Rick Burleson

Richard Paul Burleson (born April 29, 1951 in Lynwood, California), nicknamed "Rooster", is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball. In a 13-year career, Burleson played for the Boston Red Sox (1974-80), California Angels (1981-84, 1986) and Baltimore Orioles (1987). He batted and threw right-handed.

Career

Rick Burleson was a scrappy Red Sox shortstop of the 1970's. Rick "Rooster" Burleson was a Red Sox first round draft pick in 1970. He made his major league debut with the Red Sox on May 4, 1974. Eventually he would end up being considered one of the best defensive shortshops in the history of the Boston Red Sox, playing in 1031 games (24th best), scoring 514 runs and amassing 1114 hits (19th best).

Rooster was an intense hard working player who won the hearts of Red Sox Nation. He was the starting shortstop during the magical 1975 season. Burleson hit over .290 in both 1976 and 1977, and was 2nd to Jim Rice among team hit leaders in 1977 with 194 base hits. In 1979 Burleson won a Gold Glove. From 1975 to 1980 Rooster played in at least 145 games and got at least 140 hits each season. Burleson helped turn a record setting 147 double plays in 1980.

A strong-armed shortstop, Burleson turned more double plays than any Red Sox shortstop in history and still holds the major league single season record for most double plays (147 in 1980). He was selected an All-Star in four seasons and a Gold Glove Award winner in 1979.

In one of the most unpopular moves in Red Sox history, Burleson was traded in December 1980 to the California Angels along with Butch Hobson for Carney Lansford, Rick Miller, and Mark Clear. Traded to the Angels before the 1981 season, he injured his throwing arm a year later; he played only 51 games over the next three seasons, and was out for the entire 1985 season. In 1986 he was awarded Comeback Player of the Year honors. He finished his career with the Orioles in 1987.

Burleson was a .274 hitter with 50 home runs and 449 RBI in 1,031 games. Following his playing career, shortstop Rick Burleson was an Oakland Athletics coach in 1991. He was a member of the Boston Red Sox staff the next two seasons as a 3rd base coach and was a California Angels 3rd base coach in 1995 and 1996. Since the 1997 season, Burleson has been managing in the minor leagues spending time at each level. He managed the Lancaster JetHawks the California League affiliate formerly of the Seattle Mariners in 1997 and 1998, the San Bernardino Stampede now the Inland Empire 66ers the California League affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1999, the San Antonio Missions, the former Texas League affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2000, the Billings Mustangs, the Pioneer League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds from 2001 to 2003, the Louisville Bats, the International League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds in 2004, and Billings again in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, he replaced Pat Kelly as manager of the GCL Reds on July 4, after Kelly was named bench coach by Cincinnati's interim manager, Pete Mackanin. In 2007, Burleson became a Minor League Roving Instructor for the Cincinnati Reds Burleson is currently the hitting coach of the Visalia Oaks, the Class A Minor League Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008.

Highlights

• 4-time All-Star (1977-79, 1981)
• Voted by fans as the starting shortstop in the 1977 All-Star game
• Gold Glove Award (1979)
• Silver Slugger Award (1981)
• Set a major league season record for double plays by a shortstop (1980)
• Set a major league record for assists in a game (15, 20 innings, in April 14, 1982)
• Elected into Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame (2002)

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

See also

• List of AL Silver Slugger Winners at Shortstop
• List of Boston Red Sox awards

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Baseball Library (profile)

Why are we here?
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
This page is cache of Wikipedia. History