MVP Profile: Jeff Burroughs, 1974

Outfielder, Texas Rangers

Age:  23

4th season with Senators/Texans 

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 200

Prior to 1974:

A native of Long Beach, California Burroughs was chosen by the then-Washington Senators as the first overall pick in the 1969 major league amateur draft and received an $88,000 contract. With his fine batting stroke that allowed him to spray hits to all fields, he hit .355 with 8 home runs and 48 RBIs in 52 games with Wytheville of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in ’69. He advanced to Denver of the Class AAA American Association in 1970 when he also had a brief call-up to the Senators and hit .167 in six games. Burroughs batted .269 with 17 home runs and 71 RBIs during his time with Denver that year and bounced between Denver and Washington again in 1971. With the move of the Senators to Arlington, Texas in 1972 it was more of the same for the temperamental Burroughs who hit .303 with 24 home runs in Class AAA and .185 for the Rangers. He made it to the Rangers to stay in 1973 and hit 30 home runs with a .279 average and 85 RBIs.

1974 Season Summary

Appeared in 152 games

RF – 150, 1B – 2, DH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 662 [8]

At Bats – 554 [17, tied with John Briggs]

Runs – 84 [7, tied with Sal Bando & Dick Allen]

Hits – 167 [7, tied with Hal McRae]

Doubles – 33 [5]

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 25 [4, tied with Bobby Darwin]

RBI – 118 [1]

Bases on Balls – 91 [3]

Int. BB – 12 [5, tied with Thurman Munson]

Strikeouts – 104 [8]

Stolen Bases – 2

Caught Stealing – 3

Average - .301 [7, tied with Carl Yastrzemski & Dick Allen]

OBP - .397 [3]

Slugging Pct. - .504 [3]

Total Bases – 279 [3]

GDP – 17 [7, tied with five others]

Hit by Pitches – 5 [13, tied with thirteen others]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 12 [2, tied with Amos Otis & Bobby Murcer]

League-leading RBIs were +15 ahead of runner-up Sal Bando

Midseason snapshot: HR – 16, RBI – 73, AVG – .285, SLG PCT – .486

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) at Kansas City 5/19, (in 5 AB) at Chi. White Sox 8/3, (in 6 AB) at Oakland 9/6 – 11 innings

Longest hitting streak – 12 games

HR at home – 8

HR on road – 17

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 3 AB) at Chi. White Sox 8/4

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 6 at Chi. White Sox 8/3

Pinch-hitting – No appearances

Fielding

Chances – 248

Put Outs – 231

Assists – 10

Errors – 7

DP – 5

Pct. - .972

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star (Started for AL in LF)

Top 6 in AL MVP Voting:

Jeff Burroughs, Tex.: 248 pts. - 10 of 23 first place votes, 74% share

Joe Rudi, Oak.: 161 pts. – 5 first place votes, 48% share

Sal Bando, Oak.: 143 pts. – 3 first place votes, 43% share

Reggie Jackson, Oak.: 119 pts. – 1 first place vote, 35% share

Ferguson Jenkins, Tex.: 118 pts. – 3 first place votes, 35% share

Jim Hunter, Oak.: 107 pts. – 1 first place vote, 32% share

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Rangers went 84-76 to finish second in the AL Western Division, 5 games behind the division-winning Oakland Athletics.  

Aftermath of '74:

Burroughs followed up by hitting 29 home runs and knocking in 94 runs in 1975, although his average dropped to .226 as he began to pull the ball and swing for the fences at Arlington Stadium, which was not a venue conducive to the long ball. His productivity dropped off further in 1976, with 18 home runs and 86 RBIs to go with a .237 batting average. Burroughs was traded to the Atlanta Braves and hit .271 with 41 home runs and 114 RBIs in 1977. He was an All-Star with the Braves in 1978 when he hit 23 home runs with 77 RBIs and a .301 average while leading the NL in walks drawn (117) and on-base percentage (.432). Lesser seasons in 1979 and ’80 led to his being traded to the Seattle Mariners in 1981. Following another mediocre year (10 home runs, 41 RBIs, .254 average) Burroughs moved on to Oakland in ’82 where he was utilized primarily as a Designated Hitter who batted .277 with 16 home runs and 48 RBIs. His production dropped in 1983 to 10 home runs and a .269 average and Burroughs bottomed out in 1984 with the A’s by hitting just .211 in 58 games. He finished his career with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1985, batting .257 with 6 home runs and 28 RBIs. Never fully reaching the heights that were anticipated for him, overall in the major leagues Burroughs hit .261 with 240 home runs and 882 RBIs. Of those totals, 108 home runs, 412 RBIs, and a .255 batting average were achieved with the Senators/Rangers. His son Sean, who he coached in Little League, went on to play third base for San Diego and Tampa Bay.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.