Monday, July 26, 2021

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 JEFF BURROUGHS

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.
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.