James Eugene Burke (born September 24, 1971) 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), ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. He attended

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

, where, along with baseball, he played for the school's football team as the

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

. He now resides in his hometown of Roseburg.

Professional career

Minor League journeyman, 1993 to 2003

Burke was originally drafted by the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

in the ninth round of the amateur draft. He was signed as a

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 ...

by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

on January 27, .

Chicago White Sox

Burke played 73 games in the Major Leagues for the White Sox from 2003–.

Texas Rangers, return to the minors

The Texas Rangers signed Burke to a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

deal near the end of the 2005 season. He did not appear in an MLB game during the season.

A chance with the Mariners

As a

non-roster invitee A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

in the Mariners' camp during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

, he beat out incumbent

René Rivera René Rivera (born July 31, 1983) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Met ...

for the backup catcher job going into Opening Day. On September 30, 2007, on the last day of the regular season, Burke hit his first career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

against A. J. Murray of the Texas Rangers. On July 6, , Burke was pressed into service on the pitcher's mound in the 15th inning of a game against

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

when the Mariners ran out of pitchers; he was credited with the

loss Loss may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Loss'' (Bass Communion album) (2006) * ''Loss'' (Mull Historical Society album) (2001) *"Loss", a song by God Is an Astronaut from their self-titled album (2008) * Losses "(Lil Tjay son ...

. Burke allowed one

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

and a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

. The run scored after a lead off

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third stri ...

, and

sacrifice fly In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

. Burke had previously made four pitching appearances in the minor leagues. Following the 2008 season, Burke was non-tendered by the Mariners, making him a free agent. He was re-signed by the Mariners to a minor league contract on December 23, saying this about the situation,

The best gift would have been a major-league deal, but I'm pretty happy about this. This is a place I wanted to be. It's a situation I like and one that I think could work out very well.

Burke was added to the active roster on April 16, 2009, following an injury to starting catcher

Kenji Johjima is a Japanese former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for four years with the Seattle Mariners in the American League, then returned to Japan and played for the Hanshin Tigers. On November 21, 2005 ...

. When Johjima returned from the disabled list on May 1, Burke was outrighted back to Tacoma; after clearing waivers, he accepted the assignment. On June 7, Burke was recalled up from Tacoma after the Mariners designated pitcher

Denny Stark Dennis James Stark (born October 27, 1974) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) right-handed pitcher who played with the Seattle Mariners across two separate stints, as well as for the Colorado Rockies, from 1999 to 2009. Amateur ca ...

for assignment. In a winning effort, Burke went 2-5 with a home run and a base hit. On June 26, Johjima was activated from the disabled list. To make room for Johjima on the 25-man roster, the Mariners designated Burke for assignment. Seattle assigned him to Tacoma.

Washington Nationals

On September 17, Burke was traded to the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

for cash considerations, and was added to the Nats' active roster as a September call-up. The following year, his knee was injured, and he did not play his first game at the Nationals' AAA affiliate Syracuse until May 25. But after injuries to starter

Iván Rodríguez Iván Rodríguez Torres (born November 27, 1971), nicknamed "Pudge" and "I-Rod", is a Puerto Rican former Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Texas Rangers (in two separate stints, comprising the majority of his career), Florida ...

and backup catcher Carlos Maldonado, he was called up on June 4, and got into his first game two days later. However, four days later, Burke was designated for assignment after making only one appearance to make way for Rodríguez, who was recalled from his rehab assignment in the minors.

Coaching career

Burke retired after the 2010 season and became the manager of the Class-A

Cedar Rapids Kernels The Cedar Rapids Kernels are Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and play their home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels are owned ...

. Burke was named manager of class 1A Burlington Bees in 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Jamie 1971 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Anaheim Angels players Chicago White Sox players Seattle Mariners players Washington Nationals players Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Oregon Oregon State Beavers baseball players Sportspeople from Roseburg, Oregon Boise Hawks players Cedar Rapids Kernels players Lake Elsinore Storm players Midland Angels players Vancouver Canadians players Edmonton Trappers players Salt Lake Stingers players Charlotte Knights players Oklahoma RedHawks players Tacoma Rainiers players Syracuse Chiefs players Minor league baseball managers