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Stephen David Barber
Seattle Pilots
Pitcher
Born: February 22, 1938, Takoma Park, MD
Signed: Signed by the Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams: Baltimore Orioles 1960-1967; New York Yankees 1967-1968; Seattle Pilots 1969; Chicago Cubs 1970; Atlanta Braves 1970-1972; California Angels 1972-1973; San Francisco Giants 1974
Died: February 4, 2007, Henderson, NV (age 68)
A two-time All-Star and starting pitcher for the early part of his career, Steve Barber pivoted to a reliable but often injured reliever towards the latter end of his 15-year big league run. Barber led the American League in shutouts with 8 in 1961 and was a 20-game winner for the Orioles in 1963, the first pitcher in Orioles' history to reach that plateau. His two All-Star Game appearances came in 1963 (20-13, 2.75 ERA in 36 starts) and 1966 (10-5, 2.30 ERA in 25 games). He finished in the league's top 10 for ERA in 1960, 1963 and 1965.
Barber was traded to the Yankees on July 4, 1967, missing the Orioles run at the top of the league beginning in 1969 and lasting until the the mid-1970s. His move to the Yankees began a six-team odyssey over eight seasons, including a stop with the Seattle Pilots during the club's only year of existence. With the Pilots, and hampered by elbow injuries, Barber was depicted in Jim Bouton's Ball Four "as a man who wouldn't lead, follow, or get out of the way" according to his SABR biography. Now a seldomly used left-handed reliever, Barber was the losing pitcher in the Pilots' final game.
He retired following the 1974 season having pitched in 466 games, with a record of 121-106 and a 3.36 ERA.
A two-time All-Star and starting pitcher for the early part of his career, Steve Barber pivoted to a reliable but often injured reliever towards the latter end of his 15-year big league run. Barber led the American League in shutouts with 8 in 1961 and was a 20-game winner for the Orioles in 1963, the first pitcher in Orioles' history to reach that plateau. His two All-Star Game appearances came in 1963 (20-13, 2.75 ERA in 36 starts) and 1966 (10-5, 2.30 ERA in 25 games). He finished in the league's top 10 for ERA in 1960, 1963 and 1965.
Barber was traded to the Yankees on July 4, 1967, missing the Orioles run at the top of the league beginning in 1969 and lasting until the the mid-1970s. His move to the Yankees began a six-team odyssey over eight seasons, including a stop with the Seattle Pilots during the club's only year of existence. With the Pilots, and hampered by elbow injuries, Barber was depicted in Jim Bouton's Ball Four "as a man who wouldn't lead, follow, or get out of the way" according to his SABR biography. Now a seldomly used left-handed reliever, Barber was the losing pitcher in the Pilots' final game.
He retired following the 1974 season having pitched in 466 games, with a record of 121-106 and a 3.36 ERA.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #231
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Pilots Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 154th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me a little over $2.
The Card / Pilots Team Set / Accuracy Index -8
Barber is wearing an Orioles uniform here, and the photo could date back to 1965 as it's similar to the photo used on his 1966 Topps card. The back of the card explains the Yankees lost Barber in the expansion draft. The cartoon refers to his combined no-hitter with Stu Miller thrown against the Tigers on April 30, 1967. With the Orioles leading 1-0, Barber was one out away from the no-hitter with Tigers runners on second and third who had both reached on walks. A wild pitch scored pinch-runner Dick Tracewski (#126) from third, tying the score at 1-1. Barber walked his third batter of the inning, his 10th of the game, and was relieved by Miller. Miller induced a fielder's choice ground out, but Orioles second baseman Mark Belanger (#299) dropped the ball, allowing another run to score. The Tigers would ultimately win, 2-1.
Accuracy Index: Barber's card loses points for the Orioles uniform (-5) and logo less hat (-3).
1969 Season
Left unprotected by the Yankees, Barber was the 37th pick by the Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft. He was often injured throughout the season but as famously told by Bouton in his book, Barber refused to go to the minor leagues for rehab assignments. Barber pitched sparingly throughout the year, going 4-7 with a 4.80 ERA in 25 games, including 16 starts. He best performance of the year came toward the end of the season, when he struck out 10 Twins in a 5-1 win.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #514
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1960-1970, 1972-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1983 Galasso 1969 Seattle Pilots #26
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 94 in the Beckett online database as of 2/10/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Left unprotected by the Yankees, Barber was the 37th pick by the Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft. He was often injured throughout the season but as famously told by Bouton in his book, Barber refused to go to the minor leagues for rehab assignments. Barber pitched sparingly throughout the year, going 4-7 with a 4.80 ERA in 25 games, including 16 starts. He best performance of the year came toward the end of the season, when he struck out 10 Twins in a 5-1 win.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #514
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1960-1970, 1972-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1983 Galasso 1969 Seattle Pilots #26
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 94 in the Beckett online database as of 2/10/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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