Barney Barnett

Barney Barnett spent his professional life in the underground, working in the lead and zinc mines that defined southeastern Kansas and neighboring Oklahoma and Missouri in the early to mid-1900s.  During most of this time, Barnett coached baseball teams made up of miners.

In 1944, Barnett founded the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids, a youth team.  He kept the Whiz Kids intact year after year, moving them into different leagues as they got older.

The Whiz Kids won big, dressed well and went to St. Louis at the conclusion of each season to see a major league game.  They would play adult competition.  The 1946 Whiz Kids wore former New York Yankee uniforms.

In 1947, Barnett invited Mickey Mantle – from nearby Commerce, Oklahoma – to play with the Whiz Kids.  Mantle’s father worked for the same mining company as Barnett.  While playing with the Whiz Kids, Mantle was spotted by Yankee scout Tom Greenwade, who eventually signed him to a professional contract.

Mantle’s future Yankee teammate Ralph Terry – from Big Cabin, Oklahoma – later played with the Whiz Kids.  Mantle remained close to Barnett and played in an exhibition for him in Joplin, Missouri following the 1952 season, shortly before Barnett’s death that same year.

Mantle acknowledged Barnett and the Whiz Kids in his Hall of Fame acceptance speech.