William Barbeau

One of the shortest men ever to play major-league baseball, one of the first to wear a batting helmet after being nearly killed in a game, and once rumored to be the heir apparent to the great Honus Wagner, William Joseph Barbeau enjoyed a full baseball career. Barbeau bounced around the minor leagues, mostly the American Association, during the Deadball Era from 1905-1919. He managed to achieve two stints in the major leagues (1905-06; 1909-10) encompassing 199 games.

Barbeau, an infielder, threw and hit right-handed. He had great speed and a lively bat, which made him tantalizing to big-league scouts despite his diminutive 5-foot-5, 140-pound build.

To modern sensibilities, Barbeau’s most curious trait is his nickname, “Jap.” Today it is considered an ethnic slur, but at the turn of the 20th century in baseball these nicknames were more common.

Barbeau was born in New York City on June 10, 1882. His parents, John and Jeanette (née Reneau) were not Japanese but French-Canadian.1 His nickname was likely a result of Barbeau’s physical appearance. His World War I draft card records him as having brown eyes and black hair.2 According to at least one nakedly racist account from 1906, Barbeau was dark-complected. The Cleveland Press article referenced Barbeau and two teammates – Scotch-Canadian Bunk Congalton and Jay Clarke, a Canadian with Native American ancestry – as “Dark Gents” in its title and treats them as talismans bringing the Naps victory. The opening line reads, “Nothing like ringing in a little dark meat to change a cross-wise slant of luck.” The piece goes on to credit the “two handsome brunets” Clarke and Congalton for their exploits in Cleveland’s 6-0 victory over St. Louis, suggesting that perhaps player-manager Larry “Nap” Lajoie “would like to throw a trifle more burnt sienna into the color scheme” of the roster.3 Clarke and Congalton contributed two hits apiece in the win, but Barbeau didn’t play and is mentioned only parenthetically: “one sure-enough double brunet is left for emergency. This is Jap Barbeau, and Larry hesitates about shoving him into the conflict for fear the game would have to be called in the first inning on account of darkness.”

A minor-league account from 1916 echoes this notion of Barbeau’s skin color, describing him as “not a real ‘Jap’, although he looks like one. He is only five feet four and one-half inches in height and weighs somewhere around one hundred and fifty pounds. He has the ‘Jap’ complexion as well as the ‘Jap’ figure, and that’s why they call him ‘Jap.’”4 The article cites “a Columbus newspaper man” as the source of the nickname.

Not much is known of Barbeau’s early life in New York. A blurb in the Cleveland Press mentions that he was “a printer by trade,” so we may imagine that he apprenticed or attended a trade school.5 The earliest news account of William Barbeau comes from a January 1903 edition of the Sault Ste. Marie (Michigan) Evening Journal. The article, reprinted in the L’Anse (Michigan) Sentinel, references Barbeau having played shortstop for the Baraga team, located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in 1902.6 Barbeau had written a letter in the offseason to the manager of the Sault Ste. Marie Soos asking for a roster spot. The article describes the 19-year-old Barbeau as “a cracker jack ball player” being at home in New York and awaiting a response from the manager.

There is little documented of his experiences at this time, but Barbeau would later spin one “tall tale” in the press about his time with Sault St. Marie. He recounted playing in neighboring Ishpeming, where it was customary for the owner’s mule to graze in deep center field during games.7 In a tight game during the final inning, a Soo batter hit a routine fly ball to center and the mule blocked the route of the center fielder. The ball landed safely behind the mule, and when the outfielder attempted to retrieve it, “a pair of wicked looking heels swished past his nose.” The batter scored the go-ahead run with an easy inside-the-park home run, and the Soos ended up winning the game. According to Barbeau, “The mule grazed on the other side of the fence the next day.” 

A syndicated piece began popping up in papers in the summer of 1905 describing how Columbus (AA) Senators Vice President John Peirano “discovered” the young, hustling infielder playing in Sault Ste. Marie in the summer of 1904.8 According to the tale, Peirano was driven north to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to escape a bout of hay fever that had been plaguing him in Columbus. There he witnessed Barbeau playing shortstop against Copper Country League teams for Sault Ste. Marie. Peirano was impressed enough to sign the undersized infielder for the 1905 season with Columbus, where he would fill in at third base for the injured Bill Friel. 

