Jesse Burkett
Jesse Burkett | |
---|---|
Left fielder | |
Born: Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. | December 4, 1868|
Died: May 27, 1953 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 84)|
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
MLB debut | |
April 22, 1890, for the New York Giants | |
Last MLB appearance | |
October 7, 1905, for the Boston Americans | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .338 |
Hits | 2,850 |
Home runs | 75 |
Runs batted in | 952 |
Teams | |
| |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Member of the National | |
Baseball Hall of Fame | |
Induction | 1946 |
Election method | Old-Timers Committee |
Jesse Cail Burkett (December 4, 1868 – May 27, 1953), nicknamed "Crab", was an American
Burkett batted over .400 twice, and held the major league single-season hits record for 15 years.
Early life
Burkett was born in Wheeling, West Virginia,[4] to Granville and Ellen Burkett. His father was a laborer and painter who worked for the Wheeling and Belmont Bridge Company.[5] Beginning his professional career as a pitcher, he won 27 games at the age of 19 in 1888 for the Scranton Miners of the Central League. In 1889, he compiled a 39–6 win–loss record for the Worcester Grays of the New England League. He acquired his nickname, "Crab", due to his serious disposition,[6][7] and willingness to argue, fight and insult sportswriters, umpires, opposing players, and rookies.[8]
Career
Early career
Burkett made his major league debut for the
Burkett was never known as a great defender, but after committing a league leading 46 errors in 1893, he was coached by fellow outfielder Jimmy McAleer to improve his fielding.[11] Nonetheless, he routinely finished in the top five for errors committed by an outfielder and has the fourth-most errors committed by an outfielder in history.[12]
Peak years and batting .400
In 1895, Burkett batted .405
Early in the 1897 season, Burkett was hit in the head by a pitch by Fred Klobedanz which knocked him unconscious.[18] He was out of action for two weeks, but played on May 31, collecting two hits in his first game back. On August 4, 1897 Burkett was ejected from both games of a doubleheader against the Louisville Colonels. In the first game, Burkett and an umpire (Bill Wolf) got into a heated argument and Burkett was thrown out; when he did not leave the field, the umpire threatened to forfeit the game to Louisville. Manager Patsy Tebeau agreed to forfeit the game to the Colonels by a score of 9–0.[7][19] In the next game of the double header, the arguments against Bill Wolf continued, and by the ninth inning Burkett was ejected again. Similar to the first game, he did not leave the field and two police officers were called in and dragged Burkett from the field.[19][20] In the 1897 season, Burkett finished third in batting average behind fellow Hall of Famers Willie Keeler and Fred Clarke.[21]
Move to St. Louis and later career
By the end of 1898 the Cleveland Spiders were unable to afford to play in Cleveland and pay their highly paid players, and as a result played 35 of their last 38 games on the road. In the offseason, owner Frank Robison bought the struggling St. Louis Cardinals[22] and in March 1898, Burkett along with teammate Cy Young were moved from the Cleveland Spiders to the St. Louis Perfectos.[23][24] He played for the Perfectos/Cardinals for three seasons. In 1899 he had originally finished the season batting .402 (making him the first baseball player to hit .400 or greater in three separate seasons),[25] but it was downgraded to .396 later.[15]
In 1901, he led the NL in batting average (.376), on-base percentage (.440), hits (226), and runs scored (142); this marked the third time he had led the league in batting average. Before the 1902 season, Burkett jumped to the St. Louis Browns of the American League and batted over .300 for the last time in his career. The following year, the American League began to count foul balls as strikes,[26] causing his batting average to fall below .300 on the season for the first time since 1892. The next year his batting average fell again to .271, and had a career low in stolen bases. His errors in the outfield went down, but that was partially due to his decreased range[26] and fewer opportunities.
In 1905, he was traded to the
Later life
Burkett managed the New England League's Worcester Busters from 1906 to 1915 and played some games for the team, as well.[28] In 1906, he led the league with a .344 batting average.[29]
Newspapers described Burkett as retiring from baseball in 1916. He secured a position with a brass factory in Worcester in December.[30] However, he signed on as a coach with College of the Holy Cross late that month.[31] In four seasons coaching the Holy Cross Crusaders, Burkett amassed an 88–12–1 record (.876); nine players on his 1919 team were designated All-East players.[32]
Burkett managed sporadically in the minor leagues until 1933.[28] He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.[4] The Wheeling native became the first West Virginian elected into the Hall of Fame.
Burkett died in Worcester, Massachusetts, on May 27, 1953.[4]
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career batting average leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career on-base percentage leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players with a .400 batting average in a season
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
Further reading
- Fleitz, David L (2009). The Irish in Baseball: An Early History. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-0786434190.
- Fleitz, David L (2015). Ghosts in the Gallery at Cooperstown: Sixteen Little-Known Members of the Hall of Fame. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 9780786480616.
- Frommer, Harvey (2016). Old Time Baseball: America's Pastime in the Gilded Age. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781630760076.
- Lanigan, Ernest J. (1920). Baseball Cyclopedia. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 9780786418688.
- Nemec, David (2011). Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume 2: The Hall of Famers and Memorable Personalities Who Shaped the Game. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803235328.
- Society for American Baseball Research (2007). The SABR Baseball List & Record Book: Baseball's Most Fascinating Records and Unusual Statistics. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416554561.
- Thorn, John (2015). The Hidden Game of Baseball: A Revolutionary Approach to Baseball and Its Statistics. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226242484.
Notes
- a In 1895, Burkett had originally batted .423 and as of 1922 that average stood, until later when it was changed retroactively to .405.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "Progressive Leaders & Records for Hits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ "Inside The Park Home Run Records". Baseball-Almanac.com. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- ^ Flietz, David L. pp. 69
- ^ a b c d e f "Jesse Burkett Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- ^ "Jesse Burkett: Looking 'Em Over". Ohio County Public Library. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
- Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
- ^ a b Jesse Burkett at the SABR Baseball Biography Project , by David Jones, Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ Flietz, David L. pp. 70
- ^ a b Nemec, David pp. 10–11
- ^ "1891 Lincoln Rustlers Season Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ Flietz, David L. pp. 69
- ^ "Outfield Errors Career". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ Lagnigan, Ernest J pp.72
- ^ Society for American Baseball Research pp.142
- ^ Flietz, David L. pp. 71
- ^ Joe Vasile (March 29, 2016). "The evolution of the single-season hit record". Beyond the Box Score. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ Flietz, David L. pp. 72
- ^ a b Flietz, David L. pp. 76
- ^ "Jesse Burkett". The Wheeling Register. Louisville, Ky. August 5, 1897. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ "NL 1897 Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Robison, Frank De Hass". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. July 22, 1997. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
- ^ Flietz, David L. pp. 77
- ^ Flietz, David L. pp. 73
- ^ Frommer, Harvey pp. 122
- ^ a b c d Flietz, David L. pp. 75
- ^ "St. Louis Cardinals Top 50 Career Batting Leaders". Retrieved December 13, 2018.
- ^ a b "Jesse Burkett Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- ^ "1906 New England League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- ^ "Jesse Burkett now factory employee". The Day. December 8, 1916. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ "Jesse Burkett to pilot Holy Cross". The Day. December 23, 1916. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ "2014 Holy Cross Baseball" (PDF). College of the Holy Cross. Retrieved January 2, 2015.[permanent dead link]
External links
- Jesse Burkett at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Jesse Burkett at Find a Grave