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Forrest Harrill Burgess
Chicago White Sox
Catcher
Born: February 6, 1927, Caroleen, NC
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1949, 1951; Philadelphia Phillies 1952-1955; Cincinnati Reds 1955-1958; Pittsburgh Pirates 1959-1964; Chicago White Sox 1964-1967
Died: September 15, 1991, Asheville, NC (age 64)
Smoky Burgess played for 18 seasons in the majors as a catcher and later as one of the game's top pinch-hitters. A nine-time All-Star, Burgess was a fine defensive catcher, leading the league in fielding percentage at the position in 1953, 1960 and 1961. He enjoyed productive seasons early in his career with the Phillies, making his first All-Star team in 1954 and hitting a lofty .368 for the season. That mark would have given him the National League batting title, but he didn't have enough at-bats to qualify. Burgess is perhaps best remembered for his time in Pittsburgh and as the primary backstop for the Pirates team that won the World Series in 1960. He batted .333 in that World Series and the season before, on May 26, 1959, Burgess was behind the plate when Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix (#67) took a perfect game into the 13th inning. Later in his career as a prolific pinch-hitter, Burgess set the record for most pinch-hits in the game's history with 145. His mark was ultimately broken in 1979 by Manny Mota (#463), and Lenny Harris holds the record today with 212.
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| 1953 Bowman Color #28 |
Building the Set
June 5, 2021 from Tomball, TX - Card #294
To celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer, I took advantage of a 15% Memorial Day Weekend sale hosted by one of my favorite dealers, The Battersbox, from Tomball, Texas. With the second series now complete, I spent an enjoyable hour or so over the long (and rainy) holiday weekend picking 20 commons from the third series to add to our set and I'll feature those cards in the next 20 posts. The package of cards arrived on June 5th and in total, the lot cost me a little more than $63. This Burgess card was a little less than $3 after applying the discount.
The Card / White Sox Team Set
Burgess is clearly wearing a Pirates jersey here which means the oldest he can be in this photo is 37, his age in 1964. I mean no disrespect to Burgess, but man he looks a lot older than 37 on this card! And his nickname always threw me off too, as for years I could have sworn it was Smokey with an "e" and not Smoky. According to the dictionary, Smoky is the correct spelling for "filled with or smelling of smoke," while Smokey is only appropriate when referring to the nickname for an officer of the law. And now you know.
1965 Season
Now 38 years old, Burgess appeared in 80 games for the White Sox, making only three starts behind the plate and appearing as a pinch-hitter 77 times. He hit .286 (22 for 77) with a pair of home runs and 24 RBIs. Burgess would impressively go on to play two more full seasons with the White Sox before retiring.
The Phillies acquired Burgess from the Reds with Howie Fox and Connie Ryan on December 10, 1951 for Andy Seminick, Niles Jordan, Eddie Pellagrini and Dick Sisler (#158). The trade marked the beginning of the end of the Whiz Kids era with Seminick and Sisler heading to Cincinnati. Burgess was the team's opening day catcher in 1952 and 1953, but was steadily losing playing time to Stan Lopata in what had started as a platoon. With Lopata ultimately replacing Burgess as the regular behind the plate, Burgess was sent back to the Reds on April 30, 1955, with Seminick ironically coming back to the Phillies. Stan Palys and Steve Ridzik went to the Reds with Burgess, with Glen Gorbous and Jim Greengrass coming to Philly with Seminick.
Burgess was an All-Star for the Phillies in 1954 and in three-plus seasons with the club he batted .316 over 327 games with 15 home runs and 139 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1951 Bowman #317
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1952-1953, 1956-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2007 SP Legendary Cuts #97
110 - Burgess non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/23/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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First Mainstream Card: 1951 Bowman #317
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1952-1953, 1956-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2007 SP Legendary Cuts #97
110 - Burgess non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/23/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
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