Longtime minor-leaguer's' perseverance finally pays off with call-up to Astros
Brandon Barnes had 2,976 plate appearances in the Houston Astros organization before Tuesday. After some of them, he thought about giving up. After some of them, he was free to sign anywhere else.
When he did neither of those, he just went out and had a tremendous 2012 season at Double-A and Triple-A and Tuesday night spent his first game in a big-league uniform.
"There were a couple points in my career when I just wanted to shut it down," Barnes said. "I felt like this might not be the game for me. It was tough. This game's a grind. I just kept going. My wife pushed me, my family pushed me and told me I can do it."
Barnes went 0-for-3 in a 3-2 loss to the Nationals, but it was a payoff nonetheless. In his eighth year in the organization, he had finally made it, getting the call to replace outfielder Jordan Schafer, who went on the 15-day disabled list with a separated left shoulder.
"There's no words to describe it because I've been working my whole life for this," Barnes said. "It's been a long road, but it's time to do it."
While he wasn't on the 40-man roster, his performance made him a leading candidate to get the call. Between Triple-A (62 games) and Double-A (44 games), Barnes was hitting .321 with a .381 on-base percentage and a .514 slugging percentage when he was called up.
"The stats are good and (in spring training) we saw what kind of guy he is -- a guy who gives you everything he's got and is really a team player," manager Brad Mills said. "We're excited to infuse that into our ballclub and into our lineup."
