Vic Barnhart

Victor Dee Barnhart

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 188 lb.
• High School Hagerstown High School
• Debut October 1, 1944
• Final Game April 21, 1946
• Born September 1, 1922 in Hagerstown, MD USA
• Died April 13, 2017 in Hagerstown, MD USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Vic Barnhart was the son of major leaguer Clyde Barnhart. He spent eleven seasons (1940-1951) in professional baseball after being signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1940 season. Vic spent his first three seasons in the minor leagues, first with the London Pirates of the Class D Pony League in 1940 and 1941, where he hit .264 and .301 respectively. He was with the Hutchinson Pirates of the Class C Western Association in 1942, hitting at a .311 clip. He was then called by the military and spent 1943 with the United States Army during World War II.

Barnhart returned from the service and spent just about all of the 1944 season with the Albany Senators of the Class A Eastern League, hitting .310 in 138 games. The Maryland native made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 1st, appearing in the season's final game and getting one hit in two trips in his first look at the bigs. Vic spent the entire year with the Pirates in 1945 and appeared in 71 games, hitting .269. The next year, 1946, with the war over, Vic appeared in two early games for the Pirates and on April 26th, his major league run ended with a total of 204 at-bats in 74 games and a .270 batting average.

Vic was sent back to the Albany Senators of the Class A Eastern League where he spent the rest of the 1946 season, hitting .309 in 135 games. On December 3, 1947 Vic was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with Jimmy Bloodworth to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Monty Basgall. He refused the trade and never reported to the Dodgers. He spent five more seasons in the minors (1947-1951), playing predominantly with AAA clubs, and wound up his career appearing in 1,047 games with over 3,750 at-bats and a closely estimated .290 minor league career batting average. Hall of Famer Lloyd Waner played with both Vic and Clyde Barnhart.

Related Sites

• BR Minors page