Carl Barger
Carl F. Barger (August 18, 1930 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania – December 9, 1992) was a Pittsburgh attorney and baseball executive.
Biography
Barger became the President of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, serving from 1987 through the beginning of 1991. He became the first president of the Florida Marlins (now the Miami Marlins) on July 8, 1991. However, he would not live to see the new team take the field, as he suffered an aneurysm during MLB's Winter Meetings in 1992 in Louisville, Kentucky and later died.[1] On April 5, 1993, the day that the Marlins played their first-ever regular-season game, the Marlins retired the number 5 in Barger's memory, as his favorite player was Joe DiMaggio (who wore number 5 in his career). The only other person to have uniform number retired by the Marlins is Jackie Robinson, whose number 42 jersey was retired throughout Major League Baseball to honor his achievement of breaking baseball's color barrier.
However, on February 11, 2012, the by-then rechristened Miami Marlins unretired #5, as that number was requested to be worn by Logan Morrison, a player for the Marlins from 2012–2014. Barger is currently honored with a plaque with #5 depicted on it.
Additionally, the Marlins designated the practice areas and fields next to Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida, as the Carl F. Barger Baseball Complex.
References
- Lupica, Matt (2012). The Baseball Stadium Insider: A Comprehensive Dissection of All Thirty Ballparks, the Legendary Players, and the Memorable Moments. iUniverse. pp. 285–286. ISBN 1462083676.
External links
| Preceded by Malcolm Prine |
President of the Pittsburgh Pirates 1989–1991 |
Succeeded by Mark Sauer |
| Preceded by first President |
President of the Florida Marlins 1992 |
Succeeded by Don Smiley |