Dick Burns

From BR Bullpen

Richard Simon Burns

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 5' 7", Weight 140 lb.

Debut May 3, 1883
Final Game July 23, 1885
Born December 26, 1863 in Holyoke, MA USA
Died November 16, 1937 in Holyoke, MA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Dick Burns was a young two-way player who was a big star in the Union Association but not so impressive in the National League before and after 1884.

He broke into the National League at age 19, appearing in 37 games for the Detroit Wolverines. In his 17 as a pitcher, he went 2-12. When not pitching he mostly played right field, and had a batting average under .200 on a team whose overall batting average was .250.

The next year he was in the Union Association, going 23-15 as a pitcher for the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds. He and George Bradley, who went 25-15, were the star hurlers for the Cincinnati team. As a hitter, Burns hit .306 and led the league in triples. He was in the top ten in the league in numerous categories, both as a hitter and as a pitcher.

When the Union Association folded, he went back to the National League, with the St. Louis Maroons, where he pitched in only one game and appeared in 14 total with a batting average of .222.

Showing the limits of the similarity scores method, one of the most similar pitchers is Mark Fidrych and one of the most similar hitters is Barbaro Garbey. Both were similar in that they had some brief success, but other than that it's hard to see the similarity.

He apparently pitched for the minor league Milwaukee Brewers for a while in 1885. Source: "The Minor League Milwaukee Brewers".

Bill James uses Burns in the book "The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract" as a prime example of how the caliber of play in the Union Association was not as good as in the National League.