Barbeau got off to a fast start at Columbus, “electrifying the crowds at Neil Park and in seven other American Association cities.”9 He had a game-winning single against Louisville on May 31,10 and played well enough to be offered a contract by an “outlaw” league (likely the Tri-State League of Pennsylvania)11 in June, which he declined.12 He enjoyed a fine rookie campaign with Columbus, playing well enough to garner attention from the nearby Cleveland Naps of the American League. Cleveland drafted Barbeau for the upcoming 1906 season but signed him early and directed him to report to Washington for a game against the Nationals on September 27, 1905.13 This was surely great news and the big break Barbeau had awaited, but the timing was bad. On the last day of his season with Columbus and with the National League Pittsburgh Pirates in town for an exhibition game on September 25, Barbeau entered a pre-game throwing contest with some other players, during which he threw out his arm. Barbeau finished second in the throwing contest by hurling a ball over 300 feet and was beaten out by none other than Honus Wagner.14

When he arrived sore-armed in Washington, D.C., Barbeau was put into the lineup immediately at second base. He went 2-for-4 at the plate and registered an error in  two chances as the Naps were shut out, 6-0.15 The Cleveland Leader was kind in its review: “Barbeau made a fine impression by getting two beauty singles and has all the earmarks of a first class player.”16 The Cleveland Press laid blame for the error on Barbeau’s new position and the field itself, stating, “The diminutive third baseman is not at home at second and the sun’s rays and the undependable ground made the job doubly hard. Several balls which he ought to have nabbed went past him, but he figured in one fast double play.”17 Barbeau finished the season by playing in 12 games for Cleveland, hitting .244, and committing six errors in 65 chances at second base.18

During the offseason, Barbeau became engaged to Nora (or Nona) C. Fitzgerald of Milwaukee.19 The two had met on Ladies’ Day in Milwaukee during the 1905 season, when Barbeau, playing third, chased a foul ball into the stands and found it lying in the lady’s lap. The synergy of romance and baseball made the story a sensation, and it was recounted in dozens of papers over the offseason. The couple married in June 1906 and had a son, William Jr., in 1908.20   

As the 1906 season began, Barbeau signed with Cleveland and looked forward to training that spring in Atlanta with the team. He got into some action during spring games, during which the Atlanta Journal lauded his play in the field as “equal to every emergency” and declared, “Barbeau is exceedingly gingery in action and goes after grounders like a hungry cat for a mouse.”21 As spring camp broke, the Indianapolis Sun observed, “Barbeau has been playing a sensational article of ball all spring. He is not strong enough to displace any of the regulars, but Lajoie thinks he is too much of a star to chase away and will keep him for utility infield roles.”22  

However, Lajoie resisted playing Barbeau in a regular-season game until June, even refusing to replace himself in late April after developing a painful boil on his leg.23 Nap Lajoie wasn’t in the business of resting himself or bringing along young players – he was trying to win a pennant. 

Barbeau finally got into a game on June 11, against Washington. In the fourth inning, he replaced regular shortstop Terry Turner. , He went 2-for-3 and was dubbed “the smallest ball player outside the dime museum” by the Washington Post.24

Barbeau broke into the starting lineup the next day but struggled in the field, committing three costly errors that enabled all four of the New York Highlanders’ runs, although the Naps managed to hang on to win, 5-4.25 During the second game against New York, Barbeau committed yet another error. Lajoie had seen enough, and in mid-June he moved himself to shortstop and first baseman George Stovall to second, benching Barbeau.26 Turner returned to the lineup on June 18.

Barbeau was “regarded as a pretty good player when a member of the Columbus team last year,” concluded the Washington Times, “but he does not stand sufficiently high in the estimation of Manager Lajoie, of Cleveland, to play the utility role, although he has been carried all season for that purpose.” Barbeau finished the season playing a limited role, batting a meager .194 and committing 21 errors for an abysmal .839 fielding percentage.

