Scott Hunter Burcham (born June 17, 1993) is an

American-Israeli , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

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 ...

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 ...

for the

Charleston Dirty Birds The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. He also plays for Team Israel. In high school, Burcham was named the top defensive shortstop in the

Greater Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. In college at

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

, he was voted to the 2015 Preseason All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

Team. He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 25th round of the

2015 Major League Baseball Draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks ...

. Burcham started at shortstop for

Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic Team Israel has competed in the World Baseball Classic since the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier round. In 2017 Israel competed at a World Baseball Classic qualifier for the second time, and for the first time qualified for the main tourname ...

qualifier. He played for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. In November 2019, he obtained

Israeli citizenship Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world has ...

so that he could play for Team Israel at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. He played shortstop for Team Israel at the

in Tokyo in the summer of 2021.

Early life

Burcham was born in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, but has lived in

La Quinta La Quinta (Spanish language, Spanish for "The Fifth") is a desert resort town, resort city in Riverside County, California, United States. Located between Indian Wells, California, Indian Wells and Indio, California, Indio, it is one of the nin ...

, California for most of his life."Scotty Burcham",
Sacramento State Athletics. His parents are Tim and Mimi Burcham, and he is Jewish."Hornet alumnus starred for Israel in World Baseball Classic,"
The State Hornet. His father was drafted by the California Angels in 1985 and played 10 years in the minor leagues for the Angels and San Francisco Giants organizations.

High school

Burcham is childhood best friends with catcher

Brian Serven Brian Nicholas Serven (born May 5, 1995) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Serven was drafted by the Rockies in the fifth round of the 2016 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2 ...

. He played baseball as a four-year starter at

Palm Desert High School Palm Desert High School is a secondary school located in Palm Desert, California. The school is a part of the Desert Sands Unified School District. Academics Palm Desert offers numerous Advanced Placement and Honors courses, amongst CP classes ...

. Burcham was all-

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a s ...

(CIF) as a junior and senior, all-

Desert Valley League The Desert Valley League is an American high school sports league primarily within the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California with some schools from surrounding areas. The league is affiliated with the CIF Southern Section The Califor ...

as a sophomore, junior, and senior, and named the top defensive shortstop in the

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

by the ''

'' before his senior season. He batted .371 in his senior season."Former Aztec Scotty Burcham makes Israeli WBC roster,"
''Desert Sun''. He established his high school's career and single-season hits records.

College

Burcham played college baseball for the

Sacramento State Hornets The Sacramento State Hornets (also Sac State) represent California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, the capital city of the U.S. state of California, in intercollegiate athletics. The school fields 21 teams including men and women's ba ...

, of the

(WAC). while majoring in Economics. In his sophomore year in 2013, starting at shortstop he was third in the WAC with 175 assists, and tied for fifth in the WAC with 37

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

s. In his junior year in 2014, he batted .300/.351/.367 and ranked fourth in the WAC with 71 hits, ninth with 14 doubles, was fifth in the WAC with 154 assists, and was voted to the All-San Luis Obispo NCAA Regional Team. By the end of his junior year he was third in school history with 22 career

sacrifice hit In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

s. He was voted to the 2015 Preseason All-WAC Team, and in his senior season he batted .329./.382/.465 and had 46 runs (6th in the WAC), 6 triples (leading the conference), 16 stolen bases (4th), and 5 sacrifice flies (leading the conference).

Professional career

Colorado Rockies

Burcham was drafted by the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in the 25th round of the

. In 2015, he played for the

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in Garden City, Idaho, a small city surround ...

of the Class A (Short)

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

, posting a .235 batting average with two home runs and 11 RBIs. Burcham played in 2016 for the

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in differen ...

of the Class A (Full)

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 ...

, batting .271/.338/.382. In the 2017 season he played for the

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

of the Class A-Advanced

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 ...

. Burcham batted .251/.301/.349 over 235 at bats with three home runs, 26 RBIs, and nine steals.">"Burcham helps lead Israel to World Baseball Classic success,"
''The State Hornet''. In the 2018 season Burcham played for the

Hartford Yard Goats The Hartford Yard Goats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Yard Goats, which play in the Eastern League, are the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The team was founded in 2016 when the New Britain R ...

of the Class AA Eastern League. He batted .263/.328/.349 over 175 at bats with two home runs, 15 RBIs, and six steals. In 2019 with the Yard Goats he batted .200/.287/.295 over 220 at bats with three home runs, 21 RBIs, and five steals. Burcham did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He began the 2021 season playing for the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an el ...

, in his AAA debut. Burcham batted .234/.273/.315 over 124 at bats with 1 home run and 9 RBIs in 52 games played. He missed nearly a month of action during the season in order to play for Team Israel at the

. Burcham elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

On February 25, 2022, Burcham signed with the

Southern Maryland Blue Crabs The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are an American professional baseball team based in Waldorf, Maryland. They are members of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseba ...

of the

. Burcham appeared in two games for the Blue Crabs before he was traded,playing shortstop and going hitless in seven at bats.

Charleston Dirty Birds

On April 28, 2022, Burcham was traded to the

of the Atlantic League in exchange for a player to be named later.

Team Israel

Burcham played shortstop for

qualifier. Burcham was the starting shortstop in all three games, while batting eighth. During the opening game of the qualifier Burcham went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Burcham went 1-for-3 during the second game; however, he was thrown out on a caught stealing. In the final game, Burcham went 3-for-4, with a strikeout and two runs scored, finishing the series batting .455. He was the starting shortstop for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in the main tournament, in March 2017. In the tournament's opener, Burcham singled in the game-winning run in the 10th inning in a 2-1 win over South Korea. In the WBC, he batted .261 with two RBIs and a 1.000 fielding percentage. In November 2019, he obtained

so that he could play for Team Israel at the

in Tokyo. He played shortstop for Team Israel at the

in Tokyo in the summer of 2021.

References

External links

Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burcham, Scott 1993 births Living people Israeli American Israeli baseball players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from California Boise Hawks players Hartford Yard Goats players Jewish American baseball players Lancaster JetHawks players People from La Quinta, California Sacramento State Hornets baseball players Baseball players from Phoenix, Arizona Sportspeople from Riverside County, California 2017 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of Israel 21st-century American Jews