MVP Profile: George Burns, 1926

First Baseman, Cleveland Indians

Age:  33

5^th season with Indians (4^th complete)

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 180

Prior to 1926:

Born in Niles, Ohio, Burns also lived in Tioga, Pennsylvania (hence his nickname, “Tioga George”) and Philadelphia. He dropped out of Philadelphia Central High School at age 16 and at 20 signed with Quincy of the Central Association in 1913 for $150 per month. He played for two other teams in the same league during the season, hit well, and finished up the year in the Class A Western League with the Sioux City Packers. His contract was bought by the Detroit Tigers in 1914 where he became the regular first baseman and batted .291 with 22 doubles, 5 triples, 5 home runs, and 57 RBIs. Less adept in the field, Burns led all AL first basemen with 30 errors.  He had a difficult relationship with manager Hugh Jennings during his Detroit tenure, which came to an end after four seasons in 1917, a year in which he slumped badly at the plate and batted .226. Burns was dealt to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918, where he filled a need for a first baseman. He led the AL with 178 hits and 236 total bases in the war-shortened season and batted .352 with 70 RBIs. Off to a slow start at bat in 1919 Burns had difficulty in the field as well and manager Connie Mack gave him a trial in the outfield, where his lack of speed was a liability. He ended up hitting .296 with 29 doubles, 9 triples, 8 home runs, and 57 RBIs for the last-place A’s. Burns started the 1920 season with the A’s and was sold to the Indians for $10,000. Primarily used as a backup to starting first baseman Doc Johnston, he appeared in 44 games with the Indians, who won the AL pennant. Burns contributed a .268 batting average and additionally three hits in the World Series victory over Brooklyn. Still a backup to Johnston in 1921 he batted .361 while playing in 84 games. In the offseason, his first stint with the Indians came to an end when Burns was traded to the Boston Red Sox along with two other players for veteran first baseman Stuffy McInnis. Playing regularly at first base he hit .306 in 1922 with a career-high 12 home runs while knocking in 73 RBIs. He also led all AL first basemen with 20 errors as well. “Tioga George” followed up by hitting .328 in 1923 with 47 doubles, 5 triples, 7 home runs, and 82 RBIs. He again topped AL first basemen with 16 errors, although he achieved that rarest of defensive plays, an unassisted triple play, in a September game against his former team, the Indians, making him one of only two first basemen to date to perform the feat in a major league game. In 1924 Burns was dealt back to the Indians where he became the starting first baseman and batted .310 with 37 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, and 68 RBIs. He had another strong performance in 1925, hitting .336 with 41 doubles, 4 triples, 6 home runs, and 79 RBIs.  

1926 Season Summary

Appeared in 151 games

1B – 151

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 657 [14]

At Bats – 603 [6]

Runs – 97 [9]

Hits – 216 [1, tied with Sam Rice]

Doubles – 64 [1]

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 4

RBI – 115 [3]

Bases on Balls – 28

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 33

Stolen Bases – 13 [10, tied with Fred Haney, Lu Blue & Eddie Collins]

Caught Stealing – 7 [19, tied with twelve others]

Average - .358 [4]

OBP - .394 [14, tied with Earl Sheely]

Slugging Pct. - .494 [7]

Total Bases – 298 [5]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 8 [3, tied with Joe Sewell, Homer Summa & Jimmy Dykes]

Sac Hits – 18

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading doubles were +11 ahead of runner-up Al Simmons

Midseason snapshot: HR – 3, RBI – 57, AVG – .362, OBP – .393

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Most hits, game – 4 on five occasions

Longest hitting streak – 15 games

HR at home – 1

HR on road – 3

Most home runs, game – 1 (in 6 AB) at Phila. A’s 5/21 – 13 innings, (in 4 AB) at St. Louis Browns 5/27, (in 5 AB) vs. Detroit 6/2, (in 3 AB) at NY Yankees 7/12

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 4 vs. Detroit 6/2, vs. NY Yankees 8/6, vs. Washington 9/12, vs. Phila. A’s 9/27

Fielding

Chances – 1617

Put Outs – 1499

Assists – 99

Errors – 19

DP – 122

Pct. - .988

Awards & Honors:

AL MVP: League Award

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

George Burns, Clev..: 63 pts. - 98% share

Johnny Mostil, ChiWS: 33 pts. – 52% share

Herb Pennock, NYY: 32 pts. – 50% share

Sam Rice, Wash.: 18 pts. – 28% share

Harry Heilmann, Det.: 16 pts. – 25% share

Heinie Manush, Det.: 16 pts. – 25% share

Al Simmons, PhilaA.: 16 pts. – 25% share

(Ineligible for consideration as prior AL League Award winners: George Sisler, StLB; Babe Ruth, NYY; Walter Johnson, Wash.; Roger Peckinpaugh, Wash.)

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Indians went 88-66 to finish second in the AL, 3 games behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees while leading the league in doubles (333) and fewest batter strikeouts (321). The team rode a late-August, early-September 9-game winning streak to briefly challenge the Yankees down the stretch.

Aftermath of ‘26:

Burns followed up with another strong season in 1927, batting .319 with 51 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, and 78 RBIs. With his role diminishing in 1928, he was traded to the New York Yankees in September. For the year he appeared in 86 games and hit .254 with 5 home runs and 30 RBIs. Little used by the Yankees in 1929, Burns was sold to the Philadelphia A’s where he finished his career as backup to star first baseman Jimmie Foxx. Overall for his major league career he batted .307 with 2018 hits that included 444 doubles, 72 triples, and 72 home runs as well as 954 RBIs. In his two stints with Cleveland he compiled 853 hits, 230 doubles, 20 triples, 22 home runs, and 432 RBIs. He twice led the AL in hits and his 64 doubles in 1926 stood as the major league record until 1931. Following the end of his major league career Burns played and managed in the Pacific Coast League before leaving organized baseball in 1939 to become a deputy sheriff in the Seattle area. He died at age 84 in 1978.

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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.