Tyler Lee Van Burkleo (born October 7, 1963) is a former

bench coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

, hitting coach for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, and a former

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He played for two different major league teams in his career: the California Angels () and Colorado Rockies (). He also played for two teams in Japan: the

Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway, w ...

(–) and the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

(). At 24, he was player of the year with the Seibu Lions, hitting 38 home runs and driving in 90 runs for the 1988 Japan Champions.

Biography

Van Burkleo attended Canoga Park High School and

Chatsworth High School Chatsworth Charter High School is a charter secondary school located in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, U.S. History The campus was built with one-story buildings around a central quad as land was inexpens ...

. He signed a minor league contract for $30,000 with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981. He was released in 1984 and signed a contract with the Angels' minor league system. He was blocked by

Wally Joyner Wallace Keith Joyner (born June 16, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for four major league teams during a 16-year career, most notably for the California Angels, for whom he was an All-Star. He was a member of ...

for most of his first stint with the Angels. Van Burkleo's Angels contract was bought by the

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

in 1987. He was traded to the

in 1991 for cash considerations. Upon returning to the United States for the 1992 season, he signed with the Angels again, then played for the Rockies for two seasons, and in 1996 returned to the Angels for his last playing season. In 1997, he began his coaching career with the

High Desert Mavericks The High Desert Mavericks were an American Minor League Baseball team in Adelanto, California, that played their home games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium. They played in the Class A-Advanced California League. The franchise had eigh ...

, an

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

affiliate. In 2001, he found himself working for the Angels again, as the minor league hitting coordinator. He left the Angels at the end of the 2006 season. For the 2007–2008 seasons, Van Burkleo was the hitting coach for the Oakland Athletics. In 2009, he was signed by the Mariners to be the bench coach to manager

Don Wakamatsu Wilbur Donald Wakamatsu (born February 22, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player, scout, coach, and manager. Wakamatsu was drafted in the 11th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds. He played as ...

. The following year, he was hired by the Astros to be the minor league hitting coordinator. On August 19, 2012, Van Burkleo was named the interim hitting coach for the Houston Astros. He was named hitting coach of the Cleveland Indians on October 31, 2012, beginning with the 2013 season. On August 7, 2020, Van Burkleo announced he was opting out of the remainder of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. On October 6, 2021, the Indians announced Van Burkleo would not return as hitting coach for the 2022 season.

Personal life

He is married to Chris and has five children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Burkleo, Ty 1963 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan American people of Dutch descent Baseball players from Oakland, California Beloit Brewers players California Angels players Cleveland Indians coaches Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Edmonton Trappers players Hiroshima Toyo Carp players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball hitting coaches Midland Angels players Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters Oakland Athletics coaches Palm Springs Angels players Peoria Chiefs players Redwood Pioneers players Seattle Mariners coaches Seibu Lions players Stockton Ports players Vancouver Canadians players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players Chatsworth High School alumni