Wallace Harper Burnette (June 20, 1929 – February 12, 2003) was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
player who
pitched for the
Kansas City Athletics
The Kansas City Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1955 to 1967, having previously played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Philadelphia Athletics. After moving in 1967, the team became the ...
from -. He was born in
Blairs, Virginia
Blairs is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 916, a figure which declined to 841 at the 2020 census.
Chatham-Blairs is also the name of a political district ...
.
In three seasons, he compiled a win–loss record of 14–21, appeared in 68 games, started 27 games, completing 5 games and once pitching a
shutout
In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...
, pitched 262.7 innings, walked 122, struck out 122, gave up 259 hits, and had a career
ERA
An era is a span of time.
Era or ERA may also refer to:
* Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time
* Calendar era
Education
* Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school
* ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia
* E ...
of 3.65. His key pitch was his
knuckleball
A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch (baseball), pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from Laminar flow, lamin ...
.
Burnette was signed as an amateur free agent by the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
, but was traded to Kansas City for future Hall of Fame manager
Tommy Lasorda
Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Nation ...
on July 11, 1956.
Burnette's daughter said of him:
:''He thought the salaries
urrent major leaguerswere drawing were ridiculous. What he made then wasn't even 1 percent of what they're making now. He played for the love of the game.''
[Danville Register and Bee. February 13, 2002.]
See also
*
List of knuckleball pitchers
Knuckleball pitchers are baseball players who rely on the knuckleball as their primary pitch, or pitch primarily based on their ability to throw a knuckleball. The inventor of the knuckleball has never been established, although several pitchers f ...
References
External links
Wally Burnette Obituaryat Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnette, Wally
1929 births
2003 deaths
Baseball players from Virginia
Major League Baseball pitchers
Kansas City Athletics players
20th-century American sportsmen
Denver Bears players
Portland Beavers players
Shreveport Sports players
Binghamton Triplets players
Kansas City Blues (baseball) players
Norfolk Tars players
Knuckleball pitchers
People from Pittsylvania County, Virginia
Easton Yankees players
Blackstone Barristers players