Carl F. Barger (August 18, 1930 – December 9, 1992) was a

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

attorney and baseball executive.

Biography

Barger became the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

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 (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

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), ...

team, serving from 1987 through the beginning of 1991. He then became the first president of the Florida Marlins (now the

Miami 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 club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

) on July 8, 1991. However, he would not live to see the new team take the field, as he suffered an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...

during MLB's Winter Meetings in 1992 in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and later died. On April 5, 1993, the day that the Marlins played their first regular-season game, the team retired the number 5 in Barger's memory, as his favorite player had been

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

, who wore the number 5 throughout his career. The only other person to have a uniform number retired by the Marlins is

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

, whose number 42 jersey has been retired throughout Major League Baseball to honor his achievement of breaking baseball's color barrier. However, on February 11, 2012, the Miami Marlins unretired the number 5, as that number was requested to be worn by

Logan Morrison Justis Logan Morrison (born August 25, 1987), nicknamed "LoMo", is an American professional baseball first baseman and left fielder for the High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Basebal ...

, who a played for the Marlins from 2012 to 2014. Barger is currently honored with a plaque inside

LoanDepot Park LoanDepot Park is a retractable roof stadium located in Miami, Florida. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins. It is located on on the site of the former Miami Orange Bowl in Little Havana about west of Downtown Miami. Const ...

with the number 5 depicted on it. Additionally, the Marlins designated the practice areas and fields next to

Space Coast Stadium USSSA Space Coast Complex is a baseball stadium and 13 diamond multi-sports facility in Viera, Florida, owned by Brevard County, Florida. Under its original name, Space Coast Stadium, it served as the spring training facility for the Florida Marli ...

Viera, Florida Viera (pronounced /vjɛrə/) is an affluent, master-planned community located in the central coastal region of Brevard County, Florida. It is part of an unincorporated section adjacent to the Melbourne, Florida area. For census purposes, it is divi ...

, their original Florida Spring Training facility, as the Carl F. Barger Baseball Complex.

References

External links

Florida Marlins: History: Marlins Retired Numbers
1930 births 1992 deaths People from Lewistown, Pennsylvania Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball people with retired numbers Major League Baseball team presidents Pittsburgh Pirates executives Florida Marlins executives Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania alumni {{US-baseball-bio-stub