Cincinnati Reds OF Brian Barton signed with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japanese League Monday, July 18.





(kffl.com)

LOUISVILLE, KY - The Bats improved to 2-0 in extra inning games this year when outfielder Brian Barton hit a walk off two run home run in the bottom of the 13th inning Sunday to beat the Indians 6-4.

Barton's first home run of the season drove in Kristopher Negron, who went 3-for-5 on the day with a pair of runs scored. Barton's blast, came off of Tony Watson (0-2, 4.76) and was the second walk off home run for the Bats this week.

Matt Hague led the way for the Indians offensively with a double and a triple. The Indians put some pressure on the Bats' defense in the top of the 12th with two runners on base and came within inches of taking the lead on a line drive hit down the left field line just foul by Hague.

Homer Bailey (0-0,0.00) made his first start of the season, a rehab start for the Bats, allowing two hits in five scoreless innings. Indians starter Brian Burres (0-2, 2.55) pitched seven shutout innings striking out eight. Bailey threw 62 pitches over his five innings of work and struck out two
In the top of the eighth with the game still knotted at 0-0, Indians second baseman Brian Friday led off with a triple to right field off of Bats reliever Daniel Ray Herrera (0-1, 4.50). With Friday on third base Herrera struck out the next two batters and got Chase d'Arnaud to ground out to shortstop to end the threat. A pitchers duel through seven innings, the Bats broke out for four runs in the eighth inning.

In the bottom of the eighth the Bats loaded the bases against Dan Meyer (0-0, 5.40), with one out on two walks and a hit batter. After a pitching change Jeremy Hermida cleared the bases with a double to center off Indians left hander Daniel Moskos (0-0, 0.00), giving the Bats a 3-0 lead.
Devin Mesoraco later brought Hermida in to score with a sacrifice fly to centerfield extending the Bats lead to 4-0.

Carlos Fisher (0-0, 10.80) came in to pitch the ninth inning for the Bats, with a 4-0 lead, and failed to get an out. Fisher gave up a walk and three hits to the four batters he faced, all of which scored. Jerry Gil (0-0, 3.00) replaced Fisher and gave up a first pitch RBI-double to left tying the game at 4-4 before getting three straight outs to keep the score tied.

The Bats (9-2) evened the home series with the Indians (2-9) at 1-1 with the rubber match coming Monday night at 6:35 p.m. Scott Caroll (0-0, 4.63) is scheduled to get the start on Social Media Night against Sean Gallagher (0-2, 8.00).



(web.minorleaguebaseball.com)

Check this video of proCane Brian Barton who is one semester away from graduating with an Aerospace Engineering degree.





(yahoo.com)

All nine Reds’ runs scored on home runs in their 9-1 victory over the White Sox. Gomes hit his fourth home run of the spring. Drew Stubbs hit a three-run shot, his second homer of the spring. Brian Barton closed it out with three-run homer. Barton is in camp on minor league deal. But he hit .268 with two home runs and 13 RBI in 153 at-bats for the Cardinals in 2008. Mike Costanzo hit a two-run shot in the ninth.



(mlb.com)

Brian Barton had his “cup of coffee” in the Major Leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2008 season, and like any player getting a taste of big league baseball, wanted seconds.

After going undrafted out of college, Barton was signed by the Cleveland Indians late in the 2004 season. He would start out with Cleveland’s single-A minor league team, and was gradually able to rise in the farm system until he reached the club’s Triple-A affiliate. Despite putting up very good numbers throughout his tenure with the Indians’ farm teams, Barton was unable to make it on to the 40-man roster and was picked up by the Cardinals during the annual Rule 5 draft.

Barton was able to realize his childhood dream as he made the St. Louis Cardinals’ opening-day roster during the 2008 campaign. Although not a full-time starter, Barton appeared in 82 games with the club and posted a respectable .268 batting average to go along with a .354 on-base percentage and 13 RBIs.

Even though he was a solid contributor on the Cardinals squad, he was traded to the Atlanta Braves the following season where he only appeared in one game. Barton would bounce around the minor leagues for a few seasons as he tried in vain to catch on with another major league team.

After being released by the Braves for a second time early in the 2010 season, Barton was able to find a home and starting job with the Newark Bears. Over the course of the 2010 season, Barton flashed all the physical tools that made him so desired by the Cleveland Indians all those years ago as he lead the Bears in almost every major offensive category.

For the season, Barton hit an astounding .375 to along with 19 homeruns, 65 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. His peers in the Atlantic League took notice of Barton’s truly remarkable season as he was named to the Atlantic League All-Star team, the only Bear to make the roster last season.
It turns out that Barton made so much noise during his time with the Bears that he was able to catch the attention of some Major League Baseball officials once again. The reigning National League Central Champion Cincinnati Reds caught wind of what Barton had accomplished in Newark last season and signed him to a minor league contract.

Although he has not officially made a major league roster yet, Brian Barton was able to make the most of his time with the Newark Bears and put on a display that reminded everyone how talented he truly is. Now Barton must prove himself again, as he must work his way up the deep Reds’ farm system.

