Jeffrey Alan Burroughs (born March 7, 1951) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. He played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

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), ...

from through , for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers (1970–76),

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 ...

(1977–80),

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 ...

(1981),

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

(1982–84) and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

(1985). A two-time All-Star player, Burroughs was notable for being the American League RBI champion and being named the American League's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

that same year. He is the father of major league

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Sean Burroughs Sean Patrick Burroughs (born September 12, 1980) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Minnesota Twins. Durin ...

. In a 16-season career, Burroughs posted a .261

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 ...

with 240

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 ...

s and 882

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 ...

in 1689

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 ...

Early life

Burroughs was born to parents Charles Douglas and Iona Mae Burroughs in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

on May 7, 1951. He attended

Woodrow Wilson Classical High School Woodrow Wilson High School (colloquially known as Long Beach Wilson) is an American public high school located in Long Beach, California. This two-block campus is located approximately 1.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean, across from the Recreation ...

Career

Burroughs was selected by the Washington Senators with the first overall pick in the June 1969 draft. Late in the year, he joined the Senators at age of 19. Considered a "good bat-no field" kind of player, Burroughs was a considerable

slugging Slugging, also known as casual carpooling, is the practice of forming ad hoc, informal carpools for purposes of commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking. A driver picks up these non-paying passengers (known as ...

threat during his playing days. Defensively, he was capable but slow. In four full seasons with the Texas Rangers, Burroughs averaged 25.5 home runs a year with a high of 30 homers in . His most productive season came in , when he batted .301 with 25 home runs and a league-leading and career-high 118 RBIs. He was voted the

American League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

, making him one of only seven overall number-one draft picks to win the MVP title (the others are

Chipper Jones Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones Jr. (born April 24, 1972) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2012. The Braves chose Jones with the first overall p ...

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

, Ken Griffey Jr.,

Bryce Harper Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Harper played for the Wash ...

Joe Mauer Joseph Patrick Mauer (born April 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and first baseman, who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Minnesota Twins. A six-time All-Star, Mauer is the only ca ...

and

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from to , most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won two consecutive Americ ...

) and the first Ranger to win the award. During the 1974 season, Burroughs was at the center of the violent

Ten Cent Beer Night Ten Cent Beer Night was a promotion held by Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians during a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Stadium on Tuesday, June 4, 1974. The promotion was meant to improve attendance at the game by offering c ...

debacle at

Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball an ...

, where Burroughs was one of the targets of thrown objects and a few punches by unruly and inebriated Cleveland fans, in a game that was forfeited to Texas. Burroughs was selected an All-Star in both 1974 with the Rangers and 1978 as a member of the Atlanta Braves, when he entered the All-Star break with a National League-leading .324 batting average. Burroughs was also named AL Player of the Year and selected as an OF on the AL All-Star team by ''The Sporting News'' his MVP season of 1974. He was acquired by the Braves in a five-for-one trade that sent

Ken Henderson Kenneth Joseph Henderson (born June 15, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, ...

Dave May David LaFrance May (December 23, 1943 – October 20, 2012) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rang ...

Roger Moret Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

Adrian Devine Paul Adrian Devine (December 2, 1951June 27, 2020) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher in and from through for the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers. He batted and threw ri ...

Carl Morton Carl Wendle Morton (January 18, 1944 – April 12, 1983) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through for the Montreal Expos and the Atlanta Braves. Morton was named the ...

and $200,000 to the Rangers on December 9, 1976. As a member of the Braves, in , Burroughs collected 114 RBIs and hit 41 home runs, the latter number surpassed only by

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 ...

outfielder George Foster (52). Burroughs had fans who maintained a large banner below the right field deck titled "Jeff's Jackpot", which displayed his home run total for the season plus one. Late in his career, Burroughs was used mainly as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

and

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

. Burroughs played his final year with the

in 1985 after being purchased by them. In 86 games, he had 49 hits and 19 runs with six home runs and 28 RBIs along with 36 strikeouts and 34 walks. He batted .257 with a .366 OBP. His final regular season game was on October 6, 1985, batting as a DH. He went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in an 8-0 loss. He made his first and only appearance in a postseason game, having one at-bat in the ALCS that year, batting in Game 7 in the bottom of the ninth inning against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

as a pinch hitter, which resulted in a ground out.

Post-playing career

After he retired, Burroughs later coached his son's

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

as their star player, these teams won the

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

in both

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, winning the former by forfeit after their opponents (who had beaten them 15–4) were found to have used no fewer than 14 ineligible players and the latter 3–2 over Panama to be the first American team to repeat as champion and only the third city to ever do so after

Monterrey, Mexico Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

(1957, 1958) and

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

(1984, 1985).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burroughs, Jeff 1951 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars American League Most Valuable Player Award winners American League RBI champions Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Long Beach, California Denver Bears players Major League Baseball designated hitters Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders National League All-Stars Oakland Athletics players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Seattle Mariners players Texas Rangers players Toronto Blue Jays players Wilson Classical High School alumni Wytheville Senators players

Early life

Career

Post-playing career

See also

References

External links