Wallace Harper Burnette (June 20, 1929 – February 12, 2003) 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 pitched for the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

from -. He was born in

Blairs, Virginia Blairs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 Census was 916. Chatham-Blairs is also the name of a political dist ...

. In three seasons, he compiled a win–loss record of 14–21, appeared in 68 games, started 27 games, completing 5 games and once pitching a

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

, pitched 262.7 innings, walked 122, struck out 122, gave up 259 hits, and had a career

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 3.65. His key pitch was his

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This chan ...

. Burnette was signed as an amateur free agent by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, but was traded to Kansas City for future Hall of Fame manager

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Nati ...

on July 11, 1956. Burnette's daughter said of him: :''He thought the salaries urrent major leaguerswere drawing were ridiculous. What he made then wasn't even 1 percent of what they're making now. He played for the love of the game.''Danville Register and Bee. February 13, 2002.

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Wally Burnette Obituary
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnette, Wally 1929 births 2003 deaths Baseball players from Virginia Major League Baseball pitchers Kansas City Athletics players Denver Bears players Portland Beavers players Shreveport Sports players Binghamton Triplets players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Norfolk Tars players Knuckleball pitchers People from Pittsylvania County, Virginia Easton Yankees players Blackstone Barristers players

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