John Henderson Burnett (November 1, 1904 – August 12, 1959) 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 who appeared primarily as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

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), ...

(MLB) from 1927 to 1935 for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

and

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 ...

. Burnett holds the record for most hits in a single game in MLB history, with nine, albeit in

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

Biography

Born in

Bartow, Florida Bartow ( ) is the county seat of Polk County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1851 as Fort Blount, the city was renamed in honor of Francis S. Bartow, the first brigade commander of the Confederate Army to die in combat during the American C ...

, Burnett made his major-league debut for the

at the age of 22 on May 7, 1927, against the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

after graduating from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. Burnett wore uniform number 1 in all eight of his seasons with the Indians. In 1930, Burnett's first season as an everyday starter, he was

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

above .300 into July when, on July 19, he broke his wrist and was sidelined for the season. Without Burnett, the Indians finished eight games above .500. On July 10, 1932, still playing for the Indians, Burnett set the major-league record for hits in a single game, compiling nine hits in 11 at-bats in an 18-inning game against the

. Burnett's record for most hits in a game still stands. He was also the first player to have more than seven hits in a game that went into

. Since then, only

Rocky Colavito Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. (born August 10, 1933) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prominently as a m ...

in 1962, Cesar Gutierrez in 1970,

Rennie Stennett Reinaldo Antonio Stennett Porte (April 5, 1949 – May 18, 2021) was a Panamanian professional baseball second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1971–79) and San Francisco Giants (1980–81). He b ...

in 1975, and

Brandon Crawford Brandon Michael Crawford (born January 21, 1987) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). Crawford played college baseball for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). H ...

in 2016 have collected seven or more hits in single game. In late 1934, in the waning years of his career, after eight seasons with the Indians, Burnett was traded to the

for outfielder Bruce Campbell. Wearing number 4, Burnett played only one season for the Browns before being traded to 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 ...

near the start of the 1936 season for first baseman

Jim Bottomley James Leroy Bottomley (April 23, 1900 – December 11, 1959) was an American professional baseball player, scout and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1922 to 1937, most prominently as a member of the St. Loui ...

. Burnett never played a game for the Reds, his final major-league appearance having been on September 29, 1935. Overall during his major-league career, Burnett had a .284 average with nine

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 213

runs batted in 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 ...

(RBIs) in 558 MLB games. Defensively, he played 265 games at shortstop, while also making over 100 appearances at third base (133) and second base (103), along with three games in the outfield. As a shortstop, he had a .935

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. Burnett finished his professional career playing three seasons in Minor League Baseball. He spent 1936 with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, 1937 with three different teams (the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, and two teams in the

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 ...

), and 1938 with the

Columbia Reds Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. He played at least 320 minor-league games, although records of the era are incomplete. In 1938 and 1939, he served as

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 o ...

of the Columbia team. Burnett died in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, on August 12, 1959, at the age of 54 from acute

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

Nine-hit game

Burnett's nine hits came in 11

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s on July 10, 1932, while batting second and playing shortstop, as listed below. He also scored four runs and had two RBIs, and defensively committed one

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

while recording five

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or ''fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

s and five

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

s. His team lost, as the Athletics defeated the Indians in 18 innings by a score of 18–17. Burnett's two-out RBI in the bottom of the ninth inning tied the game, 15–15, resulting in extra innings.

Notes

References

External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Johnny 1904 births 1957 deaths Sportspeople from Bartow, Florida Baseball players from Florida Deaths from cancer in Florida Deaths from acute leukemia Florida Gators baseball players Major League Baseball shortstops Cleveland Indians players St. Louis Browns players Terre Haute Tots players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Portland Beavers players Dallas Steers players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Columbia Reds players Minor league baseball managers American expatriate baseball players in Canada

Biography

Nine-hit game

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links