Frank Andrew Burrell (December 22, 1866 – May 8, 1962), was an American professional baseball player who played catcher from 1891 to 1897 for the New York Giants and Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former major league player.
Frank Andrew Burrell was born on December 22, 1866, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The first child of Andrew Burrell, a shoe maker and mechanic, and his second wife Eliza Hayden. Frank grew up with an older sister Alice, from Andrew's first marriage, and two younger brothers, Albert and Fred. Somewhere along the way Frank acquired the nickname “Buster” and it stuck with him throughout his life. Growing up in the suburbs of baseball mad Boston, it was easy for the athletic Burrell to gravitate towards the game. By the time he was twenty one he was playing semi-professionally for teams in East Weymouth, Holbrook-Randolph, and Medford. By 1889, the catcher and first baseman had shown enough progress to be picked up by the Lovells, a talented club formed by the Lovell Arms Company of Boston. Buster played another year of semi-professional ball with the Atlantics in 1890.
Buster began his professional career in 1891 with Salem (MA) of the New England League. Midway through the season, on July 18, due to bad management and poor attendance, the team disbanded. What appeared to be a setback was merely a bump in the road for Burrell. The New York Giants of the National League, were in need of a replacement catcher for the oft-injured starter Dick Buckley. On July 29, the Giants signed the Salem cast-off to play for the legendary Jim Mutrie.
Frank “Buster” Burrell played his first game for the Giants on August 1, 1891, against Tom Lovett and the Brooklyn Grooms. Catching starter, John Ewing, brother of Giants star Buck Ewing, Buster committed two passed balls and had two throwing errors in a 9–6 loss. He did however get his first big league base hit and scored a run off Lovett in the seventh inning. In his next start on August 7, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he again caught Ewing. He had a better day catching, but in the second inning he was tagged out by Pirates catcher, Connie Mack, on an unassisted double-play. He also struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. The Giants lost 2-0.
Not scheduled to catch on August 13, a strange turn of events placed Burrell behind the bat with future Hall of Famer Mickey Welch in the box. It was Pitcher Bob Barr's first game for the Giants. In the 3rd inning after giving up a home run to Cincinnati Reds Arlie Latham, a foul ball was hit into the grandstand by the Reds Jocko Halligan. The ball was retrieved by a New York City policeman and heaved back onto the field striking Barr in the head and rendering him unconscious. Unable to continue, he was removed from the field and Welch came in to pitch. In the 5th inning, Dick Buckley injured his finger, resulting in Buster being subbed in to catch “Smiling Mickey”. He finished out the contest without incident.
Burrell played only sparingly over the next month. On September 21 another case of serendipity would put him in to catch the great Amos Rusie for the only time in his career. In a game against Philadelphia, injuries to several regulars forced the Giants to play Buster in center field. Starter Ewing injured his ankle running the bases in the second forcing manager Mutrie to bring in Rusie. After attempting to handle the “Hoosier Thunderbolt” for 2 innings and giving up 4 passed balls, second string catcher Artie Clarke traded positions with the intrepid Burrell. He too had a tough time handling Rusie's fastballs. He finished out the game giving up 3 more passed balls and the Giants lost 11-9.
With New York out of the pennant race, Buster started at catcher in 6 of his team's last 8 games. He ended the season batting .094, with 5 hits in 53 at bats. He committed 14 errors and had 16 passed balls. Burrell would not be re-signed by the Giants for the 1892 season. Having shown that he wasn't ready for “fast company”, Burrell returned home to play for the Woonsocket (RI) team of the New England League. As their starting catcher he helped lead them to the pennant in 1892. The following season while playing for Fall River, he batted .308 and was instrumental in securing the NENL championship for the Massachusetts club.
After his hometown team the Boston Beaneaters showed some interest in acquiring Burrell for the 1894 season, he took his talents to the Midwest and signed with the Minneapolis Minnies of the Western League. It was here that his ability as a hitter and durability as a catcher came to the forefront. Catching the whole season, Buster played in 130 games. He batted .384 with a .631 slugging percentage and 32 home runs with 7 multiple home run games. On May 13, he went deep 3 times off of the future hall of famer, Kansas City Cowboys pitcher, Joe McGinnity. By the end of the year, Charlie Bryne, president of the Brooklyn Grooms signed Buster Burrell to play for the 1895 season.
