The End of Pitching Greatness?

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Today is the birthday of Bill Burwell, born in Jarbalo, Kansas, 1895. 

While rushing a German machine gun nest during one of the final battles of World War 1, his right hand was hit by a piece of shrapnel, shattering bones, and slicing off the top of his index finger. The pitching career he’d dropped out of college to pursue, he thought, was over.

But back home, Burwell discovered that his injured hand had a unique grip on a baseball. Suddenly, he could throw a sinker.

While he’d only play in the majors for two seasons, Burwell was a star in the American Association where he regularly placed in the top ten for wins, innings pitched and ERA. He’d pitch until he was 43, retiring with a total win-loss record of 231-209, and 3,914 innings pitched in 638 games. But he wasn’t done with baseball.

Over the next 28 years, Burwell continued to work as a manager and coach for minor and major league teams including the 1960 World Series Pirates. In those roles he earned a reputation for having a soft but effective touch and drawing the best out of players. Johnny Pesky remembered him as a paternal figure — doing what he could to keep players from drinking too much. And pitcher Jim Weaver said he was more than a great manager, but “a Houdini without mirrors” for his ability to pull what most would consider just average teams and players to the top of their league.

Ultimately it wasn’t until 1962, 44 years after a piece of shrapnel threatened his dream of a life in baseball, that he retired from the sport. He was 67.

MLB News

Pitching Greatness Fades, Cam Tears Up, Radio Lives On and More

• Is Pitching Greatness A Thing of the Past? – Bruce Schoenfeld walks through all the ways in which the statistical minds of today have closed avenues to pitching greatness in the MLB.

• Radio Broadcasts Still Have Their Place – In a world dominated by visual media, some still prefer radio broadcasts over watching a game on TV. A choice quote from this thread; “there was [something] really cool about many a muggy summer night, having my little headset radio on, getting a broadcast beamed in from some far off place. It would get kinda fuzzy sounding when storms passed through the area. It was like my connection to the outside world, something far greater than what I knew immediately around me.”

• Cam Smith Tears Up – The Astro’s have Cam Smith in their starting day lineup — and when they announced it, they had his mom step into the clubhouse. Reporters got his reaction after the emotional moment.

• MLB’s Best and Weirdest Promotional Giveaways – From a playlist put together by Braves pitcher Spencer strider and pressed into a 7” vinyl, to a …Orioles cowboy hat, here’s what fans can expect this season.

• Southside Sadness – Expectations for the 2025 season are high, but in Chicago’s Southside, they’re low. Like, really low.

On This Day

The Cubs Get Their Name

• 1902 — The Chicago Daily News referred to Chicago’s N.L. team as the “Cubs” for the first time, a moniker that would become the official team name. Eventually, the name “Cubs” will replace “Colts” as the name used to refer to Chicago’s N.L. team.