Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinetarpress
The Mets took INF Lute Barnes out of Oregon State University in the 21st round of the 1969 MLB Draft. He had made it to AA in 1970 playing for Memphis and hitting .290 with 12 SB in 458 AB. He played mostly SS that season but saw significant time at 2B and also handled 3B for 15 games. In 1971 he was in AAA as the everyday 2B for Tidewater batting .273 with a .340 OBP in 403 AB. He returned to Tidewater as the every day 2B in 1972 batting .258 in 392 AB. He was your typical 1970's middle infielder who made contact and got a few walks. He made his debut for the Mets on August 6th, 1972 against the Expos. He played in 24 games for the 72 Mets batting .236.
He returned to Tidewater in 1973 but saw his .avg fall to just .226 while stealing 22 bases. He got into 3 big league games in September and was 1-2. That was his last big league action.
He spent 1974 with the Mets and Reds AAA clubs batting a combined .169 in 201 AB. He closed out his pro career with 78 games for the Reds AAA club at Indianapolis in 1975 batting .201 in 174 AB.
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Seeing as I live in the St. Pete area now, these two pics bring back memories for me. The top Barnes pic was taken at Stengel Huggins field next to Crescent Lake. The field is still there, now used for high school games; a dog park is behind the outfield fence. Heavy residential area; I can see why the Mets had to move.
The second pic is at Al Lang Stadium. It's still there but it's now since been reconfigured for soccer; the Tampa Bay Rowdies now play there.