It must have come as little surprise to Barbeau when he was sold back to the American Association in November, this time to Toledo.27 He showed well at bat for the Mud Hens in 1907, hitting a robust .295 and slugging .428 – but he committed an unseemly 80 errors at shortstop. In late August, he was knocked unconscious by a pitch thrown by Eddie Summers in Indianapolis, cutting his season short.  The Indianapolis Sun reported that it was potentially a career-ending injury, and declared, “If Toledo loses the pennant in the American Association, the chief reason will be the injury” to Barbeau.28 

By September 7, the Mansfield (Ohio) News was reporting that Barbeau “will probably die.”29 Yet he survived and vowed to wear a “head bonnet” during the 1908 season, an improvement on Hall of Fame catcher Roger Bresnahan’s design from a few years earlier.30 Barbeau’s headgear was described as “an aluminum helmet covered with a hair wig.” In the days before batting helmets were required, the appearance of this crude prototype must have struck all as quite odd, if not a bit macabre.

Despite the beaning and the awkwardness of the helmet, Barbeau quickly returned to form at the plate in 1908. In May he was once again linked to Cleveland, rumored to be purchased by Lajoie to fill in for the injured Turner, but the report proved just that, a rumor.31 By mid-July, Barbeau had begun to attract big-league attention yet again, this time from the Pirates. “It is learned on reliable authority here today that [William] Barbeau, the clever Toledo shortstop, has been sold to Barney Dreyfuss of the Pittsburg Nationals,”, the Washington Post reported on July 16, “and that the Toledo player will replace Hans Wagner next season as Dreyfuss does not expect Wagner will be with the club the coming year.”32

Honus Wagner had famously held out during spring training and the first few regular-season games of 1908, and Pirates owner Dreyfuss was seemingly looking for an insurance policy against his potential absence again at the start of 1909. Never mind the ridiculousness of Barbeau replacing the greatest shortstop in the game, suggested Dreyfuss, who denied the purchase in the press and called the reports “foolish” while Wagner pronounced rumors of his retirement “absurd.”33

A plausible explanation could be that Dreyfuss was attempting to head off another Wagner holdout in 1909 by leaking the purchase to the press. If this is the case, the strategy worked, as Wagner was piqued and vowed to stay.  This is likely the outcome Dreyfuss had desired.

Regardless of the veracity of the reports in July, it eventually became clear that Pittsburgh’s interest in Barbeau was genuine. As the 1908 season wound down, a price of $5,000 was announced for the purchase of “the miniature shortstop.”34 Barbeau would ultimately play out the season in Toledo and report to the Pirates for spring training in 1909 for his second shot at the big leagues.

With Wagner firmly in the fold, Barbeau was slated for a utility role with Pittsburgh as the season opened. But in early April, The New York Times reported, “Barbeau demands a regular place on the team or a release to another club.”35 It is certainly interesting for a newly signed minor-leaguer to make such a demand, but it was being reported that Pirates regular Tommy Leach desired a move to the outfield, which would make room for Barbeau to start at third base.36 

Nonetheless, Barbeau began the season on Pirates manager Fred Clarke’s bench, making but three appearances in the opening month of the season. On May 2, Barbeau got his break, as he was penciled in to start both games of a doubleheader in Chicago, leading off and playing third base with Leach moving to center. The Pittsburg Press described Barbeau as “eager to get into action, and … complaining bitterly about having to remain on the bench,” but he was modest in response to the move, stating, “I know I wouldn’t stand a show if Leech [sic] was bidding for the position, but Tommie [sic] wants to play the outfield, and I hope I’ll show up well enough to induce Clarke to keep him there.”37 Gathering two hits, two runs, and a stolen base on the day, Barbeau helped the Pirates sweep the doubleheader and remained in the starting lineup regularly. Barbeau hit well for a while, his average approaching .300, but it dropped to .270 by May 30 and fell precipitously through early July. Meanwhile, the errors remained consistent. Of note is a game on June 30, when Barbeau was the starting third baseman for the inaugural regular-season contest at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. He went 0-for-2 at the plate and committed an eighth-inning error, allowing what was ultimately the winning run for the visiting Chicago Cubs.38 

