Alexander Thomson Burr (November 1, 1893 – October 12, 1918) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player who was killed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Burr was known as "Tom" to his friends. Press accounts throughout his life, as well as other memoirs, used this nickname, although many baseball references labeled him "Alex".

Biography

Burr attended The Choate School (later

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high ...

), where he was a star pitcher. He then went to

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, although he turned pro before he ever played a collegiate game. Burr made the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

roster as a pitcher under manager

Frank Chance Frank Leroy Chance (September 9, 1877 – September 15, 1924) was an American professional baseball player. A first baseman, Chance played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs (initially named the "Orphans") and New York Yankees from 18 ...

. However, his only game appearance for the Yankees (on April 21, 1914) came in center field. He had no fielding chances and did not have a plate appearance. Burr returned to Williams College after his pro career ended, although by some accounts he went into business instead of returning to school. He volunteered to serve in the war before ever graduating. He self-financed his trip to France where he volunteered as an ambulance driver before joining the aviation corps. He was killed shortly before the war ended in an airplane accident on October 12, 1918 while serving in the United States Army Air Service in Cazaux, France. After colliding with a fellow pilot, Burr's plane crashed into a lake in flames; his body was recovered after 12 days. He had been serving in France since November 1917 and was 24 years old at the time of his death. Burr was interred in American Expeditionary Forces Cemetery No. 29. During the years after the end of World War I, this cemetery was

deconsecrated Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches or synagogues to b ...

. Some of the bodies exhumed—including Burr's—were repatriated. Tom Burr's final resting place became Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in Chicago. Burr was one of eight

players known either to have been killed or died from illness while serving in the armed forces during

. The others were Harry Chapman,

Larry Chappell La Verne Ashford "Larry" Chappell (February 19, 1890 – November 8, 1918) was a professional baseball player who played from 1913 to 1917 for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Boston Braves. Early life Born in McClusky, Illinois, Cha ...

‚

Harry Glenn Harry Melville "Husky" Glenn (June 9, 1890 – October 12, 1918) was a professional baseball player from 1910 to 1918. He played a portion of the 1915 season in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. He also played e ...

, Eddie Grant‚

Newt Halliday Newton Schurz Halliday (June 18, 1896 – April 6, 1918) was an American baseball player. He appeared in a portion of one game in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 19, 1916. Halliday had three putouts ...

Ralph Sharman Ralph Edward Sharman (April 11, 1895 – May 24, 1918), nicknamed "Bally", was a professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the 1917 Philadelphia Athletics. Career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Sharman was a ...

and

Bun Troy Robert Gustave "Bun" Troy (August 27, 1888 – October 7, 1918) was a German-born professional baseball pitcher who was killed in action while fighting against German forces in World War I. Troy was a sergeant with the "Blue Ridge" Division of t ...

References

External links

Article on Burr's Death from Chicago Daily Tribune, 1918

Baseball Almanac

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burr, Alex New York Yankees players 1893 births 1918 deaths Jersey City Skeeters players Baseball players from Chicago American military personnel killed in World War I United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I Military personnel from Illinois

Biography

See also

References

External links