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John Joseph "Jack" Barry (April 26, 1887 - April 23, 1961) was an American shortstop, second baseman, and manager in Major League Baseball, and later a renowned college baseball coach. From 1908 through 1919, Barry played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1908-15) and Boston Red Sox (1915-19). He batted and threw righthanded.
[edit] Career
Born in Meriden, Connecticut, Barry spent his nearly his entire tenure in the big leagues on winning teams, first the Philadelphia Athletics and later the Boston Red Sox. Athletics manager Connie Mack signed Barry off the campus of the College of the Holy Cross to play shortstop on what would become his famous $100,000 infield. The unit, one of the most famous groups of teammates in baseball history, consisted of first baseman Stuffy McInnis, second baseman Eddie Collins, and third baseman Frank Baker. The group, which represented an enormous financial investment at the time, was critical to the Athletics winning the American League pennant in 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914, and World Championships in 1910, 1911, and 1913.
In 1915, the year after the Boston Braves swept the Athletics in the World Series, Red Sox owner Joe Lannin paid $8,000 for Barry's services, as Mack was dismantling the team. Upon joining the Red Sox, he hit .262 and played reliably at shortstop, proving to be the last piece of the puzzle in what was to be another pennant winning team. He played in the World Series in 1915 and 1916 for the Red Sox. Acknowledged as the team's on-field leader, he became a player-manager in 1917, leading the team to a 90-win season and a second-place finish to the Chicago White Sox. After sporadic play in 1918, he decided to retire rather than be sold away in another fire sale following Harry Frazee's decision to sell his shortstop back to the Athletics.
In an 11-season career, Jack Barry posted a .243 batting average with 10 home runs and 429 RBI in 1223 games.
Barry became the head coach at Holy Cross in 1921, and continued in that position for 40 years until his death in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts at age 73. During his tenure, he posted the highest career winning percentage (.806) in collegiate history, and won the 1952 College World Series. He was among the initial class of inductees to the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1966.
[edit] Trivia
- A member of seven pennant-winning teams in eleven years, Barry won $17,930 in World Series shares over the course of his career.
[edit] Sources