Though the road will be tough and there will be bumps along the way, there is no doubt that Barton will build on his success last season with the Bears and make the city of Newark proud with his hard work and relentless desire.



(examiner.com)

This move, first reported by Matt Eddy of Baseball America, wasn't rocket science. Or maybe it is. The former Cardinal outfielder has a degree in aerospace engineering from Miami, where he played baseball on an academic scholarship paid for by Boeing. The link from a 2008 story below details this - and much more - about one of the more interesting guys to potentially don a wishbone C in quite some time.

Barton, 29 in April, plays all three outfield positions but is better defensively on a corner. The 6-foot-3, 187-pound right-handed-hitting Los Angeles native spent 2010 in the Atlantic League with Newark and Bridgeport, combining to go 19-72-.347/.397/.579 while stealing 20 bases in 28 tries.

Barton last appeared in the big leagues in 2009 when he had one at bat with Atlanta, to which he was traded by St. Louis for reliever Blaine Boyer in 2009. The Cardinals plucked him from Cleveland in the 2007 Rule 5 Draft and kept him on the roster all season. He went 2-13-.268/.354/.392 and swiped three bags in four tries.

In 2009 at Triple-A Gwinnett, Barton posted a line of 7-46-.266/.354/.390 and stole 17 bases in 24 attempts.

While he's likely little more than injury insurance destined for Louisville, at least it's a branch to fling in the hot stove.



(redreporter.com)

NEWARK – Newly-acquired Brian Barton capped a thrilling five-run ninth inning rally with a grand slam, his second homer as a Bear, with one out in the ninth, leading the Newark Bears to a 9-6 come-from-behind victory over the York Revolution Sunday afternoon at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

The Bears entered the ninth inning, trailing 6-4, facing Revolution relief pitcher Ryan Basner, before mounting the rally. Victor Rodriguez led off the ninth with a single, followed by a bloop single by Shawn Williams. After Carl Everett popped out as a pinch hitter, Kennard Jones drew a walk to load the bases and Gabe Suarez followed with a bases-loaded walk, cutting the lead to 6-5. Up stepped Barton, who was just acquired last week in a trade with Bridgeport. He took a 2-2 pitch from Basner deep over the right field wall for the game-winning homer.
The rally made a winner of reliever Greg Reinhard, who pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief to earn his second win in three decisions. Basner dropped to 1-1 with the loss, giving up all five runs (all earned) in the ninth.



(njtoday.net)

The Bridgeport Bluefish announced Monday the signings of infielder Hiram Bocachica and outfielders Brian Barton and Tike Redman. Bocachica and Barton will make their Atlantic League debuts, while Redman returns for his third season in the league.

Barton joins the Bluefish for his sixth of professional baseball. Last year, the outfielder made one appearance with the Atlanta Braves following a stint with Gwinnett (AAA, Braves) of the International League. In 114 games with Gwinnett, he hit .266 with 28 extra-base hits, 46 RBI, 47 runs scored and 17 stolen bases. The 28-year-old began his professional career in 2005 in the single A South Atlantic League, where he hit .414 in 133 at-bats. Following two more seasons in the minors, the California native was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2007 Rule V Draft and made his Major League debut with the Cardinals in 2008, hitting .268 with nine doubles, two home runs, 13 RBI and 12 runs scored, in 82 appearances.



(thehour.com)

The Dodgers released Brian Barton. Meanwhile, Garret Anderson will evidently make the opening day roster. There’s something amusing about these two statements.

Anderson is a veteran. He’s fought in numerous baseballing wars endured in the Los Angeles market for years upon years. Anderson’s career has become a parody of itself. In the past he was always the choice for most underrated player, and now he’s just bad and overrated. Since 2005 Anderson has been an above average hitter once and above average fielder once. His combined WAR during that time is 2.8, but he’s been paid in excess of $40M to be an annually below average player. He figures to back-up the outfield and first base positions while pinch hitting as well.

Barton is considerably younger than Anderson, right-handed – which may ultimately be his downfall – and also an outfielder. His Major League sample size is too small to draw conclusions from and in 640 Triple-A plate appearances, his OPS is only .720, although that underrates Barton, who walks more than the usual minor leaguer. He’s still cheap, offers more upside, and he’s fast. If those reasons aren’t enough to secure Barton a roster spot over Anderson, then so be it. However, the Dodgers will regret this maneuver if the National League institutes a rule surrounding aerodynamics knowledge and scoring runs.

Oh yes, Barton has knowledge of aerodynamics, and as he shared in this interview a few years back, he grew up dreaming of being an astronaut, and how the pursuit of those dreams affected his status as a baseball player:

BB: When I was younger I had dreams. I wanted to be an astronaut growing up. As I got older and older, I really just wanted to be a baseball player. Everything else at that point became secondary. This is my dream and what I’ve spent pretty much all my life doing. And then from the outside world it was almost taken from me because a lot of people–the majority I didn’t even know–felt like they knew what I wanted out of life. That was one of the main things that hurt, especially when draft day came up. A lot of people who never saw me play, a lot of people I’ve never even talked to in my life now had what I saw as a pretty glaring role in determining my future.