On August 19, Barbeau was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals (whom the Pirates had played the day before) along with fellow reserve infielder Alan Storke for third baseman Bobby Byrne. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “The fans here [in Pittsburgh] are sorry to see Barbeau leave, for he has become a great favorite and it is certain that he will prove a better man for the Cardinals than Byrne.”39 Barbeau hit consistently for the Cardinals, but his fielding remained erratic.  By the end of the season, he led the National League in errors at third base with 43.

Barbeau’s 1909 season had not been sufficiently promising for him to earn a starting spot on the Cardinals infield in 1910. He was benched in favor of Mike Mowrey, who had been acquired in August 1909 in a trade with Cincinnati and was recovering from knee surgery.40 Mowrey returned in late April and replaced Barbeau, who was hitting a mere .167, during a series with Pittsburgh.

On May 5, Barbeau entered a game against Cincinnati to pinch-run in the ninth inning for Rudy Hulswitt.41 It would be Barbeau’s last appearance in the major leagues. He was released to Kansas City of the American Association on May 14; a rule in place at the time gave teams until May 15 to trim their rosters to 25 players.42 With Mowrey entrenched at third, Barbeau was cut when the roster was reduced.

He played with Kansas City for four seasons before hooking on with Milwaukee, his wife’s hometown. In 1913 he joined the board of directors of the Baseball Players’ Fraternity, an early effort by players to organize to protect their interests.43 By 1918 he had begun working as a subforeman for Newport Chemical Company in Milwaukee.44 After playing for Milwaukee and St. Paul in 1918, Barbeau gave professional baseball one more try in May 1919, one month shy of 37 years old. This time was with the Omaha Rourkes, who finished last in the Western League.

After that season ended, he played for and managed semipro and amateur teams for several years in Wisconsin, where he lived the rest of his life. In the early 1930s, he served as town clerk in the Town of Lake, in Milwaukee County.45  He later worked in Greenfield, Wisconsin as a theater manager46 and a stock clerk for a gasoline engine manufacturer.47  

After a “long illness,” Barbeau died on September 10, 1969, at the age of 87.48 He is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum in Milwaukee.49 

Acknowledgments

This story was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Larry DeFillipo. Thanks also to Terry Bohn for his assistance in researching Barbeau’s life after baseball.

Photo credit: William Barbeau, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 “William Joseph Barbeau (1882-1969),” WikiTree.  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Barbeau-309

2 “United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7FZ9-62ZM?lang=en), Entry for William Joseph Barbeau and Nora Barbeau,  September 12, 1918.

3 “Dark Gents as the Bringers of Victory,” Cleveland Press, May 4, 1906: 12.

4 “Installment IV,” Oakland Tribune, March 20, 1916: 10.

5 “Melange,” Cleveland Press, April 5, 1905: 10.

6 “Baraga Department,” L’Anse (Michigan) Sentinel, January 24, 1903: 5.

7 “Mule Turned a Single into a Four-Bagger,” Cleveland Press, December 5, 1905: 12.

8 “Peirano Sneezed and Found William Barbeau,” Louisville Herald, July 25, 1905: 6.

9 “Peirano Sneezed and Found William Barbeau.”

10 “Columbus-Louisville,” Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, June 1, 1905: 19.

11 Two Pitchers Have Jumped,” Toledo Blade, June 19, 1905: 17.

12 “Breaking Bad for Outlaws,” Cleveland Press, June 27, 1905: 8.

13 “Got Two New Men,” Cleveland Press, September 26, 1905: 10.

14 “Senators Beaten,” Newark (Ohio) Daily Advocate, September 25, 1905: 2.

15 “Some Post Sportlets,” Kansas City Post, April 26, 1906: 4.

