Rex Barney

Rex Barney
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 18, 1943, for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
September 4, 1950, for the Brooklyn Dodgers
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	35–31
Earned run average	4.31
Strikeouts	336
Teams
Brooklyn Dodgers (1943, 1946–1950)
Career highlights and awards
Pitched a no-hitter on September 9, 1948 Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame

Rex Edward Barney (December 19, 1924 – August 12, 1997) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943 and from 1946 through 1950.

As a teenage phenom, Barney was signed by the Dodgers at the age of 18, in 1943. He pitched 45 innings that year.

Enlisting in the Army in 1943, Barney eventually served in Europe, receiving 2 Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star Medal.^[1]

Barney returned to the majors in 1946. He was one of the hardest throwers in the league but struggled with wildness early in his career. In 1948, however, he gained control of his fastball and had his greatest season; he won 15 games and finished second in the

on September 9. He had to sit through a one-hour rain delay and showers in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings to finish the game. The next season, Barney pitched semi-effectively while suffering lingering effects from a leg injury suffered while sliding into second base.

Barney appeared in 3 games in the 1947 World Series – starting and losing the fifth game^[2] – against the New York Yankees. He got knocked out early in his 1949 World Series start, also against the Yankees, after just 22⁄3 innings. In 1950, he walked 48 batters in just 33 innings and never played in the majors again. He ended his career with a 35–31 record and a 4.31 earned run average.

After his retirement as a player, Barney briefly worked as a broadcaster, calling games for

Barney also teamed with Ted Patterson in 1982 and 1983 to cablecast 16 

SuperTV

channel.

PA announcer

Rex Barney was the

!" This was an expansion on the old radio and TV announcers' comment, "Sign him up!" He would also end every announcement with his signature "Thank youuuuu."

Barney's famous "Thank youuuuu" were the last words to come over the PA system at Memorial Stadium after the Orioles' last game there on October 6, 1991. Barney was in the hospital at the time, and the message was recorded from there and played over the PA system to end the Orioles' tenancy.

Barney co-authored (with Norman L. Macht) two books about his life in baseball, Rex Barney's Thank Youuuu for 50 Years of Baseball and Orioles Memories: 1969–1994. He had become famous as an announcer, but to the end of his life, Barney always regretted his failure to last as a major league pitcher:

Believe me, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about what I could and should have been. It still hurts.

–Barney in 1992

Rex Barney died on August 12, 1997. In tribute to him, the Orioles game that day was held without a public address announcer.[4]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Rex Barney at Find a Grave

Achievements
Preceded by Bob Lemon	No-hitter pitcher September 9, 1948	Succeeded by Vern Bickford
Sporting positions
Preceded by Joe Hatten	Brooklyn Dodgers Opening Day Starting pitcher 1948	Succeeded by Joe Hatten