, 2006, Barker recorded his first

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

as a Blue Jay, a home run off

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

starting pitcher

Josh Beckett Joshua Patrick Beckett (born May 15, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). A three-time MLB All-Star, he played for the Florida Marlins, the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Afte ...

. After the 2007 season, Barker signed a minor league contract with the

and played for the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, wi ...

the entire year. In 2009, he appeared in 29 games for the Reds, batting .281. He spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons 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 ...

. Barker currently co-hosts the

''Blair and Barker'' alongside

Jeff Blair Jeff Blair (born March 30, 1960) is a Canadian former newspaper columnist for The Globe and Mail, a sports columnist for Sportsnet and sports talk radio host on Sportsnet 590 The FAN in Toronto. In June 2019, Blair took over as a host of the lon ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

radio station

and on multiple Sportsnet TV channels.

Personal life

Barker is married to

Hazel Mae Hazel Mae Barker (born April 7, 1970), known professionally as Hazel Mae, is a Filipino-Canadian sportscaster. She was the former lead anchor for the New England Sports Network's SportsDesk news program and most recently the anchor on MLB Netwo ...

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Kevin 1975 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen Algodoneros de Guasave players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Virginia Canadian radio sportscasters Cincinnati Reds players El Paso Diablos players Guerreros de Oaxaca players Huntsville Stars players Indianapolis Indians players Louisville Bats players Louisville Redbirds players Louisville RiverBats players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball first basemen Mexican League baseball first basemen Milwaukee Brewers players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Ogden Raptors players People from Bristol, Virginia Portland Beavers players Reading Phillies players Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players San Diego Padres players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Stockton Ports players Syracuse Chiefs players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Toronto Blue Jays announcers Toronto Blue Jays players Toros del Este players Virginia Tech alumni Virginia Tech Hokies baseball players Yaquis de Obregón players