John Chandler Burke (born February 9, 1970) is a former American

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 t ...

player who was a

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 ...

for the Colorado Rockies of

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) in 1996 and 1997.

Early years

He was born in Durango, Colorado. He graduated from

Cherry Creek High School Cherry Creek High School (commonly Cherry Creek, Creek, or CCHS) is the oldest of seven high schools in the Cherry Creek School District in the Denver metropolitan area. It is located in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and is one of the largest high s ...

in Greenwood Village (suburban

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

), where he was a standout high school baseball player for the Cherry Creek Bruins.

College career

Burke accepted an athletic scholarship to attend 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 ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Joe Arnold Joseph A. Arnold (born February 26, 1947) is a former American college and professional baseball coach. During his twenty-four seasons as a head coach, Arnold led the college baseball teams at Florida Southern College, the University of Florida, ...

's Florida Gators baseball team from 1990 to 1992. During his three seasons as a Gator, he set numerous team pitching records, including most career strikeouts and most career strikeouts per inning. He played in the 1991 College World Series, and was named a first-team All-American by '' Baseball America'' following the season. After his professional baseball career ended, he returned to the university and completed his bachelor's degree in anthropology in 2000.

Professional career

Burke, who threw right-handed and was a switch hitter, was drafted a total of three times. In 1989, he was drafted by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in the 34th round (867th overall). In 1991, he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the first round (6th). In 1992, the year he decided to sign with a team, he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the first round, 27th overall. Burke was the Colorado Rockies' first-ever amateur draft pick.The Baseball Cube
Burke, who combined a mid-90s fastball with a good curve and change-up, was primarily a starter in the minor leagues, where he had two really notable seasons. In 1993, with A-Advanced Central Valley, Burke went 7–8 with a 3.20 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 119 innings. In 1995 with AAA Colorado Springs, he went 7–1 with a 4.55 ERA. During 1995, Pacific Coast League managers voted Burke as the league's best pitching prospect and the pitcher with the best breaking pitch. On August 13, 1996, Burke made his big league debut as a 26-year-old rookie. During his big league career, he appeared in a total of 28 games and had an ERA of 6.75. He had a record of 4 wins and 6 losses. As a hitter, Burke hit .190 (4-21). He committed one error in the field. Burke played his final game on July 10, 1997. Currently, Burke lives in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

Honors and awards

*In 1993, he was a California League All-Star.

References

External links