Larry Richard Barnes, Jr. (born July 23, 1974 in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

) is an American former professional baseball

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 ...

. He attended

Bakersfield High School Bakersfield High School (BHS) is a public four-year high school located in Bakersfield, California, United States. Opened in 1893, Bakersfield High School serves grades ninth through twelfth within the Kern High School District. Notable alumni ...

and then

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

Career

He was drafted by 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 club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

in the

1993 Major League Baseball draft The 1993 Major League Baseball draft began with first round selections on June 3, 1993. Alex Rodriguez was selected first overall by the Seattle Mariners. Other notable draftees included Chris Carpenter, Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Scott Rolen, ...

, but opted not to sign. In the

1994 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation picks Compensation Picks Other notable players *Troy Glaus, 2nd round, 37th overall by the San Diego Padres, but did not ...

, Barnes was drafted by the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

in the 51st round. Again, he decided it was best for him not to sign. In , he was not even in the draft-he was finally signed as a free agent by the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. Not only did Barnes-who is 6'1" and 195 pounds-have a good professional rookie season batting-wise, he also did well when it came to pitching. He

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 ...

.310 and had 12

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 56 games—and also pitched in three games, won two, and had a 2.25

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. Even though he had success pitching in his first pro year, he found minimal success in the years following. Perhaps Barnes' best professional season came in , when he was playing for the Angels' Single-A,

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels are owned ...

. His statistics for that season: (Source
The Baseball Cube
After that season, his success simmered off. But, he still performed well enough to earn a promotion. On April 11, , at 26 years old, he made his major league debut with the Angels. His first glimpse of the major leagues as he hit .100 in 40

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s. Perhaps one of the shining moments of his season was one of his four hits was a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. Barnes has only made one appearance in the majors since his 40 at-bat season with the Angels. In , with the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, he appeared in 30 games and hit .211. Since then, he has bounced all over the world, playing in Japan (

Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes The were a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team based in Osaka, Japan, which was in the Pacific League. In 2005 the team was merged with the Orix BlueWave to become the team now known as the Orix Buffaloes. The team played in Fujiidera Stadiu ...

) in and in the Marlins organization in . In , Barnes played for the Las Vegas 51s in the Dodgers system, but he was released in August. Barnes currently resides in

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Larry 1974 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Anaheim Angels players Arizona League Angels players Bakersfield Renegades baseball players Baseball players from Bakersfield, California Cedar Rapids Kernels players Edmonton Trappers players Erie SeaWolves players Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Gulf Coast Marlins players Lake Elsinore Storm players Las Vegas 51s players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball first basemen Midland Angels players Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes players Salt Lake Stingers players Somerset Patriots players