Christopher Alan Burke (born March 11, 1980) is a former

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, playing primarily for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, though he also played for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

. He is best remembered for hitting a series-ending walk-off home run in Game 4 of the

2005 National League Division Series The 2005 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2005 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 4, and ended on Sunday, October 9, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—p ...

College

Burke played baseball at

St. Albert the Great Elementary School There are or have been over thirty Catholic elementary schools within the Archdiocese of Louisville. Ascension Elementary School Ascension Elementary School serves grades PreK-8 within the Archdiocese of Louisville. Sports teams compete under ...

and St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, where he was named to three

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

teams. In 1999, Burke was selected as a Freshman 2nd team All-American at second base. In 2000, in addition to being named a 3rd team All-American, he was named to the All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

team at second base. In 2001, his junior year, Burke moved to shortstop and helped the Volunteers make an appearance in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

by hitting .435 with 20 home runs and 49 stolen bases, being named to the CWS all-tournament team. He was a 1st team All-American shortstop, and was the unanimous choice as the 2001 SEC Player of the Year. He was also a finalist for the 2001 Rotary Smith Award.

Professional career

Burke was the Houston Astros' first round pick in the

2001 MLB Draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ba ...

as the 10th overall selection. In 2003, Burke was named

Round Rock Round Rock is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Williamson County, Texas, Williamson County (with a small part in Travis County, Texas, Travis County), which is a part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 as of ...

's Team MVP and a

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

All-Star after batting .301 with 3 home runs and 41 RBI. He played on the

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Basebal ...

Olympic qualifying team and was named the starting second baseman for the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. In 2004, Burke was named the Pacific Coast League Rookie of the Year and the

New Orleans Zephyrs New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

' team MVP in addition to being named to the All-PCL and AAA All-Star teams after hitting .315 with 16 home runs, 52 RBI, and 37 steals. He played in the All-Star Futures Game for the second straight year.

Houston Astros

Burke made his MLB debut on July 4, 2004 against the Texas Rangers. He recorded his first Major League hit with a pinch-hit single on September 14 against 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 ...

. Entering

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Burke was rated as the top prospect in the Astros system by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. He made the Astros'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster, but was optioned to Round Rock on May 6. He batted .311 there before being recalled to the Astros on June 1. He finished the season batting .248 with 5 home runs and 26 RBI in 108 games. Burke had an 11-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 plate ...

from June 27-July 6, tied for the third-longest streak among NL rookies in 2005 and was the longest for an Astros rookie since

Julio Lugo Julio Cesar Lugo (November 16, 1975 – November 15, 2021) was a Dominican professional baseball shortstop. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, St ...

's 14-game streak in 2000. Burke hit the series-winning

walk-off home run In baseball, a walk-off home run is a home run that ends the game. For a home run to end the game, it must be hit in the bottom of the final inning of the game and generate enough runs to exceed the opponent's score. Because the opponent will not ...

off

Joey Devine Joseph Neal Devine (born September 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics. Baseball career Atlanta Braves Devine was the Braves' first ...

of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

' that ended Game 4 of the

(NLDS). The game, which lasted 18 innings, took 5 hours and 50 minutes to play, stands as the second-longest playoff game in Major League postseason history. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, another Astros rookie,

Jeremy Peña Jeremy Joan Peña (born September 22, 1997) is a Dominican-American professional baseball shortstop for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended the University of Maine and played college baseball for the Black Bears. The ...

, mirrored Burke's feat at

T-Mobile Park T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western t ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

in the

2022 American League Division Series The 2022 American League Division Series (ALDS) were the two best-of-five playoff series in Major League Baseball (MLB) to determine the participating teams of the 2022 American League Championship Series. These matchups are: *(1) Houston Astros ...

finale by hitting a series-clinching home run in another 18 innings contest. Burke began the 2007 season on the Astros' Opening Day roster, but was optioned to Round Rock on May 11. Burke did not hit particularly well (.242 BA) there, but with outfielder

Jason Lane Jason Dean Lane (born December 22, 1976) is an American professional baseball former player and current coach. He is the third base coach for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Houston Astros and San ...

struggling, Burke was recalled on June 3.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 14, 2007, he was traded to the

along with

Chad Qualls Chad Michael Qualls (born August 17, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, New Yor ...

and Juan Gutiérrez for

José Valverde José Rafael Valverde (born March 24, 1978) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets. He is nicknamed ...

. Burke was non-tendered following the season and became a free agent.

San Diego Padres

On January 13, , he signed a minor league contract with the

. After not making the team in Spring Training, Burke was traded to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

for cash considerations. However, on April 21, 2009 Burke was traded back to the Padres and was added to the Major League roster.

Atlanta Braves

On June 19, 2009, Burke signed a minor-league contract with the

Cincinnati Reds

Burke signed a minor league contract on December 10, 2009 with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. In the first week of Spring Training, Burke broke his finger.

Post-playing career

After Burke's alma mater

The University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

relieved

Todd Raleigh Todd Raleigh was a collegiate baseball coach who led the Tennessee Volunteers baseball team for the 2008–2011 seasons.Rucker, Bet"UT baseball coach Todd Raleigh fired" ''The Daily Times'', accessed May 25, 2011. Prior to that position, he was ...

of his duties as the Vols baseball coach in May, 2011, Burke's name had been at the top of the Tennessee wish list to become the next Head Coach of the Tennessee baseball program. He interviewed for the job, but the school decided to hire

Dave Serrano David Scott Serrano is a former American baseball coach and pitcher. Serrano formerly served as head coach at Cerritos College from 1984 to 1985 and at California State University, Fullerton from 1986 to 1987 for coach Augie Garrido. He served a ...

from

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

Broadcasting career

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

hired Burke in 2012 as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

for college baseball coverage on ESPN and

SEC Network The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...

References

External links

Bio and Stats
a
SportsMogul.com
*
Chris Burke Baseball Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Chris 1980 births Living people Houston Astros players Arizona Diamondbacks players San Diego Padres players Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball second basemen Tennessee Volunteers baseball players Michigan Battle Cats players New Orleans Zephyrs players Round Rock Express players Tacoma Rainiers players Gwinnett Braves players Louisville Bats players St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni All-American college baseball players College baseball announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters