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| George Burns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First baseman | |
| Born:(1893-01-31)January 31, 1893 Niles, Ohio, U.S. | |
| Died: January 7, 1978(1978-01-07) (aged 84) Kirkland, Washington, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 14, 1914, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 26, 1929, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .307 |
| Hits | 2,018 |
| Home runs | 72 |
| Runs batted in | 954 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
George Henry Burns (January 31, 1893 – January 7, 1978), nicknamed "Tioga George", was an Americanfirst baseman inMajor League Baseball (MLB) who played for fiveAmerican League (AL) teams from 1914 to 1929.[1][2]
One of the league's top right-handedbatters of the 1920s, he was named the ALMost Valuable Player in 1926 with theCleveland Indians afterbatting .358 and setting a major league record with 64doubles. A career .307 hitter, he retired with 2,018hits, then the third-highest total by an AL right-handed hitter. His 1,671 games at first base were the most by an AL right-handed player until 1940; he still ranks third in league history.
Born inNiles, Ohio, Burns was aline drive hitter and a solid defensive first baseman who hit .300 or better in all but one of his full seasons between 1918 and 1927. After four unremarkable seasons with theDetroit Tigers (1914–17), he was acquired by thePhiladelphia Athletics in 1918. In his first season with the team he hit .352, surpassed only by the .382 of Detroit'sTy Cobb, and led the AL in hits (178) andtotal bases (236) while also setting a league record with 109double plays at first base (Earl Sheely surpassed the mark three years later). After slipping to .296 in 1919, he was sent to the Indians in May 1920.
During the 1920 regular season, Burns was stuck behind regular first basemanDoc Johnston; but his play revived in theWorld Series, in which he and Johnston were platooned by managerTris Speaker. Burns started Game 6, and with the Indians up 3–2 in the Series and no score in the sixth inning, Burns doubled home Speaker with the only run of the game as the Indians edged theBrooklyn Dodgers 1–0 to take a 4–2 lead in the nine-game series. Cleveland won again the next day, capturing the first Series title for the franchise.
During the season, after shortstopRay Chapman died one day after being hit by a pitch, Burns had welcomed newly acquiredJoe Sewell by giving him one of his own bats; Sewell went on to use the same bat, which he called "Black Betsy", throughout a 14-year career in which he struck out only 114 times.[citation needed]
After the 1921 season, in which he and Johnston again competed for playing time, he was traded to theBoston Red Sox, and batted .306 and .328 in 1922 and 1923, finishing second in the league in doubles the latter year. He got the first hit ever inYankee Stadium in 1923, and on September 14 of that year against the Indians, Burns turned anunassisted triple play – only the fourth in major league history (third by modern-era baseball rules), and the first by a first baseman. In the second inning, he caughtFrank Brower's line drive, taggedWalt Lutzke off first base and actually ran to second base, sliding in beforeRiggs Stephenson could return from third. The following January, he was traded back to the Indians – notably, in a deal which involvedBill Wambsganss, who had turned the only unassisted triple play in World Series history as Burns's teammate in 1920.
Back with Cleveland, Burns hit over .300 in each of the next four seasons and was regularly among the league leaders in doubles. On June 19, 1924, Burns went 6-for-6 against the Detroit Tigers, the Indians winning 16-5. He recorded 3 doubles in the game.[3] In 1926 he broke Speaker's 1923 major league mark of 59 doubles; his record was broken in 1931 byEarl Webb, though Burns still retains a share of the mark for right-handed hitters, along withJoe Medwick. Burns also led the league in hits (216) for the second time, and was second in the league inruns batted in (RBIs), behindBabe Ruth.[4] For his accomplishments that year he was named the MVP, becoming the first Cleveland player to be so honored, and in May 1927 he was presented with an automobile and a silver bat containing $1,150 during a day honoring him. In 1928 he brokeStuffy McInnis's AL record of 1,608 games at first base, thoughJoe Judge passed him later that year; his AL mark for right-handed players was broken in 1940 byJimmie Foxx, and he still trails only Foxx andGeorge Scott in league history.
After being sent to theNew York Yankees in late 1928, Burns appeared in only 13 games for the team before rejoining the Athletics in 1929. He ended his career with an unusual pinch-hitting appearance in the1929 World Series, in which he won his second championship. In the fourth game, he was sent in to bat for the pitcher with the Athletics down 8–3, and was retired twice in a 10-run inning that resulted in a victory. In his 16-season career, Burns hit 72home runs with 954 RBIs in 1866games played. With 2,018 hits, he then trailed onlyNap Lajoie (2,523) andHarry Heilmann (2,499) in AL history among right-handed hitters; his 444 career doubles ranked eighth in major league history among right-handers, and fifth among all AL players. With 110 times beinghit by a pitch, he ranked second in the AL toKid Elberfeld.
Following his major league career he played for five seasons in thePacific Coast League, leading the league in RBIs in 1932, andmanaged in theminors until 1939.[5] He left baseball to become adeputy sheriff in theSeattle area (King County) until his retirement in 1967.[1]
Burns died in early 1978 at Evergreen Hospital inKirkland at age 84, and was buried atCalvary Cemetery in Seattle.
· Baseball Almanac| Records | ||
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| Preceded by | Single season doubles record holders 1926–1930 | Succeeded by |
