Jesse Lee Barfield (born October 29, 1959) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right fielder from 1981 to 1992 for the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees.
A two-time Gold Glove Award winner, Barfield was a strong defensive player with a powerful throwing arm that allowed him to lead American League (AL) outfielders five times in assists. He ended his playing career ranked second only to Baseball Hall of Famer Chuck Klein in outfield assists per 1,000 innings. He was also provided strong offense, winning a Silver Slugger Award and leading the American League in home runs in 1986, the same year he was named to the American League All-Star team. He played his final season of professional baseball in 1993 with the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball league. After his playing career, Barfield worked as a major league coach for the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners. He made his major league debut on September 3, 1981, going 1-for-4 with one RBI and a stolen base in a 4–3 win against the Chicago White Sox. In the fifth Inning, Barfield recorded an RBI single in off White Sox pitcher Steve Trout for his first career hit and RBI. He appeared in 25 games to close out the season, batting .232 with two home runs and 9 RBI. After the season, Barfield finished eighth in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
In 1983, Barfield hit .253 with 27 home runs and 68 RBI in 128 games.
In 1985, Barfield batted .289 with an on-base percentage of .369 and a slugging percentage of .536, which was 42 percent higher than the league average or adjusted OPS+. He hit for both power and speed, with 27 home runs, 84 RBI, 22 stolen bases, 22 assists and achieved 6.8 Wins Above Replacement. His batting average was a career-high, and he became the first Blue Jays player to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in the same season. That season Toronto reached the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In his only playoff competition—the American League Championship Series (ALCS)—Barfield batted .280 with one home run, 4 RBI, and one stolen base in the Blue Jays' seven-game loss to the Kansas City Royals. Barfield finished the 1989 season with the Yankees, and his average increased slightly to .240, with 18 home runs and 56 RBI in 129 games.
By 1992, injuries and general ineffectiveness forced his retirement at the age of 32, after he hit just .137 (13-for-95) with two home runs and 7 RBI in 30 games.
Final years
In 1993, Barfield played in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants, reuniting with Lloyd Moseby, but he batted just .215 with 26 home runs and 53 RBI in 104 games.
Barfield joined the Houston Astros for spring training in 1994 and was projected to be the opening-day right-fielder, but injuries prevented him from making the team. He then joined the Astros as a coach in 1995.
Career overview
Throughout his career, Barfield was a free swinger and racked up more than 140 strikeouts in each of five seasons (1985–1987, 1989, and 1990).
Later life
Barfield's elder son, Josh, is a former infielder with the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Indians. Another son, Jeremy, was selected by the New York Mets during the 2006 draft. Jeremy opted to attend San Jacinto Community College instead and was drafted again in 2008 by the Oakland Athletics. He spent eight seasons in the Athletics' and Colorado Rockies' minor league systems and two independent leagues before joining the Boston Red Sox organization in 2017.
On August 22, 2006, the Associated Press reported that Barfield was taken to a hospital after he suffered a head injury when he was allegedly shoved down a flight of lower stairs by his son, Jeremy, during a family argument. The incident also resulted in Jeremy's arrest on a Class A misdemeanor charge of family assault.
In 2007 and 2008, Barfield served as a color commentator for Blue Jays games on CBC. Currently, he works at Competitive Edge Sports in The Woodlands, Texas.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders