A native of
London, Ontario, Burgess attended the
University of Western Ontario. He first signed with the Cardinals in 1946, making his debut with the
Hamilton Red Wings of the Class D
Pennsylvania–Ontario–New York League (PONY League). Despite compiling a robust .350
batting average in 1947 in the Class C
Interstate League, by 1949 Burgess was voluntarily retired and spent three seasons with the
London Majors of the Canadian
Intercounty Baseball League. He resumed his pro playing career in 1952 in the Class A
South Atlantic League and batted .328, then continued his hot hitting in 1953, batting .346 with 22
home runs and 93
runs batted in with the Cards' top
farm team, the
Rochester Red Wings of the
Triple-A International League. That earned him a promotion to St. Louis for the start of the 1954 campaign, but Burgess collected only one
hit—a
double off
Paul LaPalme of the
Pittsburgh Pirates on June 13—in 21
at bats, an .048 batting average, before being sent back to Rochester. Burgess spent the next seven seasons in the International League, with Rochester and the
Columbus Jets, and then was acquired by the expansion Angels in their maiden season of 1961. He spent that year with the Triple-A
Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers of the
American Association, then made the 25-man roster of the 1962 Angels. He appeared in 87 games and batted 143 times over the course of a full season, but could muster only a .196 batting average. By 1963, he was back in the International League for his final pro season. All told, Burgess batted .177 with 29 hits, two home runs and 14 RBI in 104 major-league games. He returned to the game as a manager in the
farm systems of the Cardinals, Braves, Mets,
Texas Rangers and
Detroit Tigers in the 1970s and 1980s. He managed in Triple-A with the
Tidewater Tides,
Richmond Braves,
Oklahoma City 89ers and
Charleston Charlies, and among his achievements won championships in the
Appalachian League,
Texas League and the
California League. During his 1977 campaign with the Mets, he was the
third base coach on the staff of
Joe Frazier and
Joe Torre and, the following year, served under
Bobby Cox in Atlanta. He was named to the Rochester Red Wings Hall of Fame in 1992, the
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, and the London (Ontario) Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. Burgess died from complications due to cancer on November 24, 2008, in
Lambeth, London, Ontario. ==Sources==