David Allen Burba (born July 7, 1966) is an American former professional baseball

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 ...

who played for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

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 Y ...

, Cincinnati Reds,

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, Texas Rangers, and Milwaukee Brewers 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) from 1990 to 2004. In his 15-year MLB career, Burba's record was 115–87, with 1,398 strikeouts, and a 4.49

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 ...

. He is currently the pitching coach for the

Arizona Complex League Rockies The Arizona Complex League Rockies are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Salt River Fields at Talki ...

Career

On December 11, 1991, Burba was traded by the Seattle Mariners with Mike Jackson and Bill Swift to the San Francisco Giants for Kevin Mitchell, Mike Remlinger, and minor league prospect Joshua Knox. His finest season with San Francisco was in 1993. He was 10–3 and posted a 4.23 ERA. On July 21, 1995, he was traded by the San Francisco Giants with

Darren Lewis Darren Joel Lewis (born August 28, 1967) is an American former professional baseball player who played center field in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics (1990), San Francisco Giants (1991–1995), Cincinnati Reds (1995), C ...

and Mark Portugal to the Cincinnati Reds for Ricky Pickett, John Roper, Deion Sanders,

Scott Service Scott David Service (born February 26, 1967) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for several Major League Baseball teams, between 1988 and 2004. He also pitched one season in Japan, for the Chunichi Dragons in 1991. ...

, and David McCarty. In 1996, Burba was 11–13 and posted an ERA of 3.83. He also hit two home runs as a batter. The next year, he again won 11 games to 10 losses (3 fewer than the previous year) but saw his strikeout numbers drop and his ERA rose by almost a full run (4.73). Before the start of the 1998 season when he was tabbed as the opening day pitcher for the Reds, the Indians acquired him for prospect Sean Casey, looking for someone to fill the void left by

Orel Hershiser Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a bro ...

. He filled in nicely, going 15–10 in 1998, 15–9 in 1999, and 16–6 in 2000. He battled injuries throughout the 2001 season, and went 10–10 with an ERA of 6.21. That off-season, Burba followed General Manager John Hart to the Texas Rangers. He was later placed on waivers and ended up back in Cleveland to finish the season. After the year. Burba signed a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. On September 2, 2004, he was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the San Francisco Giants for minor leaguer Josh Habel. By the 1998 season, his pitching repertoire included the

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

, splitter,

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

, curveball, and

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

End of career

After filing for free agency from the Giants on October 29, 2004, Dave hooked up with the Houston Astros on a minor league deal on March 29, 2005. He spent the entire season in the minor leagues. He tried again in the 2006 season by signing a minor league deal with the Mariners on January 27, 2006. However, the Mariners released him on March 24, 200

His final game in the majors was on September 19, 200

Coaching career

Burba became pitching coach of the

Tri-City Dust Devils The Tri-City Dust Devils are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Pasco, Washington. The Dust Devils are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels. Tri-City plays their home ga ...

for the 2011 season, the class-A team of the Colorado Rockies. He was also the pitching coach for the

Modesto Nuts The Modesto Nuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Modesto, California, and are named for the several types of nuts grown in the region. They play 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 ...

, and

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 ...

, in the Rockies farm system. He is currently the pitching coach for the Rockies High Single-A affiliate Boise Hawks in the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the 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 Major League Basebal ...

References

External links

RetrosheetThe Baseball GaugeVenezuela Winter League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burba, Dave 1966 births Living people Akron Aeros players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball coaches from Ohio Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio Bellingham Mariners players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Indianapolis Indians players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Minor league baseball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Phoenix Firebirds players Round Rock Express players Salinas Spurs players San Bernardino Spirit players San Francisco Giants players Seattle Mariners players Texas Rangers players Williamsport Bills players