William Edwin Burwell (March 27, 1895 – June 11, 1973) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Early life

Burwell was born in

Jarbalo, Kansas Jarbalo is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. History Jarbalo was located on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. A post office w ...

.He won 239 minor league games during a 22-year playing career. He pitched for all or parts of 12 straight seasons (1923–34) for the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

of 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 ...

Career

Burwell was listed as tall and . During his active career, he was a right-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

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), ...

for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. In 70 MLB

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, six as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

, he won nine games and lost eight, with a 4.37

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. He posted six saves and one complete game, allowing 253 hits and 79

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, with 49

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s, in 218

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He also fashioned a lengthy post-pitching career as a minor league

(including two seasons, 1945–46, as skipper of the Indianapolis franchise) and Major League

. He worked in the latter role for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

(1944) and

(1947–48; 1958–62). While serving as pitching coach on

Danny Murtaugh Daniel Edward Murtaugh (October 8, 1917 – December 2, 1976) was an American second baseman, manager, front-office executive, and coach in Major League Baseball ( MLB). Murtaugh is best known for his 29-year association with the Pittsburgh Pira ...

's staff, Burwell was a member of the Pirates' 1960 world championship team. Burwell was acting manager of the Pirates for the final game of the 1947 season, after

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

Billy Herman resigned with one game remaining.Finoli, David, and Bill Rainer. ''The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia'', Sports Publishing LLC, 2003, p. 447. Under Burwell, the Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 7-0. He also was a longtime scout and roving minor-league coach for the Pirates. While working as pitching instructor in the Pirate organization in 1949, Burwell was instrumental to the development of pitcher

Vern Law Vernon Sanders Law (born March 12, 1930) is an American former baseball pitcher who played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in 1950–51 and 1954–67. He batted and threw right-handed and was li ...

, then toiling for the Class B Davenport Pirates of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The league began pla ...

. Burwell taught the 19-year-old Law how to change speeds and throw the

change-up A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

. Law later cited Burwell as the coach who most helped him during his time in the minor leagues. Burwell died at age 78 in

Ormond Beach, Florida Ormond Beach is a city in central Florida in Volusia County. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolitan ...

, and is buried in nearby

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

References

External links

*
Playing, cosching and managing record
from

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burwell, Bill 1895 births 1973 deaths Baseball coaches from Kansas Baseball players from Kansas Boston Red Sox coaches Clinton Pilots players Columbus Senators players Crookston Pirates players Fort Wayne Chiefs players Indianapolis Indians managers Indianapolis Indians players Joplin Miners players Louisville Colonels (minor league) managers Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players People from Leavenworth County, Kansas Pittsburgh Pirates coaches Pittsburgh Pirates players Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Rockford Wakes players Rock Island Islanders players St. Louis Browns players Terre Haute Tots players Topeka Savages players People from Ormond Beach, Florida Mason City Claydiggers players Elgin Watch Makers players