Thomas Everett Burns (March 30, 1857 – March 19, 1902) was an American infielder and manager 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), ...

, primarily for the Chicago White Stockings/Colts/Orphans. He also played for, and managed, the Pittsburgh Pirates for part of one season, and he returned to the Chicago team for two years as its manager after his major-league playing career ended. In the last few years of his life, Burns managed in the minor leagues. He died of heart problems in New Jersey at the age of 44. His brother, John Burns, was a

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

Early life and playing career

Burns was born in 1857 in

Honesdale, Pennsylvania Honesdale is a borough in and the county seat of Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 4,458 at the time of the 2020 census. Honesdale is located northeast of Scranton in a rural area that provides many recr ...

. He joined the Chicago team in the National League (then known as the White Stockings) in 1880. A nondrinker and nonsmoker, Burns stayed on the good side of Chicago manager

Cap Anson Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association (NA), he played a record 27 ...

because of his tame lifestyle. He sported a red handlebar mustache during his playing career. From 1883 to 1889, Burns was part of a Chicago infield combination that manager

described as a "stonewall infield". Some sportswriters also picked up the term, even though several infields had better fielding statistics. Burns led the league in putouts and assists multiple times. Chicago won league pennants in 1885 and 1886. On September 6, 1883, Burns had one of the most productive innings in baseball history when he hit two doubles and a home run during an 18-run seventh inning for Chicago. His three hits and three runs set single-inning records; teammates

Ned Williamson Edward Nagle "Ned" Williamson (October 24, 1857 – March 3, 1894) was a professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball. He played for three teams: the Indianapolis Blues of the National League (NL) for one season, the Chicago White ...

and

Fred Pfeffer Nathaniel Frederick Pfeffer (March 17, 1860 – April 10, 1932), nicknamed "Dandelion" and "Fritz", was an American baseball player. He was a second baseman in Major League Baseball between 1882 and 1897. His final game took place on June 14, 18 ...

also had three hits in the inning. The White Stockings won the game 26–6. No other major-league player had a three-hit inning until 1953. In 1888, Burns was a member of an American baseball team that left the U.S. on a world baseball tour that would end up in Australia.

Managerial career

The Pittsburgh Pirates purchased Burns from Chicago in 1892. Transitioning into a player-manager role, Burns led a talented Pittsburgh Pirates team. Though the team had two future members of the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

–

Joe Kelley Joseph James Kelley (December 9, 1871 – August 14, 1943) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who starred in the outfield of the Baltimore Orioles teams of the 1890s. Making up the nucleus of the Orioles along with Joh ...

and

Jake Beckley Jacob Peter Beckley (August 4, 1867 – June 25, 1918), nicknamed "Eagle Eye", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, Pittsburgh Burghers, Pittsburgh Pirates, New Yo ...

– the team started the season with a 25–30 record and Burns was dismissed. From 1893 through 1897, Burns became a minor-league manager with the

Springfield Ponies Springfield Ponies was the primary name of minor league baseball teams based in Springfield, Massachusetts that played between 1893 and 1943. The team competed as the Ponies through its history except for single seasons as the Maroons (1895), Tip ...

of the Eastern League, and he made appearances as a player for the Ponies until 1896. In 1898, the Chicago Orphans initially denied that Burns was being hired to replace Anson. Anson had written a letter to Burns in which he said that Burns was his ideal successor, but Anson said that it had not been written with the thought that he would actually resign. Despite the initial denials, Burns did become Chicago's manager for 1898 and 1899. He led the team to an 85–65 record in his first season, and a 75–73 record the next year. He resigned after the 1899 season. According to newspaper accounts at the time, Burns showed impressive knowledge of the game but was too nice to his players, often failing to control his team off the field. Burns returned as the Springfield manager in 1900, and he managed the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

for part of the 1901 season.

Personal

Burns's brother John was hired as a National League umpire in 1884, but he was fired in August of that year.

Death

Before the 1902 baseball season, Burns was hired as the manager of an Eastern League team based in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Patrick T. Powers Patrick T. Powers (June 27, 1860 – August 29, 1925) was an American baseball executive who served as president of the Eastern League and founding president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL). Already president ...

, the president of the Eastern League, invited Burns to his home to rest. Burns said that he felt better on the evening of March 18, but he was found dead in bed at Powers's home the next morning. A doctor was consulted, and he attributed the death to heart disease. He is interred St. Michael Cemetery in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

References

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