8/12 Welcome to the show

Ryne Sandberg called Darwin Barney’s wife’s cell phone on Wednesday but she wasn’t sure who it was.

“She was like, ‘Ryne who?’” Barney said, “and he said, ‘Sandberg. Let me talk to Darwin.’”

And that’s how the infielder got the news that he had been called up from Triple-A Iowa to the big leagues.

“I almost needed him to say it again because I wasn’t expecting it,” Barney said.

Barney walked into the visitor’s clubhouse at AT&T Park around 11 a.m. PT with his suitcase, bat bag and duffel bag. He didn’t mind the 4 a.m. CT wake-up call. It happens all the time in the Minor Leagues.

“This is something you work for in your whole life,” Barney said. “You don’t think it’s inevitable because it’s not easy. The timing has to be right and the club has to want you and all these different things. You can’t take anything for granted but keep working hard and hope it will pay off.”

– Carrie Muskat