Burgess Urquhart "Whitey" Whitehead (June 29, 1910 – November 25, 1993) 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), ...

second baseman from 1933 to 1946. He played for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Biography

Whitehead was born in

Tarboro, North Carolina Tarboro is a town located in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 10,721. It is the county seat of Edgecombe County. Th ...

. He graduated from

Augusta Military Academy The Augusta Military Academy (AMA) was a secondary education military academy in Fort Defiance, Virginia, United States. The school was established in by Confederate veteran Charles Summerville Roller as the Augusta Male Academy and formally beca ...

in Fort Defiance, Virginia in 1927. He attended the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

and started his professional baseball career with the Class AAA

Columbus Red Birds The Columbus Red Birds were a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as ...

in 1931. He batted over .300 in each of the next three seasons,"Burgess Whitehead Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-28. helping to lead the 1933 team to the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

pennant. In 1934 and 1935, Whitehead was a

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various s ...

for the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

Cardinals. He was a member of the

1934 World Series The 1934 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1934 season. The 31st edition of the World Series, it matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers. The Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" won in seven gam ...

champion team and was friends with future Hall of Famer

Dizzy Dean Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (January 16, 1910 – July 17, 1974), also known as Jerome Herman Dean (both the 1910 and 1920 Censuses show his name as "Jay"), was an American professional baseball pitcher. During his Major League Baseball (MLB) career ...

. Whitehead was selected to the All-Star team in 1935. Whitehead was traded to the Giants in December for first baseman/outfielder

Phil Weintraub Philip Weintraub (October 12, 1907 – June 21, 1987) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. Weintraub played for 13 minor league teams, for whom he had an aggregate batting average of .337, as well as for the New Yo ...

and pitcher Roy Parmelee. With a weak bat but a good glove at second base, he helped the Giants win two consecutive pennants in 1936 and 1937. In 1937, he led all second basemen in fielding percentage and putouts, and he was named to the All-Star team for the second time. Before the 1938 season, Whitehead suffered a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

following an appendectomy. He sat out the entire season."Burgess Whitehead"
''baseballinwartime.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-28. He came back in 1939 but hit poorly, and his behavior was erratic; he was suspended twice during the season and reportedly assaulted a woman in North Carolina. Nonetheless, Whitehead rejoined the Giants in 1940 and had a good season. His hitting numbers declined again in 1941, however, and he was sold to the International League's

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. In December 1942, Whitehead was inducted into the

Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. He spent three years out of professional baseball and returned for one more major league season in 1946, with the Pirates. He hit a career-low .220 and went back to the minors with the

Jersey City Giants {{about, the baseball team, the football team, American Association (American football) The Jersey City Giants was the name of a high-level American minor league baseball franchise that played in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the top farm system affi ...

. After two seasons in Jersey City, Whitehead retired. In 924 games in nine seasons, Whitehead posted a .266

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(883-for-3316) with 415 runs, 17 home runs, 245

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and 150 bases on balls. Defensively, he recorded an overall .971 fielding percentage. Whitehead was married to the former Ruth Madre Lyon, and they had two children. He was the last surviving member of the St. Louis Cardinals'

Gashouse Gang The Gashouse Gang was the nickname of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team of the early 1930s. Owing to their success that started in 1926, the Cardinals would win a total of five National League pennants from 1926 to 1934 (nine seasons) while wi ...

team that won the 1934 World Series. In 1981, he was inducted into the

North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives ...

. Whitehead died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1993."Burgess Whitehead, Baseball Player, 83"
''nytimes.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-28.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Burgess 1910 births 1993 deaths People from Tarboro, North Carolina Major League Baseball second basemen National League All-Stars St. Louis Cardinals players New York Giants (NL) players Pittsburgh Pirates players Columbus Red Birds players Jersey City Giants players Baseball players from North Carolina