Recently, I asked him some questions about his career. These questions were asked, and answered, over the phone. However, Mr. Barber did let me tape his answers. That tape is saved in the nBo Baseball archive.

Joe's Question #1: In 1963 you won 20 game's, Stuck Out 180 batters and had an ERA of 2.75 for the Baltimore Orioles. What was that season like for you?

Mr. Barber's Answer: Basically the only reason I accomplished that was that management made a decision to pitch me every fourth day no matter what. The first few years I was there, I was on a five-day rotation. It, (the four day rotation), made me look good in that I won the 20 games. But I also set a club record for games started (36).
Over and above that, it worked well for me individually. But to be very honest with you, it messed up the rest of the staff because they didn't get to work regularly.

Joe's Question #2: What are some of the most memorable moments of your baseball career?

Mr. Barber's Answer: When you wrote to me I told you that the greatest thing and the biggest single thing was being a part of the World Championship team in 1966. But over and above that, I had some good individual efforts.
In 1961, when the Yankees and Maris were coming into Baltimore, they were playing the 152nd, 53rd and 54th games there. Which had Maris broken or tied the 60 Home Run mark would have voided the asterisk, so to speak. I pitched the first game of that series, a Friday night against Whitey Ford. I managed to beat Whitey one to nothing and I also got a hit off of him. That's one of the bigger nights in my career.
I'm not 100 percent sure about this but I think, (the Yankees had a heck of a year) I started six games against them. I came out of it four and zero. I don't remember what happened the other two starts. But I shut them out twice.

Joe said: That was a great Yankee team in 1961.

Mr. Barber Answers: I'll put it in perspective, in 1960 we won 89 ball games and we finished second eight games out of first place. In 1961, the year they first went to 162 games, we played eight more games. We won 95 ball games and we finished third 14 games out.

There's one other highlight. In 1965 against Cleveland, they had Sam McDowell and he was a heck of a pitcher. I think Sam and I started against each other three times. I believe we both allowed two earned runs in three starts.
I think he beat me one to nothing. Then in the second go around, I went nine (innings) and he went ten (innings), in a nothing to nothing game. Then the last game of the season, I beat him two to one. So in three starts we each gave up two earned runs and we each came out of it one, one and one.
The funniest part of the last game was, we had an outfielder by the name of Sam Bowens. Sam was a good ball player but for whatever reason he developed an unbelievable uppercut. In the top of the ninth inning he was down no balls and two strikes. McDowell threw him a splitter and the ball dropped right on his bat and he hit it out.
I saw him (Sam McDowell) after the game, and I said "You could have thrown any pitch in the world but that and he wouldn't of hit it."

In all the years that I was in baseball, we had meetings prior to a series about how to pitch to certain hitters. The only one that there was never any discussion on was Ted Williams. And basically when you had to face Williams, just say "Good Luck". Nobody had any idea how to pitch to him.
My rookie year was Ted's last year and I think I faced him like eight, nine, ten times. He got one hit off me, (we had the Williams shift on and the second baseman was in short right field) and he hit a swing bunt that was fast enough to get by me. But the second baseman couldn't make the play.
So, in 1966 we're at the All-Star game, and Ted was one of the coaches. Anyway he and I are standing up in the runway during batting practice and he just turned to me out of the blue and he said to me "You really gave me fits." I said to him that I kind of caught him on the downhill side. He said "No that has nothing to do with it. Between the hard sinker and hard slider you throw, your one guy I never would have hit."
I have to consider that my all time compliment.

Joe's Question #3: What are the accomplishments from your career that you look back on with the most pride?

Mr. Barber's Answer: I kind of hate to answer this one. I don't have much of an ego so I do really think that much of it.
I just think, overall, the fact that when I was healthy I was a pretty decent pitcher.
In 1966, the year we won the whole thing, the first half of the season I was having a tremendous year. I think I was like, ten and two with a 1.90 ERA going into the All-Star game. I was probably, at that point in time, at the beat in my career. But, the last start before the All-Star break I hurt my arm. I think I only pitched 13 or 14 more innings the rest of the season.
In fact, the funny part of that, the day after we clinched the pennant in Kansas City. I started the next night, in Anaheim, and I couldn't throw. I think I pitched five no hit innings but I couldn't get the ball down the plate. The Angel hitters were swinging at what I usually had and not what I was actually throwing.
Here we got in the World Series. We swept the Dodgers in four straight. We shut them out, I think twice. So, had I been available to pitch I probably couldn't have done any better than our guys did. But, I really wish I had at least a shot at it. But I was hurt and wasn't even in uniform for the World Series.

Joe's Question #4: In 1967, yourself and Stu Miller combined to pitch a no hitter for the Orioles. But your team lost two to one to the Detroit Tigers. What can you tell me about that game?

Mr. Barber's Answer: The only reason it was a no hitter, was somewhere along about the second or third inning, I threw a slider right over the plate, which is the wrong place to pitch it. Jim Northrup hit a line drive back up the middle, that by all that's normal would be a base hit. But it hit me right on the but. I fell off to the right very badly and hit me right in the cheek of the but. The ball fell straight down. I picked it up and threw him out. That was the only well hit ball in the whole game.
But beyond that, I walked ten, I hit two (batters), and I threw two wild pitches.
The opposing pitcher was Earl Wilson, who in Baltimore, we never hit well or scored on. Anyway, the games in Baltimore, bottom of the eight we finally went up one to nothing. I walked the first two hitters (in the ninth inning), and I think they bunted them over to second and third. They put Willie Horton into pinch-hit and he fouled out to the catcher. So now I get down to two outs, men on second and third. Mickey Stanley was the hitter. I had him one ball and one strike. I threw him a change up and fooled him so bad he threw his bat all the way to shortstop. So I came back with another change up.
We had changed catchers, brought in Larry Haney, who was an excellent defensive catcher. We also put in Mark Belanger to play for Davey Johnson for defense. Anyway, bottom line, I threw the one and two change up to Stanley and bounced it about four feet in front of home plate. Haney did everything that you could humanly expect a catcher to do to block it. But it came up and hit him on the shoulder and went by and they scored the tying run. The guy on second went over to third.
Then I ultimately walk Stanley. That's when Bauer (Oriole manager Hank Bauer), decided he'd seen enough. He took me out and brought in Stu Miller.
The hitter Stu faced hit a ground ball up the middle. (I didn't see it, I left the dugout) but as I understand it Apparicio made a great play getting to it but once he caught it was a routine play. He flipped the ball to Mark (Belanger) hit him in the palm of the glove and he dropped it.

So everybody said after don't feel bad. I said are you kidding, ten walks, I should have gotten beat ten to one, not two to one.