Barker attended
Albany High School and the
College of Saint Rose, an
NCAA Division II school in one of the only college conferences to use wood bats throughout the leagues' season. Barker was selected by
Detroit Tigers in 11th Round (305th overall) of 1993 amateur entry draft. Known for his speed on the basepaths (238 career minor league
stolen bases) and in center field, Barker advanced as far as Triple A with the
Toledo Mud Hens, but was selected by the
Houston Astros from Tigers in the 1998 MLB
Rule 5 draft. Per Rule 5, he spent the
1999 season on the Astros' roster. Because of his last name, Barker gained temporary distinction as one of the Astros' "
Killer B's", which included
first baseman Jeff Bagwell and
second baseman Craig Biggio, two formidable veteran players who helped established the Astros as perennial
playoff contenders in the 1990s and 2000s. In fact, journalist
Dayn Perry jocosely noted the 1999 Astros, "in pursuit of arcane history, used eight players whose last names began with 'B.'" The eight included Bagwell,
Paul Bako, Barker,
Derek Bell,
Sean Bergman,
Lance Berkman, Biggio, and
Tim Bogar. Successful in very limited playing time, the Astros used Barker mostly as a pinch runner and sometimes as a pinch hitter. Barker played in 81 games, made 90
plate appearances and
batted .288 with a .384
on-base percentage and 17 stolen bases that season. He scored 23
runs while having 21
hits. He appeared in two games against
Atlanta Braves in the
National League Division Series (NLDS), stealing a base and scoring a run. Barker spent the
2000 season between the major league club and AAA
New Orleans. He struggled for the Astros, batting .224 in 67 at-bats. Similar results followed in
2001, as he struggled even more at the plate (.083 batting average in just 24 at-bats) and was again used primarily as a pinch runner. Although attracted to Barker's blazing speed, the Astros felt that his bat was not developing as they had hoped and they released him after the 2001 season. Before the 2002 season, Barker was signed by the
Montreal Expos but released after
spring training. He was picked up by the
Boston Red Sox and assigned to AAA
Pawtucket. Again Barker struggled with the bat and was released by the Red Sox after appearing in only 14 games. He signed with
Reynosa in the
Mexican League and spent the remainder of the season there. He signed with the Atlanta Braves before the
2003 season but was once again released after Spring Training. He played 3 games with the
Somerset Patriots an independent team in the
Atlantic League before being picked up by the Baltimore Orioles and assigned to the AA
Bowie Baysox. After batting just .237 in a brief stint for the Baysox, Barker retired from baseball. ==Personal life==