Smoky Burgess

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Smoky Burgess
Burgess in about 1953
Catcher
Born: (1927-02-06)February 6, 1927
Caroleen, North Carolina, U.S.
Died: September 15, 1991(1991-09-15) (aged 64)
Rutherfordton, North Carolina, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 19, 1949, for the Chicago Cubs
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1967, for the Chicago White Sox
MLB statistics
Batting average.295
Home runs126
Runs batted in673
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Forrest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess (February 6, 1927 – September 15, 1991)

right-handed.[4]

Baseball career

Born in Caroleen, North Carolina, Burgess was signed as an amateur free agent by the Chicago Cubs in 1944.[5] In 1947, he led the Tri-State League with a .387 batting average.[6] Burgess followed that by leading (minimum 100 games played) the Southern Association with a .386 average, in 1948.[7] He made his major league debut at the age of 22 with the Chicago Cubs on April 19, 1949.[4] In October 1951, Burgess was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, who promptly traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher Andy Seminick before the start of the 1952 season.[5] With the Phillies, he platooned alongside the right-handed-hitting Stan Lopata.[8] Burgess had his best season in 1954, when he had a .368 batting average in 108 games for the Phillies, earning his first All-Star Game selection.[4][9]

At the beginning of the

1956 season as the Reds' starting catcher, but when the team faltered early in the season, Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts decided to shake things up, and replaced Burgess with a younger man, Ed Bailey.[12]

In 1959, Burgess was traded along with Harvey Haddix and Don Hoak to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Frank Thomas, Whammy Douglas, Jim Pendleton and John Powers.[5] He was the Pirates catcher on May 26, 1959 when Haddix took a perfect game into the 13th inning against the Milwaukee Braves, before losing the game.[13][14] Burgess also won a World Series with the Pirates in 1960, batting .333 in the seven-game series.[15][4]

By

plate.[4] In 1966, he set a Major League record which still stands for the most games in a season (79) by a non-pitcher who did not score a run.[17]

Burgess played his final major league game on October 1, 1967 at the age of 40.[4]

Career statistics

During an 18-year major league career, Burgess played in 1,691

RBI, and a .362 on-base percentage. He accumulated 1,318 career hits, with 230 doubles, and 33 triples. He walked 477 times while striking out just 270 times.[4] His .295 career batting average ranked him 10th among Major League catchers, as of 2009.[18] A six-time All-Star, Burgess led National League (NL) catchers in fielding percentage three times, in 1953, 1960, and 1961. He recorded a career .988 fielding percentage.[4] His Major League record of 145 career pinch hits was broken by Manny Mota, in 1979. Burgess had 16 home runs and 147 RBI as a pinch hitter. Along with Curt Simmons, he was the last player to formally retire, who had played in the major leagues in the 1940s (not counting Minnie Miñoso
, who un-retired twice).

Post-playing career

When his playing career ended, Burgess spent many years with the

Pulaski, VA
.

Burgess was inducted into the

Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, in 1975.[19]

Burgess was inducted into the

North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, in 1978.[20]

Burgess died at age 64, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, September 15, 1991, survived by his wife, Margaret and son, Larry, both of Forest City, NC.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Forrest (Smoky) Burgess; Baseball Player, 64". The New York Times. Associated Press.
  2. ISSN 0005-609X
  3. ISSN 0005-609X
  4. ^
    baseball-reference.com
    . Sports Reference LLC.
  5. ^ a b c d e Inc., Baseball Almanac. "Smoky Burgess Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. baseball-reference.com
    . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  7. baseball-reference.com
    . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  8. ^
    ISSN 0005-609X
    .
  9. ^ "1954 All-Star Game Box Score, July 13 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  10. ^ "1955 All-Star Game Box Score, July 12 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  11. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Redlegs Box Score, July 29, 1955 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  12. ISSN 0005-609X
    .
  13. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee Braves Box Score, May 26, 1959 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  14. ^ "Harvey Haddix Perfect Game Box Score by Baseball Almanac". www.baseball-almanac.com.
  15. ^ "1960 World Series - Pittsburgh Pirates over New York Yankees (4-3) - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  16. ^ "Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers Box Score, September 15, 1964 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  17. ^ Preston, JG. "Nobody drove them in: the unusual seasons of Ron Northey, Bob Nieman and Smoky Burgess". prestonjg.wordpress.com. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers Career Batting Leaders". members.tripod.com. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  19. ^ "Hall of Fame & Museum - Reds Hall of Famers". Cincinnati Reds.
  20. ^ Smoky Burgess at the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

External links

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