Brian Barton

Infobox MLB player
name=Brian Barton

---

width=200
position=Outfielder
team=St. Louis Cardinals
number=54| bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1982|4|25
birthplace=city-state|Los Angeles|California
debutdate=April 1
debutyear=2008
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
statyear=2008 season
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.268
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=2
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=13
teams=
*St. Louis Cardinals (by|2008-present) Brian Deon Barton (born April 25, 1982 in city-state|Los Angeles|California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Early life

Barton attended Westchester High School in his hometown of Los Angeles. At Westchester, he played baseball in all his four years there. During his freshman year in 1997, Barton hit .407 and was the team's MVP and batting champion. In 1998 during his sophomore year, he batted .320 and led his team to the conference title. Barton led his team to the conference title again during his junior year in 1999, while batting .408 with 4 home runs and was an All-Conference Second-Team pick. In his last season at Westchester in 2000, Barton had his best season. He was once again named the team's MVP and batting champion while hitting .500 with 9 home runs, 47 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases. He was also an All-City First-Team pick and was selected as the All-Star Conference MVP. Above all of that, Barton's team won the conference championship. His favorite person ever was Todd.

Following his senior season, Barton entered the by|2000 Major League Baseball Draft. He wasn't selected until the 38th round, when the Los Angeles Dodgers took him as the 1137th overall pick. Barton did not sign with them; instead he opted for college, attending Loyola Marymount University.

College career

At Loyola Marymount, he played in 33 games as a freshman in by|2001. Barton batted just .196 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs in 46 at bats. Following the season, he transferred to the University of Miami in Florida.

Barton sat out the by|2002 season but returned to action in by|2003. In 2003, he batted .330 with 7 home runs and 54 RBIs, leading his team to the College World Series Final-8 but they ended up only being 8th in the nation. In by|2004, Barton played in 57 games and tied for first with a .371 batting average.

Professional career

Minor league career

Following his final season at the University of Miami, Barton was not drafted and signed with the Cleveland Indians on August 13, 2004. Because he signed with less than one month of the season left in the minor leagues, he did not play in 2006

In by|2005, Barton split the season between the Single-A Lake County Captains and the High Single-A Kinston Indians. Barton batted .414 with 4 home runs in limited action with Lake County (35 games) and .274 with 3 home runs in 64 games with Kinston. Barton earned the player of the week award twice, one while he was with Lake County and another one with Kinston.

Barton played for Kinston again in by|2006 but also spent some time with in Double-A with the Akron Aeros. Barton hit .308 with 13 home runs, 57 RBIs, and 26 RBIs with Kinston and in 42 games with Akron, Barton hit .351 with 6 home runs and 26 RBIs. Barton was awarded with the player of the week award once when he was with Kinston and was also named to the Carolina League midseason and postseason All-Star games. After the 2006 season, Barton was named by "Baseball America" as a High Class-A All-Star.

Barton was #86 on "Baseball America's" top 100 prospects list for the by|2007 season and was the fourth highest prospect in the Indians organization. Barton began the season for the Akron Aeros and in 106 games, he batted .314 with 9 home runs and 59 RBIs. He was also named to the Eastern League midseason All-Star game while with the Aeros. Barton also spent some time in Triple-A with the Buffalo Bisons. His production dropped as in 25 games, he batted just .264 with a home run. Barton underwent knee surgery in September.

After the 2007 season, the Indians did not add him to the 40-man roster, leaving him unprotected for the Rule 5 draft. Rumors arose that Barton was going to be selected first by the Tampa Bay Rays and then subsequently traded to the San Diego Padres. [cite news |last=Kline |first=Chris |title=Rule 5 Eve Rundown |url=http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=680 |work=Baseball America |date=2007-12-06 |accessdate=2007-12-25 ] This did not happen however as the Rays took pitcher Tim Lahey from the Minnesota Twins. Barton was then selected by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 10th pick.

Major league career

Barton made the Cardinals' big-league roster and made his debut on April 1, 2008, singling in his first at-bat. His first Major League home run came on May 27th against Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon.

References

Reflist

External links

* [http://hurricanesports.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/barton_brian00.html University of Miami Biography]
* [http://stlcardinals.scout.com/a.z?s=321&p=8&c=1&nid=3502438 Barton player profile page at stlcardinals.scout.com]