Red Barron

This article is about the American football and baseball player known as Red Barron. For the World War I fighter ace, see Manfred von Richthofen.

Red Barron
Barron running behind Judy Harlan
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
PositionHalfback
Class1922
Personal information
Born:(1900-06-21)June 21, 1900
Clarkesville, Georgia, U.S.
Died:October 4, 1982(1982-10-04) (aged 82)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career history
College
Career highlights and awards

David Irenus "Red" Barron (June 21, 1900 – October 4, 1982) was an American football and baseball player. Barron was a three-sport letterwinner at the Georgia Institute of Technology.[1] In football, he was named second or third team All American twice, first-team All-Southern four times, and was an inductee to Tech's Hall of Fame and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.[2][3] He was also twice an All-Southern baseball player at Tech. His brother was Carter Barron.

Georgia Tech

Barron was a prominent halfback for John Heisman and Bill Alexander's Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football teams of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1918 to 1922. Former Tech fullback Sam Murray, who played as a substitute for later Tech back Doug Wycoff, was asked about a certain strong runner in the 1930s, "He's good. But if I were playing again, I would have one wish – never to see bearing down upon me a more fearsome picture of power than Judy Harlan blocking for Red Barron."[4]

Barron led the 1921 football team in scoring and rushed for 1,459 yards during the season, a school record at the time.[5] He also made All-Southern as an outfielder on the baseball team.[6]

During the Cocking affair, Eugene Talmadge attempted to place Barron in a new position as vice president of his alma mater; the move was widely criticized by Georgia Tech alumni, and Barron subsequently declined to accept the position.[7]

Professional sports

Football

Barron played with a group of all-star collegians representing Coral Gables against Red Grange's traveling Chicago Bears.[8] NFL league president Joseph Carr chose Barron for his All-star team of 1925.[9]

Baseball

Red Barron
Left fielder
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 10, 1929, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
July 7, 1929, for the Boston Braves
MLB statistics
Batting average.190
Home runs0
Runs batted in1
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Barron then played baseball professionally with the Boston Braves in 1929.[1]

High school football

He later became a high school football coach. Barron coached for Monroe A&M from 1924-38 with 66 wins, 48 losses and 9 ties, Dacula High School,[3] Rabun County, and Clayton high schools.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Red Barron". beesball.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2006. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  2. ^ "Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame". RamblinWreck.com. Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
  3. ^ a b "Who's Who of Georgia High School Football (Pre-1948)". Georgia High School. Retrieved September 10, 2007.
  4. ^ "The Cast of Characters". Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. 51 (4): 18. 1973.
  5. ^ "Tech's "Old Time" Football Records" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  6. ^ "College Baseball". Atlanta Constitution. January 1, 1922. Retrieved March 2, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ John Dunn; Gary Goettling (2007). Ramblin' Wrecks from Georgia Tech: A Centennial History of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association. Georgia Tech Alumni Association. ISBN 978-0-615-16888-3.
  8. ^ "Red Barron Will Return To Grid". The Spartanburg Herald. December 4, 1925. Retrieved March 22, 2015 – via Google news. Open access icon
  9. ^ Chris Willis (August 19, 2010). The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr. Scarecrow Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780810876705.