Carl Barger

Carl F. Barger (August 18, 1930 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania – December 9, 1992) was a high-powered 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 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 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

  1. ↑ 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.
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
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