As the third catcher behind John Grim and Con Daily, Burrell saw limited action early in the season. On June 14 he hit his first MLB home run off St. Louis Brown's pitcher Harry Staley in a 12-7 Brooklyn victory. That would be his last game for nearly two months. He contracted Erysipelas, a bacterial infection, through a cut in his leg. He came back off the sick list to play on August 21 against the Browns. He finished the season playing in 12 games, batting .143 with one home run.
Frank Burrell's 1896 season with Brooklyn would prove to be his best. The steady back-up to starter Grim, he would catch 60 games that year. During the months of May and June, given the chance to finally play regularly, Burrell put up impressive numbers. In May, he batted .422, had 19 hits batted safely in 11 of the 14 games he played and had an OPS+ of 165. One of his 3 hits on May 9 versus Cleveland came against the legendary Cy Young. Buster took his hot hitting into June. He added another 14 hits in 11 games and finished the month with a .368 average. Burrell ended the year batting .301 with 62 hits in 62 games played. With his improved defense and his ability to hit National League pitches, Burrell's baseball future looked bright.
After his successful 1896 season, Burrell secured a contract with the Bridegrooms for the 1897 season. But in the winter of that year, while at his home in Weymouth disaster struck. Frank Burrell contracted typhoid fever. He was seriously ill for months and missed all of spring training. He joined the team in late April. On April 28 he was in uniform in Baltimore. In the fifth inning catcher Grim, after trying to hold off the Orioles stolen base attack, hurt his arm. A recovering Burrell came in to relieve the injured backstop. The fleet footed Orioles showed no mercy and continued to run wild on the base paths. Led by Willie Keeler they stole 15 bases that day. Buster wasn't ready to play, and went back on the disabled list. He would miss the entire month of May.
Burrell returned to the line-up in June but he wasn't right. After playing two games he was back on the disabled list. By August, Buster had worked himself into shape. With injuries to Grim and back-up Aleck Smith, Frank started to appear in the line-up as catcher and first base. The hitting reappeared at times as well. He hit his first home run in over 2 years against Baltimore's Arlie Pond on August 16. Against Pittsburgh on August 25 he had the best RBI game of his career, driving in 5 runs in Brooklyn's 14-6 pasting of the Pirates. In September facing Kid Nichols in Boston he hit a 2 run shot into the left field bleachers. Buster finished out the season catching Brooklyn's last game against the Beaneaters, he went 2 for 5 with an RBI. He finished the year batting .243 in 33 games played. Frank Burrell was not offered a contract with Brooklyn for the 1898 campaign. His Major League career had ended but his baseball career had not.
The next year found him in Syracuse of the Eastern League hoping to get back to the majors. After he was released by Stars prior to the 1899 season, Burrell went back to New England and hooked up with the Taunton (MA) Herrings of the NENL. It was here and another incident of happenstance, that Buster brushed up once again with a future New York Giant Hall of Famer.
In the summer of 1899, Christy Matthewson made his professional debut pitching for Taunton. Frank Burrell was playing first base on July 21 against Manchester when Matthewson started his first game. In Matty's next start on July 24 against Brockton, Burrell was again at first base when catcher John Curtis got injured in the fourth inning. Buster took over for Curtis and for the only time that season he caught the teenage pitching phenom.
Hoping to recapture some of the magic from his 1894 season in Minneapolis, Burrell went back to Minnesota in 1900. Things had changed in 7 years. The Western League had now transformed into the American League. Though still considered a minor league, it was gearing itself up for major league status. Buster went to spring training with the Minnies but failed to make the team and was released before the start of the regular season. He signed on in June to play with Binghamton of the New York State League and finished out the year.
By 1901 at age 34, Frank Burrell's baseball journey took him back home to New England. It was where it began and where it would end. For the next 7 summers he would play baseball in the NENL. He put on uniforms in Lewiston, Dover, Brockton, New Bedford and Lowell. Buster finished his career at age 40 playing first with an occasional stint at catcher for the Lowell Tigers.
When his career ended Buster continued to live at his home in East Weymouth. He resided there with his wife, the former Mary Borden, whom he had married in 1896 for the rest of his life. They had no children. He worked various jobs in sales and as a chauffeur at a shoe factory. Upon the death of Dummy Hoy on December 15, 1961, Burrell, age 94 was the oldest living former major leaguer. In January of 1962, Frank left his home at 108 High Street and went into a nursing home in South Weymouth. He died there on May 8, 1962, at age 95. He died from age
Patrick Brian Burrell, nicknamed "Pat the Bat", is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, and San Francisco Giants. Burrell won two World Series championships. During his playing days, he stood 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall, weighing 235 pounds (107 kg). He batted and threw right-handed.
