| Joe Burke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General manager /Executive | |
| Born:(1923-12-08)December 8, 1923 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | |
| Died: May 12, 1992(1992-05-12) (aged 68) Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. | |
| Teams | |
| As general manager As president | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
Joseph Roy Burke (December 8, 1923 – May 12, 1992) was an American front office executive inMajor League Baseball who served asgeneral manager or club president of theKansas City Royals for almost 18 years during the most successful period in thatexpansion team's early history.
Burke was executive vice president and general manager of the Royals from the middle of the1974 season through October1981. He then served as club president until his death on May 12, 1992. During his tenure, Burke was general manager of the Royals' firstAmerican League championship team, the1980 edition, then was president of the1985 Royals, who won the franchise's firstWorld Series title. In addition to those two pennant-winners, the Royals wonAmerican League West Division championships in1976,1977,1978,1981 (second half of a split season) and1984. In1976, he was named Major League Executive of the Year byThe Sporting News after his first division title.
Before coming to Kansas City, Burke had been a member of the front office of theTexas Rangers and its predecessor, the second modern-era Washington Senators franchise. He had begun his baseball career in 1948 with theLouisville Colonels of theTriple-AAmerican Association, where he worked under general managerEd Doherty. After rising to the post of GM of the Colonels in1960, Burke joined theexpansion Senators in their debut1961 season as business manager, again working for Doherty, the team's first general manager. He later was named the Senators' vice president and treasurer, and was retained whenBob Short purchased the Senators in1968. He accompanied the franchise to Dallas-Fort Worth when it relocated after the1971 season and became the Rangers' general manager in theirfirst season in North Texas. After two years in that role, Burke moved to the Royals as business manager after the1973 campaign.
In June1974, Burke became the second general manager in the Royals' six-year history. One of his first major moves was the hiring ofWhitey Herzog asmanager during the middle of the1975 season on July 25. Herzog would be elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2010, but he had failed dismally as the Rangers' pilot, working under Burke, during1973. In Kansas City, he would turn the Royals into consistent contenders in the AL West. Burke also appointedJim Frey andDick Howser as managers after Herzog's exit, and each man would lead Kansas City to an American League pennant (and, in Howser's case, the1985 World Series title as well).
Burke became the Royals' second club president after the 1981 season, succeeding ownerEwing Kauffman, and his top assistant,John Schuerholz, was promoted to general manager. Like Herzog, Schuerholz would also be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (in 2017, for his later success as GM of theAtlanta Braves).
Burke died of lymphaticcancer inKansas City, Kansas, at age 68.
| Preceded by | Texas RangersGeneral Manager 1972–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Kansas City RoyalsGeneral Manager 1974–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Kansas City RoyalsPresident 1981–1992 | Succeeded by |