Burkett, Jesse C.
Baseball
b. Feb. 12, 1870, Wheeling, WV
d. May 27, 1953
The first player to bat over .400 three times, and one of only three to accomplish that feat, Burkett began his professional career as a pitcher. After a 3-10 record with the NL's New York Giants in 1890, he was sent to the minor leagues and moved to the outfield.
He joined the NL's Cleveland Spiders late in the 1891 season. The 5-foot-8, 155-pound Burkett was a left-handed hitter and a skilled bunter. He once boasted that he could hit .300 if he bunted every time up. When he swung away, he hit line drives to all fields, so he was exceptionally hard to defense.
He batted only .275 in 1892, his first full season, but he then had averages of .348, .358, .409, .410, .383, and .341 with Cleveland, winning batting titles in 1895 and 1896. The franchise collapsed after the 1898 season and Burkett went to the St. Louis NL team with several other Cleveland players.
In 1899, Burkett hit .396 without winning the batting championship. That went to Ed Delahanty, who had a .408 average. But Burkett did win the title in 1901, hitting .376.
Burkett jumped to the St. Louis AL team in 1902, but he was no longer the hitter he had been, largely because he didn't have the speed to get many bunt singles. St. Louis traded him to the Boston AL team in 1905, and Burkett was released after just one season there.
He bought the Worcester, MA, minor league franchise in 1906 and was player-manager of the team through 1913. Burkett later managed several other minor league teams, coached baseball at Holy Cross College from 1917 through 1920, and served as a coach and scout for the New York Giants.