Red Barron

{{Short description|American football and baseball player (1900–1982)}}

{{About|the American football and baseball player known as Red Barron|the World War I fighter ace|Manfred von Richthofen}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}{{Infobox college football player

|name=Red Barron

|image=TechJudyRed.jpg

|image_size=250px

|caption = Barron running behind Judy Harlan

|school=Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

|birth_date={{Birth date|1900|6|21|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Clarkesville, Georgia, U.S.

|death_date={{Death date and age|1982|10|4|1900|6|21|mf=y}}

|death_place=Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

|height_ft=5

|height_in=11

|weight_lb=180

|currentposition=Halfback

|major=

|class=1922

|pastschools=

Georgia Tech (1918–1922)

|highlights=

3× SoCon championship (1920, 1921, 1922)
Second-team All-American (1922)
4× All-Southern (1919, 1920, 1921, 1922)
2× All-Southern (baseball) (1921, 1922)
Tech All-Era Team (William Alexander Era)
Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/beesball/barron.html|title=Red Barron|publisher=beesball.com|access-date=2007-03-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060318090440/http://geocities.com/beesball/barron.html|archive-date=2006-03-18}} 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.{{cite web| url=http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/ot/fame/halloffame.html| title=Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame| work=RamblinWreck.com| publisher=Georgia Tech Athletic Association| access-date=2007-03-04| archive-date=September 18, 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918200605/http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/ot/fame/halloffame.html| url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://ghsfha.org/who48.php|title=Who's Who of Georgia High School Football (Pre-1948)|publisher=Georgia High School|access-date=2007-09-10}} 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."{{cite journal|url=https://issuu.com/gtalumni/docs/1973_51_4/20|journal=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine|volume=51|title=The Cast of Characters|number=4|date=1973|page=18}}

Barron led the 1921 football team in scoring and rushed for 1,459 yards during the season, a school record at the time.{{cite web|url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/geot/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/71stats.pdf|title=Tech's "Old Time" Football Records|access-date=February 3, 2017|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304130457/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/geot/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/71stats.pdf|url-status=dead}} He also made All-Southern as an outfielder on the baseball team.{{cite news|work=Atlanta Constitution|title=College Baseball|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1906398//|date=January 1, 1922|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=March 2, 2015}} {{Open access}}

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.{{cite book|title=Ramblin' Wrecks from Georgia Tech: A Centennial History of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association|author1=John Dunn |author2=Gary Goettling |year=2007 |publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|isbn=978-0-615-16888-3}}

Professional sports

=Football=

Barron played with a group of all-star collegians representing Coral Gables against Red Grange's traveling Chicago Bears.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19251204&id=QDgsAAAAIBAJ&pg=3262,6743266&hl=en|date=December 4, 1925|via=Google news|title=Red Barron Will Return To Grid|access-date=March 22, 2015|work=The Spartanburg Herald}} {{Open access}} NFL league president Joseph Carr chose Barron for his All-star team of 1925.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCvNoVqXOmUC&pg=PA217 |page=217 |title=The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr |author=Chris Willis|isbn=9780810876705 |date=2010-08-19 |publisher=Scarecrow Press }}

=Baseball=

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Red Barron

|position=Left fielder

|image=

|bats=Left

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=June 10

|debutyear={{Baseball year|1929}}

|debutteam=Boston Braves

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=July 7

|finalyear={{Baseball year|1929}}

|finalteam=Boston Braves

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.190

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=0

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=1

|teams=

Boston Braves (1929)

}}

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

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, Rabun County, and Clayton high schools.