Elston Gene Howard was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and a left fielder. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball from 1948 through 1968, primarily for the New York Yankees. A 12-time All-Star, he also played for the Kansas City Monarchs and the Boston Red Sox. Howard served on the Yankees' coaching staff from 1969 to 1979.
Wilbert Robinson, nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals. He managed the Orioles and Brooklyn Robins. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.
Ernesto Natali Lombardi was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and New York Giants during a career that spanned 17 years, from 1931 through 1947. He had several nicknames, including "Schnozz", "Lumbago", "Bocci", "the Cyrano of the Iron Mask", and "Lom". He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.
Amos Wilson Rusie, nicknamed "the Hoosier Thunderbolt", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the late 19th century. He had a 10-season career in the National League (NL), which consisted of one season with the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1889, eight with the New York Giants from 1890 to 1898, and one with the Cincinnati Reds in 1901.
Robert Earl Brenly is an American baseball sportscaster and a former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher with the San Francisco Giants. After retiring as a player, Brenly worked as a broadcaster with the Chicago Cubs, then as a coach with the Giants, then as a broadcaster for Fox. He was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2001 season, and won the franchise's only championship his first year, becoming the fourth rookie manager to win a World Series and first since 1961. In 2004, Brenly was released by the Diamondbacks and again became a broadcaster with the Cubs until 2012. He now serves as a color commentator for Diamondbacks broadcasts.
Benjamin José Molina, nicknamed "Big Money", is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher. He played for the Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (1998–2005), Toronto Blue Jays (2006), San Francisco Giants (2007–2010), and Texas Rangers (2010). He is the older brother of major league catchers José Molina and Yadier Molina.
Lafayette Napoleon Cross was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1887 to 1907. Cross played most of his 21-year career with Philadelphia-based teams in four different leagues. One of the sport's top all-around players in the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century, when he retired he ranked fifth in major league history in hits (2,644) and runs batted in (1,371), ninth in doubles (411) and total bases (3,466), and third in games played (2,275) and at bats (9,064).
Wesley Noreen Westrum was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager, and scout. He played for 11 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants from 1947 to 1957 and was known as a superb defensive catcher. He served as the second manager in the history of the New York Mets, replacing Casey Stengel in 1965 after the latter fractured his hip and was forced to retire.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1900 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1890 throughout the world.
The following are the baseball events of the year 1889 throughout the world.
Nathan John "Nate" Schierholtz is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (2007–2012), Philadelphia Phillies (2012), Chicago Cubs (2013–2014), and Washington Nationals (2014). He also played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2015).
Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey III is an American former professional baseball catcher and is currently the president of baseball operations for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent his entire 12-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Giants, from 2009 until his retirement at the conclusion of the 2021 season.
The 2010 Atlanta Braves season was the franchise's 45th season in Atlanta along with the 135th season in the National League and 140th overall. It featured the Braves' attempt to reclaim a postseason berth for the first time since 2005. The Braves once again were skippered by Bobby Cox, in his 25th and final overall season managing the team. It was their 45th season in Atlanta, and the 135th of the franchise. Finishing the season with a 91–71 record, the Braves won the NL Wild Card, only to be eliminated in the NLDS by the San Francisco Giants in four games.
The 2010 San Francisco Giants season marked their 128th year in Major League Baseball, their 53rd year in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 11th in AT&T Park. The Giants won the National League West for the first time since the 2003 season and both the NLDS and NLCS for the first time since the 2002 season. They would go on to win the World Series, their first championship since moving to San Francisco in 1958. Giants catcher Buster Posey was awarded the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
The 1951 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series that extended Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1951 regular season to decide the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The games were played on October 1, 2, and 3, 1951, between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. It was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 96–58. It is most famous for the walk-off home run hit by Bobby Thomson of the Giants in the deciding game, which has come to be known as baseball's "Shot Heard 'Round the World".
Héctor Enrique Sánchez is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, and San Diego Padres.
The Tri-Cornered Baseball Game was a three-way exhibition baseball game held at the Polo Grounds on June 26, 1944, among the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and New York Yankees. The game, a World War II fundraiser, was played with a round-robin format in which each team batted and fielded during six innings and rested for the other three. The Dodgers won by scoring five runs in their times at bat; the Yankees scored one run, while the Giants were unable to score.