These three photos were taken in 1920 in San Antonio, Texas, while the New York Giants were in the city for their spring training camp. Virgil "Zeke" Barnes, of Circleville, Kansas, is pictured in all three. Barnes trained with the Giants that spring but spent the 1920 regular season playing for the minor league Rochester Hustlers. He joined the Giants' regular roster in 1922.
A right-handed pitcher, Barnes played seven complete seasons at the major league level, primarily for the Giants. He had 61 major league wins, with a career ERA of 3.66. His best year was 1924, when he had an ERA of 3.06 and a record of 16-10. Barnes made World Series appearances in 1923 and 1924, including the starting assignment in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series.
Barnes was born in Ontario, Kansas, in 1897 and was raised in the nearby town of Circleville. During his major league years, Barnes lived during the off-season in rural Jackson County with his wife Della and their two children. In the mid-1930s, the family moved to Wichita, where Barnes lived until his death in 1958.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Virgil Barnes in San Antonio, Texas - Virgil Barnes is on the left and Jesse Winters, on the right. Winters was a pitcher who played for the Giants during the 1919 and 1920 seasons. (*15)