16 C.C. Mayer, “HooDoo Hughes Is Once More Himself,” Cleveland Leader, September 29, 1905: 8.

17  “Barbeau Was Not at Home,” Cleveland Press, September 29, 1905: 10.

18 Baseball Reference lists discrepancies in games played (11 on the “Standard Batting” page and 12 on the “1905 Regular Season Batting” page), batting average (.270 on the “Standard Batting” page and 244 on the “1905 Regular Season Batting page) as well as total chances (63 on the “Standard Fielding” page and 65 on the “1905 Regular Season Fielding” page). 

19  “Base Ball,” Marion (Indiana) Leader, November 2, 1905: 6.

20 “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8QW-595: Sun. March 10 12:08:26 UTC 2024), Entry for William J. Barbeau and Nora C. Fitzgerald, 29 Jun 1906.

21  “Fire Fighters Lose to Naps,” Atlanta Journal, March 23, 1906: 16.

22 “Barbeau Showing Well with Naps,” Indianapolis Sun, April 7, 1906: 7.

23 “Cleveland Shudders,” Minneapolis Journal, April 23, 1906: 11.

24  “Nationals Win Again,” Washington Post, June 12, 1906: 9.

25  “Cleveland 5 – New York 4,” Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, June 13, 1906: 6.

26 “Personal Comment on Men and Things in the Field of Sports,” Washington Times, June 19,1906: 8.

27 “Cleveland Sells the Jap, Barbeau,” Elyria (Ohio) Daily Reporter, November 26, 1906: 7.

28  “Toledo Feeling Loss of Shortstop ‘Jap’ Barbeau,” Indianapolis Sun, September 3, 1907: 7.

29 “Lost Batting Eye,” Mansfield (Ohio) News. September 7, 1907: 9.

30 “Barbeau to Wear Aluminum Helmet,” Indianapolis Sun, January 29, 1908: 6.

31 “Lajoie May Sell Perring to Toledo,” (Newark, New Jersey) Evening Star, May 8, 1908: 6.

32  “Dreyfuss Buys Shortstop,” Washington Post, July 17, 1908: 8.

33 “Wagner Says That He Will Stick to Pirates,” Daily Kennebec (Augusta, Maine) Journal, July 18, 1908: 12.

34 “Sold – To the Highest Bidder – Seven Men for $48,000 – Sold,” San Antonio Gazette, September 2, 1908: 3.

35 “Odds and Ends of Sport,” New York Times, April 9, 1909: 10.

36  “Barbeau Is Now a Pirate Regular,” La Crosse (Wisconsin) Tribune, April 8, 1909: 2.

37 Ralph S. Davis, “Barbeau to Play Third,” Pittsburg Press. May 2, 1909: 17.

38 Harry Schoger, “June 30, 1909: Forbes Field, Pirates house of thrills, celebrates Opening Day

39 “Pittsburg Fans Think Byrne Deal Will Help Strengthen Two Clubs,” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 20, 1909: 7.

40 “Betcher May Win Regular Job at Third,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 19. 1910: 6.

41  “Hoblitzel Cuts Short a Neat Rally; Cardinals Hustled to Very Last,” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 6, 1910: 19.

42 “Roger Releases Three Players,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 15, 1910: 39.

43 “Player’s Fraternity Elects at New York Meet,” (Des Moines) Register and Leader, October 18, 1913: 5.

44 “United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,”

45 “Town Has Surplus,” Plainfield, N.J., Courier-News, January 15, 1931: 6.

46 “United States, 1940 Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/records/78482460?tid) Entry for Wm J Barbeau.

47 “United States, 1950 Federal Census,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62308/records/117131480?tid=&pid) Entry for William J Barbeau.

48  “Barbeau Funeral Set on Saturday,” Manitowoc (Wisconsin) Herald-Times, September 11, 1969: 10-T.

49 Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/47220881/william_joseph-barbeau: accessed August 22, 2025), memorial page for William Joseph “Jap” Barbeau (10 Jun 1882–10 Sep 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 47220881, citing Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, USA; Maintained by J. C. Clark (contributor 47094715).