Pat Burrell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Philadelphia Phillies — No. 5 | |
| Left Fielder | |
| Born: October 10, 1976 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| May 24, 2000 for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through June 12th, 2008) |
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| Batting Average | .260 |
| Runs Batted In | 783 |
| Home Runs | 234 |
| Teams | |
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Patrick Brian 'Pat' Burrell III, nicknamed Pat the Bat (born October 10, 1976 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas) is the starting left fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.[1] He currently ranks among the top 500 players in the history of Major League Baseball in career home runs.
Burrell currently resides in the affluent Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of center city Philadelphia.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] High School
In high school, Burrell was a two sport standout for the baseball and football programs at Bellarmine College Preparatory High School. As a Junior, Burrell competed in football against (now the quarterback of the New England Patriots) Tom Brady, who played for Burrell's team rival, Junípero Serra High School (San Mateo, California)
[edit] University of Miami
After graduating Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, Burrell attended the University of Miami, in Coral Gables, Florida. Following a standout collegiate career there, where he was the "Most Valuable Player" of the 1996 College World Series, finished second all-time in slugging percentage and won the 1998 Golden Spikes Award[2], Burrell was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies with the first overall draft choice in the 1998 MLB draft[3]. In February 2008, Burrell was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.[4]
[edit] Minor Leagues
Burrell began his career in Class A with the Clearwater Phillies in the Florida State League, where he joined fellow prospects Jimmy Rollins and Brandon Duckworth on a team that finished its season a game out of first place.
[edit] Phillies debut and 2002 success
Burrell debuted for the Phillies in 2000 as a first baseman, later moving to the Phillies outfield, where he became an instant fixture in the line-up. In 2000, he finished 4th in voting for 2000 National League Rookie of the Year.
In 2002, he had a break out season, hitting 37 home runs and knocking in 116 RBI, proving to be one of the most promising young power hitters in baseball. His 2002 year earned him 14th in National League MVP voting.
[edit] 2003 slump
After signing a six-year, $50-million dollar contract with the Phillies before the 2003 season, he endured a season-long slump and finished the season batting only .209 with barely half of his previous season's hitting production numbers.
[edit] 2004 and 2005
In 2004, Burrell rebounded somewhat, but his year was limited when an injury to his left wrist during batting practice in early August caused him to miss about 40 games. He finished the season with 24 home runs. 2005 would prove to be a very good year for "Pat the Bat" as he hit .281, with 32 home runs and a career high 117 RBI. His production helped the Phillies come within one game of winning the NL Wild Card slot, losing out to the Houston Astros on the final day of the season. In 2005, Burrell earned 7th place in voting for the National League MVP award.
To his credit, in recent seasons, Burrell has shown an increasing ability to draw walks; however, his patience at bat also has resulted in his striking out frequently, including leading the Major Leagues in number of called third strikes.
[edit] 2006 season
Burrell started strong in 2006 but a very poor June saw him hitting .250 with 19 HRs at the All-Star break. By the midway point of the 2006 season, with the Phillies appearing to be slipping from playoff contention, new General Manager Pat Gillick began trading off veteran players such as Bobby Abreu, David Bell, and Cory Lidle. Some fans felt the long term, lucrative contracts had resulted in some complacency by the Phillies. The Phillies responded by trading Abreu and Lidle to the New York Yankees in 2006 and sending Bell to the Milwaukee Brewers.
While there were reports of a potential trade for Burrell as well, he remained with the Phillies. In August and September 2006, the Phillies began winning with regularity and making a strong run for the National League Wild Card slot, but Burrell was less than a major factor in the Phillies' success, as he both slumped at bat and was given fewer at bats during this time. On September 15, 2006 he did provide the Phillies only runs in a 4-3 victory with a 1st inning grand slam off pitcher Roger Clemens. However, his periodic spectacular play was largely overshadowed during 2006 by his inability to deliver hits with runners in scoring position, which routinely drew boos from Phillies fans. While Phillies fans had been known for booing Mike Schmidt and other popular players, the boos and negativity from the fans and even news media were considerably worse than previously for Burrell. Even so, Burrell finished the season with 29 HRs and 95 RBI, both in the top 20 in the NL, despite limited at bats. His OPS was only two points lower than it was the previous season (.890 from .892).
[edit] 2007
As with 2006, Burrell batted well in April, but slumped in May and June, his batting average this time dropping to .201 on July 1, and he was benched for a few games at a time. His BABIP during this time was unusually low (.161 in May and .136 in June.), substantially below his career .300 BABIP.
He followed up one of the poorest batting months of his career with one of his most successful, hitting .435 for the month of July with a .564 OBP and a .768 SLG. He followed up his amazing July with a .290 batting average. In August, with 10 HRs and a .368 OBP and .650 SLG, the Phillies moved Burrell up to the 3rd spot in their lineup, and Burrell began winning back Phillies fan support.
