Freddie Thomason Burdette (September 15, 1936 – June 1, 2010) was an American right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

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for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. Born in Moultrie, Georgia, he batted right-handed and was listed as tall and . Burdette was signed by the Cubs on June 3, 1954, as an undrafted amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He battled his way through the minor leagues before finally making his major-league debut at age 25, pitching in relief in both games of a doubleheader 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 ...

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. He induced the first batter he ever faced, Leo Cárdenas, to ground out to second baseman Ken Hubbs. He also retired

Gordy Coleman Gordon Calvin "Gordy" Coleman (July 5, 1934 – March 12, 1994) was a professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. He helped the Reds win the 1961 National League pennant, ...

on a groundout before being removed from the game. In the nightcap, Burdette pitched a full inning, allowing a hit but no runs. On September 10, he tallied his first big-league strikeout, fanning slugger Frank Howard. He also earned his first (and only) career save when he finished a 4–1 victory over Philadelphia on September 20. Burdette went on to finish the year with a 3.72

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

in 9 innings over 8 games. The next year, he was a late-season call-up from the minors for the Cubs, appearing in four games as a reliever and posting a 3.86 ERA. Burdette saw his most extensive major-league action in 1964, making 18 appearances out of the bullpen after getting promoted to the big leagues in June. He earned his first major-league win (and only decision) on August 18 against the Phillies in a marathon 16-inning contest at

Connie Mack Stadium Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, ...

. Burdette retired six of the seven Phillie batters he faced in the 14th and 15th innings before being removed for a pinch-hitter as the Cubs rallied for two runs in the top of the 16th. Ernie Broglio (famously acquired by the Cubs in exchange for legend

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis Car ...

) allowed a solo homer in the bottom of the 16th to

Clay Dalrymple Clayton Errol Dalrymple (born December 3, 1936) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies (–) and Baltimore Orioles (–). Dalrymple was known for his strong ...

but held on to save Burdette's only career win. Burdette pitched in eight more games as a Cub in 1964, including his final appearance on October 2, 1964, against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. He hurled two-thirds of an inning, retiring opposing pitcher

Bobby Bolin Bobby Donald Bolin (born January 29, 1939) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who appeared 495 games in Major League Baseball over 13 seasons (1961–1973) for the San Francisco Giants (–), Milwaukee Brewers () and Boston Re ...

to end the final inning Burdett would pitch in the bigs. For his career, Burdette was 1–0 in 30 games (all in relief) with one save and a 3.41 ERA. In 34

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 permitted 27

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, 20

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 ...

and 13 earned runs.

Later life

Following his baseball career, Burdette worked for the

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company ...

. He died on June 1, 2010, in Albany, Georgia, where he had resided since 1955.

References

External links

Obituary
from ''

The Albany Herald ''The Albany Herald'' is the daily newspaper for metro Albany in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is distributed in metro Albany and in southwest Georgia. The newspaper was founded in 1891. Circulation is 21,701 on weekdays and 24,820 on Sundays. ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Burdette, Freddie 1936 births 2010 deaths Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Burlington Bees players Chicago Cubs players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Des Moines Bruins players Lafayette Oilers players Lancaster Red Roses players Macon Peaches players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Moultrie, Georgia Pueblo Bruins players Salt Lake City Bees players San Antonio Missions players Sportspeople from Albany, Georgia Tacoma Cubs players