Tim Barrett

Timothy Wayne Barrett

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• School Indiana State University
• High School Southridge High School (Huntingburg)
• Debut July 18, 1988
• Final Game August 9, 1988
• Born January 24, 1961 in Huntingburg, IN USA

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Biographical Information

Tim Barrett was never considered much of a prospect and worked very hard to earn his cup of coffee in the major leagues.

He attended Indiana State University but went undrafted after completing college and waited until the fall of 1983 to sign his first professional contract with the Montreal Expos as a free agent. He was considered minor league roster filler at that point, but turned heads in his first season in 1984, compiling a 7-2 mark with a 1.94 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 88 1/3 innings with Gastonia of the Low A South Atlantic League. He received two promotions that summer, first to High A West Palm Beach of the Florida State League, and then to the Jacksonville Expos of the Double A Southern League for two starts, one of which was a complete game shutout. All in all, his combined record at the three stops was an impressive 13-7, 2.11, with 172 strikeouts in 179 innings. That was not enough to make him a front-line prospect, but at least he was now on the organizational map.

Barrett continued his quick rise through the Expos' organization in 1985, after being converted to reliever midyear. He earned a promotion to the Triple A Indianapolis Indians for the last week of the season with a combined mark of 13-8 with 4 saves and 111 strikeouts. So far, so good. But the problem for marginal prospects is that no one is prepared to cut them any slack if they hit a slump, which is what happened to Tim in early 1986. He started the year 0-1 with an ERA of 4.00 in 21 outings for Indianapolis, and was sent down to Jacksonville, where he failed to right himself. He found his way back to Indianapolis in 1987, and managed to shine in the thankless role of long reliever, with a 10-1 record and a 3.57 ERA in 46 games. At that point, his name had still not been added to the Expos' 40-man roster, and when he got to pitch in two of the Expos' Grapefruit League games in 1988, it was only as an invitee from the minor league training complex.

When reliever Jeff Parrett was sidelined by an injury to his index finger in mid-July, Tim finally got the call to the big leagues. He was in the middle of another outstanding season for Indianapolis, where he would finish with an 8-1 record, 6 saves and a 1.99 ERA in 46 games. In Montreal, he was the last man in the bullpen and used sparingly, only getting into four games during the entire month Parrett was out of action. He did earn a save on August 7 (boxscore) by pitching the last three innings of an 11-5 Bryn Smith victory in St. Louis; this was the sole highlight of his major league career. His ERA was 5.79 for his 9 1/3 innings of work, so he did not overly impress management during his stay.

Barrett was cut from the Expos' major league roster at the end of the 1988 season and went back one more time to Indianapolis at the beginning of 1989. He had probably figured out that there was no room for him in Montreal's plans, and after he pitched poorly over the first month of the season, with an ERA of 9.56 in 16 innings, he was practically given away to the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Expos only receiving a back-up outfielder playing in Double A, Miguel Santana, in return. Barrett finished his professional career with the Albuquerque Dukes, helping the team to the Pacific Coast League championship series.