Jesse Burkett Stats & Facts
Jesse Burkett
Position: Leftfielder
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
5-8, 155lb (173cm, 70kg)
Born: December 4, 1868 in Wheeling, WV
Died: May 27, 1953 in Worcester, MA
Buried: St. John Cemetery, Worcester, MA
Debut: April 22, 1890, (1,390th in major league history)
Last Game: October 7, 1905
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1946. (Voted by Old Timers Committee)
Induction ceremony in Cooperstown held in 1947.
View Jesse Burkett’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Rookie Status: Exceeded rookie limits during 1890 season
Full Name: Jesse Cail Burkett
Nicknames: Crab
Pronunciation: \BUR-ket\
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Played For
New York Giants (1890)
Cleveland Spiders (1891-1898)
St. Louis Cardinals (1899-1901)
St. Louis Browns (1902-1904)
Boston Red Sox (1905)
Players Who Debuted in 1890
Cy Young
Kid Nichols
George Davis
Jesse Burkett
Bill Joyce
Billy Rhines
Jake Stenzel
Bobby Lowe
Tommy Corcoran
All-Time Teammate Team
C: Chief Zimmer
1B: Patsy Tebeau
2B: Cupid Childs
3B: John McGraw
SS: Bobby Wallace
LF: Chick Stahl
CF: Buck Ewing
RF: Jack O’Connor
SP: Cy Young
SP: Amos Rusie
SP: Jack Powell
SP: Bill Dineen
M: Patsy Tebeau
Notable Events and Chronology
Biography
Jesse Burkett was one of the finest hitters of the 1890s and early 1900s, winning three batting titles and hitting .338 in a 16-year major league career.
Burkett began his pro career as a pitcher and split his rookie year in the majors between the outfield and the mound for the 1890 New York Giants. He was 3-10 with a 5.57 ERA in 21 games as a pitcher and hit .309 in 109 games overall.Growing up in Wheeling, WV, a baseball hotbed at the time, he had begun his professional career with Scranton of the Central League in 1888, winning 14 games. He then had a tremendous season for Worcester of the Atlantic Association in 1889, going 30-6. He married a local woman that year, and settled down in Worcester, MA for the remainder of his life. He was signed by the Giants on the recommendation of Jack Glasscock, a fellow native of Wheeling and one of the top shortstop in the Major Leagues at the time.
After his unsuccessful first stint in the National league, Burkett went to the Western Association in 1891, playing the outfield full time for Lincoln. He hit .316 and was signed by the Cleveland Spiders on August 15. He blossomed into a star at the plate, hitting over .300 for 10 straight seasons beginning in 1893. He twice hit over .400 (.409 in 1895 and .410 in 1896), winning batting titles both years. On his Hall of Fame plaque, Burkett is credited for hitting over .400 three times; subsequent research and updated records have lowered his 1899 batting average to .396. He was a teammate of stars such as Cy Young, Chief Zimmer and Cupid Childs with the Spiders, and the team played regularly in the postseason series of the day, winning the Temple Cup in 1895.
In 1899, Burkett moved on to the St. Louis Cardinals (then known as the Perfectos) as part of the shenanigans that turned the Spiders – one of the top teams in baseball over the previous decade – into the worst team ever. He won another batting title with the Cardinals in 1901, hitting .376. After that year, he jumped to the St. Louis Browns of the new American League, but his average declined in each of his three years with the club. He ended his career with the Boston Americans in 1905.
In addition to his hitting, Burkett was also known for his speed, stealing 389 bases in his career. He also holds a record with 55 lifetime inside-the-park home runs. He was also a terrific bunter, who could lay down the ball wherever he wanted on the field. However, he was a liability in the field, posting a large number of errors in the outfield, something that was relatively common at that time. His surly disposition also made him unpopular with his teammates, earning him the nickname “The Crab”, but he was not that way off the field, earning a reputation for working well with young players and with children in the off-season and leading to his continuous involvement in the game after his retirement as a player.
After his major league career, he was the owner/manager of the Worcester Busters from 1906 to 1915. He was skipper of the Lowell Grays, Lawrence Barristers, and Hartford Senators in the Eastern League in 1916. He was then the coach at College of the Holy Cross from 1917 to 1920, also managing the Haverhill Climbers of the New England League in 1919. Burkett was a New York Giants coach in 1921 under manager John McGraw, accompanying the team to the World Series that season. He returned to the minors as manager of the Worcester Panthers in 1923 and 1924. He was skipper of the Lewiston Twins in 1928 and 1929 and ended his managerial career by spending part of the 1933 campaign with the Lowell Lauriers. He was head coach of Assumption College in 1928 and 1931-1932. He also spent time as a Giants scout.
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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts
In a career linked with Cy Young, Jesse Burkett played for the Cleveland Spiders in the 1890s, where he set records for hits and batting. He twice topped the .400 mark, and scored 100 runs or more nine times. He earned his nickname “Crab”, not because of his playing style, but due to his surly disposition.
Nicknames: Crab
Depending on the source, Burkett either earned the name “Crab” for his surly disposition or the peculiar manner of his stride. The truth is that he got it for the first reason.
Best Season, 1896
One of the finest seasons by any player prior to 1900, Burkett laced 240 hits, including 27 doubles, 16 triples, and six homers. He scored 160 runs in 133 games, batting .410 with a .461 OBP.
Factoid
Jesse Burkett, Ty Cobb, and Rogers Hornsby are the only players to hit .400 in a season three times.
Where He Played: Left field. Burkett pitched in 23 games and had a dismal 3-11 record with a 5.56 ERA. He was wild, to put it mildly. He walked more than 90 batters in 123 innings.
Notes
Burkett was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Committee on Baseball Veterans in 1946. He was 77 years old at the time.
Transactions
Before 1902 Season: Jumped from the St. Louis Cardinals to the St. Louis Browns; January 16, 1905: Traded by the St. Louis Browns with Frank Huelsman to the Boston Pilgrims for George Stone.
Data courtesy of Restrosheet.org
Matchup Data
On April 26, 1902, Burkett collected the only hit off Addie Joss in the future Hall of Fame pitcher’s major league debut. Joss led Cleveland to a 3-0 victory over Burkett’s St. Louis Browns.
Replaced
Jack Hoey, a rookie left fielder for the 1906 Bostom Americans.
Best Strength as a Player
Bat control. For every story about Luke Appling’s being able to foul off pitches, there are probably two stories about Burkett’s ability to do the same.
Largest Weakness as a Player
His throwing arm.
Other Resources & Links
View Jesse Burkett’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
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