1943
Born August 2, 1943
St. Paul, MN, USA
Tom Burgmeier Marquee
b. August 2, 1943 · California Angels 1968, Kansas City Royals 1969–1973, Minnesota Twins 1974–1977, Boston Red Sox 1978–1982, Oakland Athletics 1983–1984
In 1980, at thirty-six, he saved 24 games with a 2.00 earned run average in 62 appearances for Boston and made his one All-Star team. Seventeen seasons gave him 102 saves, 79 wins and a 3.23 earned run average across 1,258 innings.
He was a left-hander who threw strikes and nothing else remarkable — 745 games, three starts, and a walk rate under three per nine innings for his whole career. Kansas City took him in the 1968 expansion draft and he pitched five years there.
He played the outfield in three games, which relief pitchers did not do then either. No Hall of Fame ballot has ever listed him.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1980 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | CAL | 71 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 1969 | KCR | 47 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .167 |
| 1970 | KCR | 42 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .143 |
| 1971 | KCR | 68 | 20 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .250 |
| 1972 | KCR | 51 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .333 |
| 1973 | KCR | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1974 | MIN | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1975 | MIN | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | MIN | 57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1977 | MIN | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1978 | BOS | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1979 | BOS | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980 | BOS | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1981 | BOS | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1982 | BOS | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1983 | OAK | 51 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1984 | OAK | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 782 | 66 | 20 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 1 | .212 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | CAL | 1 | 4 | 56 | 2 | 5 | 72.2 | 65 | 35 | 24 | 33 | 4.33 |
| 1969 | KCR | 3 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 54.0 | 67 | 25 | 21 | 23 | 4.17 |
| 1970 | KCR | 6 | 6 | 41 | 0 | 1 | 68.1 | 59 | 24 | 23 | 43 | 3.16 |
| 1971 | KCR | 9 | 7 | 67 | 0 | 17 | 88.1 | 71 | 17 | 30 | 44 | 1.73 |
| 1972 | KCR | 6 | 2 | 51 | 0 | 9 | 55.1 | 67 | 26 | 33 | 18 | 4.23 |
| 1973 | KCR | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 10.0 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5.40 |
| 1974 | MIN | 5 | 3 | 50 | 0 | 4 | 91.2 | 92 | 46 | 26 | 34 | 4.52 |
| 1975 | MIN | 5 | 8 | 46 | 0 | 11 | 75.2 | 76 | 26 | 23 | 41 | 3.09 |
| 1976 | MIN | 8 | 1 | 57 | 0 | 1 | 115.1 | 95 | 32 | 29 | 45 | 2.50 |
| 1977 | MIN | 6 | 4 | 61 | 0 | 7 | 97.1 | 113 | 55 | 33 | 35 | 5.09 |
| 1978 | BOS | 2 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 4 | 61.1 | 74 | 30 | 23 | 24 | 4.40 |
| 1979 | BOS | 3 | 2 | 44 | 0 | 4 | 88.2 | 89 | 27 | 16 | 60 | 2.74 |
| 1980 | BOS | 5 | 4 | 62 | 0 | 24 | 99.0 | 87 | 22 | 20 | 54 | 2.00 |
| 1981 | BOS | 4 | 5 | 32 | 0 | 6 | 59.2 | 61 | 19 | 17 | 35 | 2.87 |
| 1982 | BOS | 7 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 2 | 102.1 | 98 | 26 | 22 | 44 | 2.29 |
| 1983 | OAK | 6 | 7 | 49 | 0 | 4 | 96.0 | 89 | 30 | 32 | 39 | 2.81 |
| 1984 | OAK | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 23.0 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 2.35 |
| Career | — | 79 | 55 | 745 | 3 | 102 | 1258.2 | 1231 | 452 | 384 | 584 | 3.23 |
On this day & linked events
1968
Major-league debut: Tom Burgmeier
Tom Burgmeier made a major-league debut on April 10, 1968.
1984
Final major-league game: Tom Burgmeier
Tom Burgmeier played a final major-league game on August 29, 1984.
Image: Boston Red Sox, public domain