Emmanuel Allen Burriss (born January 17, 1985) is an American 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 ...

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. He played in

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) for 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. He is a

switch-hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

who throws right-handed. While primarily a second baseman, Burriss played a variety of positions during his career.

Early life

Emmanuel Allen Burriss was born to parents Allen and Denise on January 17, 1985, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

His mother works for Washington's Department of Employment Services. Also an ordained minister in the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

, she administers "serenity yoga workshops" as part of an independent ministry. Raised in the

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neighborhood of D.C., Burriss attended St. Ann's Catholic Elementary School. Though he resided in Cardozo High School's district, he attended Woodrow Wilson High School, because that institution offered better opportunities for

. At Wilson, he played basketball as well as baseball before graduating in 2003. With his

(MLB) debut in 2008, he became the first MLB player who was a graduate from the

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

system since catcher Willie Royster played in four games for the

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in . In 2014, Dave McKenna of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' called him "the best player to come out of D.C. schools since Los Angeles Dodger great Maury Wills". Burriss played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

(KSU) in

Kent, Ohio Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 Census. The city is counted as pa ...

. (Note: May need to click "View More Bio Info+" to view some of the information.) In 2005, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the Orleans Cardinals of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, where he was named a league All-Star and was named the co-Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the playoffs for his performance as the Cardinals won the season championship. With KSU in 2006, he was the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

Player of the Year, leading the conference with 70

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

and NCAA Division I players with 42

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

. In his 158-game career at Kent State, Burriss batted .325 and scored 146 runs. Scott Stricklin, his college coach, was extremely impressed with his natural quickness and baseball instincts. The

drafted Burriss in the first round of the 2006 MLB Draft.

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

Burriss began his professional career in 2006 with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Single-A short season Northwest League. Playing 65 games, he batted .307. Burriss' 35 stolen bases led the league, and he finished third with 50 runs scored (tied with

Tyler Colvin Tyler Eugene Colvin (born September 5, 1985) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, and the San Francisco Giants. Colvin played college baseball at C ...

's total behind Mike Epping's 53 and Matt Camp's 51) and fourth with 78

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

(behind Camp's 87, Daniel Mayora's 84, and Cyle Hankerd's 83). In 2007, Burriss began the year with the Single-A advanced San Jose Giants of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

. After batting .166 in 36 games, he was demoted to the Augusta GreenJackets of the Single-A

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 ...

. With Augusta, he was named a postseason all-star, batting .321 with 64 runs scored and 117 hits in 89 games. Burriss stole a combined 68 bases between the teams, the highest total in the Giants' organization. Following the regular season, Burriss played 17 games for the

Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco Gia ...

of the Arizona Fall League (AFL), batting .365 with eight stolen bases. Used exclusively 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 ...

in his first two regular seasons, Burriss began playing second base as well in the AFL. Coming into the 2008 season, Burriss was rated the Giants' tenth best prospect and fastest baserunning prospect by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. He did not make the Giants out of

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 ...

that year, but the Giants purchased his contract from the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies on April 20 after shortstop Brian Bocock started the season poorly. That same day, he made his MLB debut, replacing Bocock at shortstop in the ninth inning of an 8–2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

on September 26, he pinch-ran for

Bengie Molina Benjamin José Molina (born July 20, 1974), nicknamed "Big Money", is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher. He played for the Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1998–2005), Toronto Blue Jays (2006), San Francisco Giants (2 ...

on a play that umpires initially deemed a

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. The Giants challenged the ruling, and baseball's new instant replay revealed that Molina had actually hit a home run. However, because Burriss had been inserted into the game already, he was credited with the

run scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

on the play. He finished his rookie season with a .283 batting average in 95 games. After the season, the Giants sent Burriss to the 2008 Arizona Fall League where he played as a member of the

. During 2009 spring training, Burriss competed with Kevin Frandsen for the starting second baseman position before being named the starter on April 1. " urriss'all-around play was very solid," remarked Brian Sabean, the Giants'

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. "It was a unanimous opinion from all involved -- front-office, coaching staff, scouts. He had a tremendous spring." On June 4, Burriss was playing second base as Randy Johnson won his 300th game against the Washington Nationals. Burriss' RBI single in the second inning proved to be the game-winning RBI. Despite that, on Tuesday, June 16, he was sent down to AAA Fresno Grizzlies for

Matt Downs Matthew Russell Downs Sr. (born March 19, 1984) is an American former Major League Baseball infielder. He stands tall and weighs . Previously, he had played for the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros. He bats and throws right-handed. ...

after hitting .238/.292/.267 in 61 games. On July 5, 2009 Burriss fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot rounding second base at Fresno, ending his season. Burriss refractured the foot in Spring training 2010. He returned (in Fresno) late in the 2010 season, and was awarded with a call up to the Giants once the Grizzlies' season ended, however he was not placed on the Giants' postseason roster. He appeared in 59 games for the Giants in 2011, splitting time between the Major League club and Fresno. In 2012, Burriss made the Giants out of Spring Training, but on July 28, 2012, he was designated for assignment. Then on September 4, 2012, Burriss was added back to the Giants' roster and finished the year in the Major Leagues only to be sent outright to the Fresno Grizzlies after the end of the season. By outrighting him to the minors, the Giants prevented him from being eligible for

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

after the season. On November 8, 2012, Burriss elected free agency.

Cincinnati Reds organization

On November 21, 2012, Burriss signed a minor league deal 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 ...

that included an invitation to spring training. In 2013 spring training, he competed with Jason Donald and César Izturis for the last reserve position on Cincinnati's roster. Ultimately, the Reds added Izturis to their roster on March 31 and reassigned Burriss to the minor leagues. In 108 games for the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

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 ...

, he batted .241 with 32 runs scored, 89 hits, one home run, 24 RBI, and 17 stolen bases. On November 4, he became a free agent.

Washington Nationals

In December 2013, Burriss signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals. In 2014, he has played for the AAA Syracuse Chiefs. On June 26, 2015, he had his contract purchased when

Anthony Rendon Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World S ...

was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. He made five plate appearances, his first in the major leagues since 2012, and picked up two hits and two walks. He was given and accepted an outright assignment to Syracuse on July 28, 2015. Burriss elected free agency immediately after the 2015 season.

Philadelphia Phillies

Burriss signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in November 2015. After making the opening day roster for the Phillies, he was designated for assignment on June 1, 2016. After spending most of the summer with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, he was recalled by the Phillies in late August.

Washington Nationals

He declared for free agency October 16, 2016, and reunited in December with the Nationals on a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Los Angeles Angels

Burriss signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels in February 2018. He never played a game in the organization.

Personal life and coaching career

Burriss is a Christian. During his career, he performed the

sign of the cross Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...

before batting. Burriss is currently the hitting coach for the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the Triple-A affiliate of the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burriss, Emmanuel 1985 births Living people Baseball players from Washington, D.C. African-American baseball players Woodrow Wilson High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Major League Baseball shortstops San Francisco Giants players Washington Nationals players Philadelphia Phillies players Kent State Golden Flashes baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Augusta GreenJackets players San Jose Giants players Scottsdale Scorpions players Fresno Grizzlies players Gigantes del Cibao players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Louisville Bats players Syracuse Chiefs players 21st-century African-American sportspeople Tigres del Licey players Leones del Escogido players 20th-century African-American people Minor league baseball coaches