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KenRaffensberger16 · 03-08-2012, 10:29 AM

My thanks to the moderator TNFOTO who posted the photo of Bill Burich. (This page #748 - Section # 14951).
I wrote to a bunch of former Phillies who were never pictured in baseball cards asking them if they could spare photos of themselves in 2000. Despite the fact that I lived in New Jersey back then and Mr. Burich lived in California and was the furthest distance away of the dozen or so players I requested phiotos from, Mr. Burich's photos were the first to arrive in the mail. The photo supplied by OOTP is even better than the couple of photos Mr. Burich furnished. One of his photos definitely came from Spring Training (1941 or 1942) since he is posed waiting to take a throw at third base there are tall palm trees visible in the background.
Burich played for the Phillies in 1942 as a rookie and then lost the next three seasons to military service. He returned in 1946 where there was a rule that returning military veteans had the right to be carried on the major league roster for 30 days of the '46 regular season. His playing skills had rusted away to a great extent in his enforced time away from the game. Burich appeared in only two regular season games and when his 30 days were up he was released - finished as a major leaguer around the time of his 28th birthday - a sadly common story for the time. However in my subsequent correspondence with Mr. Burich it appeared that he was happy and proud to have served his country and he never fretted about "the career that could have been".
Thanks for some fine photos of Mr. Burich.

P.S.: It seems that TNFOTO and others administering this photo forum are Phillies fans (as I am) . I'm loving that fact. Since discovering this forum last May my Phillies player photo collection has increased considerably and I'm always curious as to which obscure Phillies player's photo will pop up next. Thanks again. -K. Raff. 16.

03-08-2012, 10:29 AM	#14960
KenRaffensberger16 Major Leagues Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: New jersey most of my life; Gulf Coast Florida since 2010. Posts: 422	My thanks to the moderator TNFOTO who posted the photo of Bill Burich. (This page #748 - Section # 14951). I wrote to a bunch of former Phillies who were never pictured in baseball cards asking them if they could spare photos of themselves in 2000. Despite the fact that I lived in New Jersey back then and Mr. Burich lived in California and was the furthest distance away of the dozen or so players I requested phiotos from, Mr. Burich's photos were the first to arrive in the mail. The photo supplied by OOTP is even better than the couple of photos Mr. Burich furnished. One of his photos definitely came from Spring Training (1941 or 1942) since he is posed waiting to take a throw at third base there are tall palm trees visible in the background. Burich played for the Phillies in 1942 as a rookie and then lost the next three seasons to military service. He returned in 1946 where there was a rule that returning military veteans had the right to be carried on the major league roster for 30 days of the '46 regular season. His playing skills had rusted away to a great extent in his enforced time away from the game. Burich appeared in only two regular season games and when his 30 days were up he was released - finished as a major leaguer around the time of his 28th birthday - a sadly common story for the time. However in my subsequent correspondence with Mr. Burich it appeared that he was happy and proud to have served his country and he never fretted about "the career that could have been". Thanks for some fine photos of Mr. Burich. P.S.: It seems that TNFOTO and others administering this photo forum are Phillies fans (as I am) . I'm loving that fact. Since discovering this forum last May my Phillies player photo collection has increased considerably and I'm always curious as to which obscure Phillies player's photo will pop up next. Thanks again. -K. Raff. 16. Last edited by KenRaffensberger16; 03-08-2012 at 10:37 AM.