Highlighted Year: Smoky Burgess, 1960

Catcher, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 33

2^nd season with Pirates

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height:5’8”    Weight: 185 

Prior to 1960:

A North Carolina native, Forrest Burgess acquired the nickname “Smoky” in his youth, for reasons not clearly known. He was a leadoff-hitting infielder for Tri High School in Corleen and also played American Legion ball. Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1943, the contract was voided by Commissioner Landis due to Burgess being too young. A bit later he signed with the Chicago Cubs. Initially assigned to Lockport of the Class D Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York (or Pony) League, the 17-year-old catcher and outfielder batted .325 with a .354 on-base percentage. He briefly played for Portsmouth of the Piedmont League in 1945 before joining the Army. He returned for the last game of the 1946 Pacific Coast League season with the Los Angeles Angels. In 1947 he was assigned to Fayetteville of the Class B Tri-State League where he won the league batting title by hitting .387 while also accumulating 28 doubles, 11 home runs, 76 RBIs, a .454 OBP, and a .554 slugging percentage. A shoulder injury suffered in the Army had Burgess playing more in the outfield than behind the plate, but clearly did not hinder his batting. He spent 1948 with the Nashville Volunteers of the Class AA Southern Association where he won another batting title by hitting .386 with 38 doubles, 6 triples, 22 home runs, 102 RBIs, a .428 OBP, and a .654 slugging percentage. No longer thin as in his youth, he settled into playing catcher along with some outfield. Burgess started the 1949 season with the Cubs and appeared primarily as a pinch-hitter who saw occasional duty as a backstop. He played in 46 major league games and batted .268 with a home run, 12 RBIs, and a .317 OBP. He was sent to Los Angeles of the PCL once again and appeared in 19 games for the Angels. Burgess spent 1950 in Class AAA with Springfield of the International League and batted .327 with 15 doubles, 10 triples, 8 home runs, 52 RBIs, a .386 OBP, and a ,514 slugging percentage. He returned to the major leagues for good in 1951 as he appeared in 94 games for the Cubs and hit .251 with 8 extra-base hits, 20 RBIs, and a .317 OBP. In the offseason he was traded twice, first to Cincinnati and then to the Philadelphia Phillies. Seeing regular duty behind the plate for the Phillies in 1952 he batted .296 with 27 doubles, 6 home runs, 56 RBIs, a .380 OBP, and a .429 slugging percentage. An aggressive and talented line-drive hitter at the plate, he was slow and suspect defensively with the lingering shoulder problem causing him to be poor at throwing out opposing baserunners, although he proved to be adept at handling pitchers. Sharing the catching duties with Stan Lopata in 1953 Burgess appeared in 102 games and hit .292 with 17 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, 36 RBIs, a .370 OBP, and a .417 slugging percentage. The easy-going Burgess could be adept at heckling other players but off-the-field he was a devout Baptist who did not smoke or drink. Burgess was an All-Star for the first time in 1954 as he batted .368 with 27 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, 46 RBIs, a .432 OBP, and a .510 slugging percentage. Due to his platooning with the right-handed batting Lopata, he didn’t have sufficient at bats to qualify for the NL batting title. Early in the 1955 season Burgess was traded to Cincinnati in a deal which brought catcher Andy Seminick back to the Phillies, who had been part of the trade that brought Burgess to Philadelphia. With the Reds (commonly called “Redlegs” at this time, due to “Red Scare” concerns), he went on to bat .306 with 20 home runs, 77 RBIs, a .373 OBP, and a .499 slugging percentage, and was once again an All-Star. Along the way he had a three-home run, 9-RBI game in July against Pittsburgh. In 1956, he found himself in a familiar situation, splitting time behind the plate with Ed Bailey, a better defensive catcher as well as a power hitter. The two combined for 40 home runs with Burgess providing 12 to go along with 39 RBIs, a .275 batting average, a .346 OBP, and a .476 slugging percentage. He also was behind the plate when three Cincinnati pitchers combined to hold the Braves hitless in Milwaukee for 9.2 innings before the no-hitter and, eventually the game, was lost. Continuing to share backstop duties with Bailey in 1957, Burgess enhanced his reputation as a top pinch-hitter. He appeared in 90 games, 45 as a catcher, and hit .283 with 14 doubles, 14 home runs, 39 RBIs, a .353 OBP, and a .566 slugging percentage. In the same role in 1958, he saw more action behind the plate and batted .283 with 12 doubles, 6 home runs, 31 RBIs, a .343 OBP, and a .410 slugging percentage. In 1959 he was part of a seven-player trade with the Pirates, in need of a catcher who could provide some batting punch (as one preview magazine said about Burgess, “Smoky’s, no gazelle behind the plate, but he’ll hit”). Hit he did in ’59, batting .297 (.412 as a pinch-hitter) with 28 doubles, 5 triples, 11 home runs, 59 RBIs, a .349 OBP, and a .485 slugging percentage. For a second time, he was behind the plate during an ultimately futile no-hit effort. In a May game against the Braves in Milwaukee LHP Harvey Haddix pitched 12 perfect innings before ultimately losing the no-hitter and the game in the thirteenth inning. In the offseason another catcher, Hal Smith, was obtained from the Kansas City A’s to provide a platoon partner with Burgess, a familiar situation that worked out well for the Pirates.

1960 Season Summary

Appeared in 110 games

C – 89, PH – 24

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 376

At Bats – 337

Runs – 33

Hits – 99

Doubles – 15

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 7

RBI – 39

Bases on Balls – 35

Int. BB – 12 [5, tied with Ed Bressoud]

Strikeouts – 13

Stolen Bases – 0

Caught Stealing – 1

Average - .294 [Non-qualifying]

OBP - .356 [Non-qualifying]

Slugging Pct. - .412

Total Bases – 139

GDP – 6

Hit by Pitches – 0

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 4 

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 6, HR - 5, RBI - 23, AVG - .307, OBP - .361, SLG - .446

---

Most hits, game – 4 (in 6 AB) at St. Louis 6/12

Longest hitting streak – 8 games

HR at home – 5

HR on road – 2

Most home runs, game – 1 on seven occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 3 at Milwaukee 7/4

Pinch-hitting – 9 for 20 (.450) with 1 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI & 3 BBFielding

Fielding

Chances – 526

Put Outs – 485

Assists – 38

Errors – 3

Passed Balls – 2

DP – 7

Pct. - .994

Postseason Batting: 5 G (World Series vs. NY Yankees)

PA – 20, AB – 18, R – 2, H – 6, 2B – 1,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 0, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 1, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .333, OBP - .400, SLG - .389, TB – 7, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

All-Star

20^th in NL MVP voting, tied with Frank Robinson, Cin. & Larry Sherry LAD (2 points, 1% share)

---

The Pirates went 95-59 to win the NL pennant by 7 games over the Milwaukee Braves for their first pennant since 1927. They led the NL in runs scored (734), hits (1493), doubles (236), RBIs (689), batting (.276), OBP (.335), and total bases (2201). The Pirates moved into first place on May 29 and held off all challengers for the rest of the way. They won the World Series over the New York Yankees, 4 games to 3, capped by Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7 walk-off home run.

Aftermath of 1960:

The Pirates dropped off significantly in 1961 but Burgess was an All-Star once again, batting .303 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs, 52 RBIs, a .365 OBP, and a .486 slugging percentage while appearing in 100 games, 15 as a pinch-hitter. Battling ulcers in 1962, Burgess started 94 games behind the plate and hit .328 with 19 doubles, 13 home runs, 61 RBIs, a .375 OBP, and a .500 slugging percentage. Splitting time with young Jim Pagliaroni in 1963 the 36-year-old Burgess appeared in 91 games and batted .280 with 6 home runs, 37 RBIs, and a .338 OBP. With Pagliaroni taking over as starting catcher in 1964, Burgess appeared in only 44 games as backstop and also had 26 at bats as a pinch-hitter. He hit .246 with 6 extra-base hits, 17 RBIs, and a .303 OBP before being waived in September. He was picked up by the White Sox, who wanted use of his bat off the bench as they contended for the AL pennant. He remained almost exclusively in the role of pinch-hitter in 1965, tying the existing AL record with 20 pinch-hits. His career total of 117 at that point broke the existing AL/NL record by four and was a tribute to his ability to enter a game “cold” in the later innings and produce. Very heavy by this point, he was a .313 hitter with a .413 OBP In 1966, and in his last season in 1967, his average dipped to .133 with a .303 OBP. For his major league career, Burgess batted .295 with 1318 hits that included 230 doubles, 33 triples, and 126 home runs. He scored 485 runs and compiled 673 RBIs, a .362 OBP, and a .446 slugging percentage. With the Pirates he batted .296 with 178 runs scored, 543 hits, 92 doubles, 14 triples, 51 home runs, 265 RBIs, a .352 OBP, and a .445 slugging percentage. As a pinch-hitter he batted .285 and delivered 144 hits, 27 doubles, 16 home runs, 147 RBIs, a .376 OBP, and a .434 slugging percentage. The 1960 World Series proved to be his only postseason appearance. He was a nine-time All-Star. After his playing career, Burgess was a scout and minor league batting coach for the Atlanta Braves. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1975 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1978. Burgess died in 1991 at age 64.

---

Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.