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Forrest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess (February 6, 1927 – September 15, 1991)〔(Smoky Burgess obituary at the New York Times )〕 was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1949 to 1967. Later in his career, he became known for his ability as a pinch hitter, setting the major league career record for career pinch-hits with 145.〔(George Vass, Baseball Digest, November 2004, Vol. 63, No. 11, ISSN 005-609X )〕〔(Jerry Beach, Baseball Digest, June 1999, Vol. 58, No. 6, ISSN 005-609X )〕 In his playing days, he stood 5'8" (173 cm), weighed 188 pounds (85 kg), batted left-handed and threw right-handed.〔(Smoky Burgess at Baseball Reference )〕 == Baseball career == Born in Caroleen, North Carolina, Burgess was signed as an amateur free agent by the Chicago Cubs in 1944.〔(Smoky Burgess Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac )〕 In 1947, he led the Tri-State League with a .387 batting average.〔(1947 Tri-State League Batting Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 He followed that by leading the Southern Association with a .386 average in 1948.〔(1948 Southern Association Batting Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 Burgess made his major league debut at the age of 22 with the Chicago Cubs on April 19, 1949.〔 In October 1951, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, who promptly traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher Andy Seminick before the start of the 1952 season.〔 With the Phillies, he platooned alongside the right-hand hitting Stan Lopata.〔(''Catcher With The Highest Average'', by Ed Rumill, Baseball Digest, December 1963, Vol. 10, ISSN 0005-609X )〕 He had his best season in 1954, when he had a .368 batting average in 108 games for the Phillies, earning his first All-Star Game selection.〔〔(1954 All-Star Game at Baseball Reference )〕 At the beginning of the 1955 season, he was once again traded for Andy Seminick and returned to Cincinnati, where he finally got the chance to play every day.〔〔 He rose to the occasion, hitting for a .306 batting average for the rest of the season along with 20 home runs and 77 runs batted in, gaining his second consecutive berth on the National League All-Star team.〔〔(1955 All-Star Game at Baseball Reference )〕 On July 29, 1955, Burgess hit three home runs and had nine runs batted in during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.〔(July 29, 1955 Pirates-Reds Box Score at Baseball Reference )〕 Burgess began the 1956 season as the Reds' starting catcher, but when the team faltered early in the season, Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts decided to shake things up and replaced Burgess with a younger man, Ed Bailey.〔(''Bailey- Next Catching Great?'', by Bob Pile, Baseball Digest, August 1956, Vol. 15, No. 7, ISSN 0005-609X )〕 In 1959, Burgess was traded along with Harvey Haddix and Don Hoak to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Whammy Douglas, Jim Pendleton and John Powers.〔 Burgess was the Pirates catcher on May 26, 1959 when Haddix took a perfect game into the 13th inning against the Milwaukee Braves before losing the game.〔(May 26, 1959 Pirates-Braves Box Score at Baseball Reference )〕〔(May 26, 1959 Pirates-Braves Box Score at Baseball Almanac )〕 Burgess also won a World Series with the Pirates in 1960, batting .333 in the seven-game series.〔(1960 World Series at Baseball Reference )〕〔(Smoky Burgess post-season batting statistics at Baseball Reference )〕 By 1963, Jim Pagliaroni had taken over as the Pirates' starting catcher and in late 1964, Burgess was acquired by the Chicago White Sox, who were in the heat of the pennant race.〔 In his first plate appearance with the White Sox on September 15 against the Detroit Tigers, he hit a game-tying home run off pitcher Dave Wickersham.〔(September 15, 1964 White Sox-Tigers box score at Baseball Reference )〕 Over the next three years, he was used almost exclusively as a pinch hitter, appearing in just 7 games behind the plate.〔 In 1966 Burgess set a Major League record which still stands for the most games in a season (79) by a non-pitcher who did not score a run. Burgess played his final major league game on October 1, 1967 at the age of 40.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Smoky Burgess」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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