Up on the blog today we have a "not so missing" 1971 card for former #1 overall draft pick and N.L. MVP Jeff Burroughs, who made his Big League debut in 1970 at the age of 19:
The
#1 pick by the Washington Senators in 1969, Burroughs appeared in six
games during the 1970 season, hitting .167 with two hits over 12
official at-bats, both scoring and driving in a run.
His
next two seasons were more of the same, sporadic action for the
Washington/Texas teams before 1973, when he played a full season and
delivered big time, hitting 30 homers with 85 RBIs, hitting a very nice
.279 at the age of only 22.
Of
course the following season he'd give the Rangers a big-time year as he
would go on to take home the MVP Award after hitting 25 homers, with a
league-leading 118 RBIs and a career-best .301 batting average, making
his first All-Star team.
He
would be one of the first members of the 30-home runs-in-both-leagues
club (30 with the Rangers in 1973 & 41 Braves in 1977), and actually one
of the most successful #1 overall picks at the time.
At the tail end of his career during the early-1980’s he was a potent bat off the bench for teams like the Seattle Mariners, Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays.
At the tail end of his career during the early-1980’s he was a potent bat off the bench for teams like the Seattle Mariners, Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays.
He'd put
together a very nice 16-year career that saw him hit 240 homers while
driving in 882 runs between 1970 and 1985.
