Alex Burr
From BR Bullpen
Alexander Thomson Burr
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 3½", Weight 190 lb.
- School Williams College
- High School Choate Rosemary Hall
- Debut April 21, 1914
- Final Game April 21, 1914
- Born November 1, 1893 in Chicago, IL USA
- Died October 12, 1918 in Cazaux, France
[edit] Biographical Information
Alex Burr was one of at least five major league players who died while serving in World War I.
It's a curious coincidence with this player's name that Vice President Aaron Burr killed former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the most famous duel in American history. However, Alex Burr was often known to his friends as "Tom" (from his middle name, Thomson).
He was one of nine major-league players to come from Williams College, although he never played college ball there. Burr had a tremendous schoolboy record as a pitcher at the Choate School in Connecticut, now known as Choate Rosemary Hall. The New York Yankees signed him in January 1914, and he made the club in spring training. He was 20 when he played in his one game in the majors, appearing in centerfield after manager Frank Chance had made several substitutions in a game-tying rally. (Chance, who had inserted himself as a pinch-runner, made his last big-league appearance that day.) Burr had no chances in the field, and the Yankees won the game before he made any plate appearances.
Burr then went to the minor leagues and returned to college after his one pro season. In 1917, he enlisted to serve in World War I and wound up with the U.S. Army Air Service. He was killed during a training accident, before his 25th birthday and less than a month before the Armistice that would end the fighting.
