Barney Joy

Francis Bernardo Joy

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 225 lb.

• Born January 27, 1882 in Honolulu Kingdom of Hawaii
• Died May 25, 1938 in Honolulu, HI USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Barney Joy had a reputation as the best player in Hawaii, playing both on the mound and in the outfield, when he was signed by the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1907. As a pitcher, his best pitch was an extremely slow curveball, but he had problems going deep into games, seemingly running out of gas after four innings. Many observers attributed that fact to his being an unusually heavy man for the time. He went 17-21, 2.45 in 43 games that season. A number of major league teams showed interest in his services after the season, and he was in fact selected by the Boston Doves in the 1907 Rule V Draft.

However, Joy's path to the major leagues was blocked by the fact that there was uncertainty about his race. He had swarthy skin, had some native Hawaiian blood, possibly mixed with other Asian sources (Malay or Chinese); some persons speculated that his skin tone may have been caused by some Negro ancestry, making him unable to play in the majors. To counter this speculation, others claimed that Joy was in fact born in Canada (it is true that his father had emigrated from Canada at some point) and that he had moved to Hawaii via California while still a child.

While this was going on, Joy returned to Hawaii for the winter, from where he informed Boston owner George Dovey of his demands in order to play for the club. His request for a $4,000 salary was judged excessive for a rookie with no major league experience. Dovey declined the request and Joy stayed in Hawaii, where he continued to play semi-pro baseball and worked for the police department. Meanwhile, the Boston team, which soon became known as the Boston Braves kept him on its reserve list for a number of years, preventing him from playing elsewhere in organized baseball. The Spokane Indians received permission from Boston to sign the player in 1912, but he then turned around and decided to stay in Hawaii.

Related Sites

• Barney Joy at the SABR Bio Project