Tom Barlow (baseball)

Thomas H. Barlow (born 1852 in New York City) was an American Major League Baseball player who played catcher and shortstop for three different teams in his four-year career, spent entirely in the National Association.[1] Barlow is credited as the pioneer of the bunt.[2]

Tom Barlow
Catcher/Shortstop
Born: 1852
New York
Died: Unknown
Batted: Unknown Threw: Unknown
MLB debut
May 2, 1872, for the Brooklyn Atlantics
Last MLB appearance
July 30, 1875, for the Brooklyn Atlantics
MLB statistics
Batting average.288
Runs scored120
Runs batted in34
Teams

Career

Barlow began his career with the Brooklyn Atlantics in 1872, and played 37 games, most of them as catcher, but did play four games at shortstop as well. He hit well that season, hitting .310, and scored 34 runs. In 1873, he caught 53 games, becoming the second player credited with catching all of his team's games, a feat that has been accomplished just seven times, the latest occurring in 1945 when Mike Tresh caught all 150 of the Chicago White Sox' games.[3]

It was during the 1874 season while playing for the Hartford Dark Blues that he sustained an injury to his side while catching pitcher Cherokee Fisher. Later, when he was being treated at his hotel room, a physician administered a morphine injection, which began his addiction to the drug, and subsequently, he lost his baseball career to it. Barlow documented his troubles in a letter, which is read by actor David Caruso in Ken Burns's 1994 documentary, Baseball. In the letter, he lamented on how he was once the catcher for the Mutuals, and the Atlantics, "but no one would know it by looking at me now." He also said "I'd had rather died behind the bat, than have had that first dose." Barlow played two games in 1875, one for the New Haven Elm Citys, and another for his old team, the Atlantics. Currently, there is no information of his life after baseball, to include where he lived, or where he died. He can be found in the 1880 census as living with his parents and his occupation is listed as "ball player."

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References
  1. "Tom Barlow's Stats". retrosheet.org. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  2. Burns (1994). Baseball. p. 20.
  3. "Iron Man Catchers". members.tripod.com. Retrieved November 19, 2010.
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