That kind of bothers me a little bit because I think any time you make a decision on me you should at least come talk to me–know what’s going on in my mind before you just assume things.

As an aside: Human beings generally classify people based on three physical attributes. Those are: Shape, size, and color. For the life of me, I can’t shake the idea that somewhere, in some manila folder on some desktop is a scouting report that compares Barton to another black outfielder with speed and smarts; that outfielder being the scholarly Fernando Perez.

There is a case to be made here that Barton is a better player at this point in time. He is easily a superior defender and baserunner, and the average wOBA of his CHONE and ZiPS projections is .307. Anderson’s CHONE/ZiPS average is roughly .314. That’s about a run difference over 200 plate appearances, which disintegrates once the aforementioned defensive and baserunning are taken into account.

And hey, even if you don’t buy into the argument that Barton could be a Dodger, he should definitely be on Cistulli’s All Joy Team, right?



(yardbarker.com)

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan -- You can learn a lot about ballplayers from the stats on a baseball card. You can learn more about Brian Barton from the stamps on his passport.

No player on the Dodgers' travel roster for the goodwill series in Taiwan has been around like Barton, whose wanderlust has taken him to 15 foreign countries. He's as likely to show up on the Travel Channel as MLB Network.

Granted, there's more to the inquisitive Barton that breaks the ballplayer stereotype. He majored in aerospace engineering at the University of Miami, interned at Boeing's satellite systems department while a freshman at Loyola Marymount, and even before that wondered what it would be like to venture into space as an astronaut.

"As a kid, there were always places I wanted to see and things I wanted to do," said Barton, a 27-year-old outfielder trying to make the club on a Minor League contract after previous big league stints in St. Louis and Atlanta.

"I didn't have a lot of money and didn't get to go places and I told myself, when I get old enough, I'd start doing those things."

Barton said that transferring from Loyola to Miami was the "stepping-stone" he needed to begin a life of exploration.

"Getting away from home, that was a big leap for me," he said. "Now, I needed to get out of the country."

Barton signed up for a trip to Egypt offered by the School of Architecture, "even though I wasn't into architecture. Egypt sounded cool. Then, 9/11 happened and the school didn't think going to Egypt was a good idea anymore."

Undeterred, Barton took the refund and redirected his desire to visit Africa with a trip to Ethiopia, the homeland of his girlfriend.

"It was surreal. I loved it, couldn't believe it," said Barton.

In 2007, Barton spent two weeks in Europe, visiting Ireland, England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. Next on the itinerary was Puerto Rico, followed by Australia, then South Africa, Jamaica and Peru. And now, Taiwan.

"The people here are great, so nice, and there's an energy to life here," he said. "Not just the fans, but when you walk around the city, there's a jubilance. It's my first trip to Asia and it's exciting. My next trip is Japan this winter. Now, the only continent left is Antarctica."

Barton's statistical goals can be measured in hundreds, but it's not about home runs or RBIs.

"I want to visit a couple hundred countries eventually. That's a lifetime goal," he said.

Barton wants to take his family on one of these trips, so they can learn about life in other parts of the world as he has.

"I guess this passion is really from, when I was growing up, I wanted to be an astronaut," he said. "I always wanted to go into space, wondering what's out there, seeing the stars and the moon and thinking about life on other planets.

"Traveling, there's just so much out there. And it's my desire to see as much of it as I can. There's a value in it. Now that I'm older, I appreciate the knowledge you get by going places. It brings so much back to your life. You see how other people go through life and you get a new perspective."

Barton said other players are curious -- and sometimes inspired -- by his tales of life on the road.

"I don't think anything I do is really special, but I was talking to Chris Young of the D-backs and he said, 'I want to do that,'" Barton said. "Ryan Braun said he's going with me on the next trip. I'm a rookie, but I'm inspiring others. I get enjoyment from that. People want to see my passport and the stamps on it. They see places they've never been and maybe it inspires somebody else to do it."

Barton called his trip to Ethiopia the "eye-opener."

"Even though I didn't have much, I still took things for granted," he said. "Then you go to a poor country, see what they endure to survive, and I'm complaining?"



(mlb.com)

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The new half a million dollar upgraded scoreboard at Alex Rodriguez Park.

Jon Jay

Jemile Weeks

Ryan Perry, Yasmani Grandal, Yonder Alonso and Ryan Braun get set to start the HR Derby.

Grandal knocks one out of the park.

Ryan Perry hits a line drive.

Yonder Alonsa awaits the pitch.

Yonder Alonso

Ryan Braun

Ryan Braun

Ryan Braun, Jay Rokeach and Yasmani Grandal

Ryan Braun

Brian Barton

Chris Perez

Alex Cora