David Monroe Barbee (May 7, 1905 – July 1, 1968) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball. 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, the team became the Oaklan ...

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

, finishing his MLB career with a .246 batting average. He also won three home run 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, in 1905. He started his professional baseball career in 1925 with the Piedmont League'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, 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 the middle of the season but lost the job in August and was a

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

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 small city and the county seat of Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,903 in the 2010 Census. Gerald R. "Ronnie" Michael (a former police chief in the city) serves as Mayor and Albemarle has a se ...

, 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