Tyler Lee Van Burkleo (born October 7, 1963) is an American former bench coach for the

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

, 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, 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 league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He played for two different major league teams in his career: the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

() and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

(). 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, ...

(–) and the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in 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 founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

() with his registered name "Burkleo". 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 Canoga Park High School is a high school located in Canoga Park in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is located at the start of the ...

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

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

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 eight d ...

, an

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

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 The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

. In 2009, he was signed by the Mariners to be the bench coach to manager Don Wakamatsu. 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 The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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