Burrell finished the 2007 regular season hitting .256 with 30 HRs (tied for 14th in the National League, a .400 OBP (a career high) and .502 SLG. Burrell's second-half turaround performance was credited as a crucial factor in the Phillies come-from-behind victory over the heavily favored New York Mets, with Burrell hitting well over .300 with 19 HRs and more than 60 RBI, including two home runs in a dramatic 11-10 win over the Mets at Citizens Bank Park in which the Phillies swept the Mets in a decisive 4-game series, with Burrell hitting four HRs in this critical series.
Burrell hit his 200th career home run on July 17, 2007 and his 1000th career hit on August 17, 2007. On the last day of the 2007 season, the Phillies, led largely by Burrell's batting comeback, led the National League East division, entering the playoffs for the first time in Burrell's career and the first time for the Phillies since 1993. However, the Phillies were quickly swept by the Colorado Rockies in the first playoff round, in which Burrell had 2 hits in 11 AB with 2 walks, including a home run in game 1 of the series.
Overall, however, 2007 proved a very good season for Burrell. He achieved a career high in walks (114), OBP (.400), and AB per HR (15.7) In 2007, he walked 19.5% of the time, the highest walk percentage in the entire National League.[1] He also finished with a career low in strikeouts and--for the first time in his career--he did not finish in the top 10 in strikeouts in the National League. Compared to the rest of the National League in 2007, Burrell was 10th in OBP, 3rd in walks, and 6th in AB/HR percentage.
[edit] "Met Killer"
From early in his major league career, Burrell has shown a penchant for hitting home runs against the New York Mets, much to the dismay of the Mets and their fans and announcers, but a boon to the Phillies as the Mets increasingly became division rivals. Though his overall batting average against the Mets was near his overall career average (which is actually sub-par for MLB), he continued to knock in runs against the Mets with the long ball. In 2007, Burrell surpassed Barry Bonds and Chipper Jones to lead all active players in home runs against the Mets, hitting 4 HRs in a Phillies 4 game series sweep against the Mets in late August, collecting his 41st home run against them, and surpassing Willie Mays in 5th place for most home runs against the Mets all-time.
[edit] Conflict with Billy Wagner
Burrell's home runs against the Mets gained notoriety also due to the intense dislike between Burrell and former Phillie teammate Billy Wagner. Burrell has homered twice off of Wagner in four at bats, resulting in two blown saves for Wagner in the 2007 season, which accounted for half of Wagner's four overall blown saves.
In 2006, following his joining the Mets, Wagner revealed that Burrell had called him "a rat" during his time in Philadelphia and once led a team intervention against him, with Burrell and other Phillies players criticizing Wagner for publicly blaming other Phillies players for various losses.[5] Once with the Mets, Wagner revealed that his personality conflict with Burrell and other Phillies players aligned with Burrell was a deciding factor in Wagner's decision to depart the Phillies.
[edit] "Man or Machine?"
Prior to 2008 spring training workouts, t-shirts were made displaying a shirtless, bicep-curling Burrell with "Man or Machine?" printed on them. The media speculated that Phillies 2nd baseman Chase Utley was responsible for the shirts although no one actually claimed responsibility.
[edit] Future role with Phillies
The future role of Burrell in the Phillies has been a hot topic in Philadelphia for a few years. Burrell's contract runs through the end of the 2008 season and, with the Phillies again likely to contend for a playoff position in 2008, it is unlikely that he will be traded prior to his contract expiration.
Pat Burrell has stated that he would like to stay with the Phillies beyond the 2008 season. He loves fans who react whether positively or negatively, and to him, the Philadelphia fans are the best for both. "I came up and was a first-round draft pick and there was a lot of hype and a lot of expectation, and I enjoyed that," Burrell said. "Have I also seen the other side of that? Absolutely. I've also played in other stadiums and seen reactions that other fans give their teams. In Philly when it's good, there is no better place. There is something different about the Northeast when it comes to baseball. There is an excitement there where they can't wait to jump on that team and support if the team is playing well. That goes both ways, but there are also places where I'm not sure if there's that big of a deal [regardless of whether] it's winning or losing."[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=150100
- ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_goldenspikes.shtml
- ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/1998/draft/news/1998/06/02/amateur_draft_update/
- ^ http://hurricanesports.cstv.com/genrel/120607aac.html
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2439358
- ^ Phillies' Pat Burrell: I want to stay, Philadelphia Daily News Retrieved 20 February 2008.
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
- Pat Burrell profile and statistics at Yahoo Sports.
| Preceded by Matt Anderson |
First overall pick in the MLB Entry Draft 1998 |
Succeeded by Josh Hamilton |
| Preceded by Bobby Abreu |
Mike Schmidt Most Valuable Player (with Chase Utley) 2005 |
Succeeded by Ryan Howard |
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