Morgan Burkhart

From SoSH

Morgan Burkhart (born January 29, 1972) was purchased by the Red Sox in 1998 from the Richmond Roosters of the Independant level Frontier League. Burkhart quickly became a fan favorite when he made his major league debut 2000 because of the tough road he had to the big leagues and for his everyman appearance.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Moment in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 Transactions 5 External Links

Overall Career

Burkhart spent four years in the Frontier League playing for the Richmond Roosters. After hitting .404 with 36 homers in 80 games in his final independant league season, Morgan finally was offered a professional contract, signing with the Red Sox. As a 27-year old, Burkhart powered his way through A Sarasota and AA Trenton, hitting a combined 25 homers. He started the next season at AAA Pawtucket and earned a call-up to Boston in late June. Burkhart started his first game at DH batting 5th behind Nomar Garciaparra. In his first major league at-bat, with the crowd on its feet, Burkhart chopped a single through the right side off Mike Mussina. In 25 games in 2000, Burkhart hit .288 with 4 home-runs and 18 RBI's to go along with an impressive .935 OPS. Morgan would start 2001 back in Pawtucket, hitting 25 homers on the season. In August he would earn another recall to Boston, but struggled in limited playing time, hitting just .182. In 2002 Burkhart would take off for Japan, but in 2003 was back in the States with the Kansas City Royals organization. He spent most of the season in AAA with Omaha, but appeared in 6 games with Kansas City. Burkhart spent 2004 with Charlotte of the Chicago White Sox organization. He is currently playing with Piratas de Campeche of the Mexican League.

Moment in the Sun

• Probably would be his first major league at-bat, which drew a standing ovation from the Fenway Faithful. Was a fan favorite in his brief stay with the Sox. He went 2-4 in his first major league game.

Trivia

• Did you know he was still in baseball? I sure didn't.

Transactions

• October 28, 1998: Purchased by the Boston Red Sox from the Richmond (Frontier).
• October 9, 2001: Released by the Boston Red Sox.
• November 20, 2002: Signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals.
• October 15, 2003: Granted Free Agency.
• August 18, 2004: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago White Sox.
• October 15, 2004: Granted Free Agency.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis