Today
we have a “not so missing” 1974 card for a guy we are all familiar
with, former reliever Tom Burgmeier, who silently put together an
excellent 17-year Major League career as a reliable arm out of the
bullpen:
The St. Paul, Minnesota native had an injury-ridden 1973 season that saw
him appear in only six games for the Kansas City Royals, not factoring
in a decision while sporting a 5.40 earned run average over 10 innings.
However he’d bounce back and proceed to put in another eleven years of
solid ball for the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s
through the 1984 season before retiring at the age of 40.
His career really was a good one, appearing in 745 games while earning a
record of 79-55 with a very nice 3.23 ERA with 102 saves in 1258.2
innings.
Among his 745 appearances, only three were starts, two during his rookie
year of 1968 while with the California Angels, and one in 1978 with the
Red Sox.
Just one of those guys who was quietly reliable, year after year, making
only one All-Star game, in 1980 when he ended up with a record of 5-4
and an ERA of exactly 2.00 with a career-high 24 saves for Boston.