[tm1681]

PHILLY STUNNER: JAMES BURKE TO AMERICAN
6X ALL-STAR IN SIX SEASONS WITH SHAMROCK JOINS APBL CHAMPS ON SEVEN-YEAR CONTRACT

BOSTON & PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 12, 1872) – When the postmortem was made on Shamrock BC season in the 1872 APBL Review, it was done so under the assumption that they would be bringing superstar CF James Burke back for 1873. Incredibly, that will not be the case.

On Wednesday afternoon, telegrams went out announcing that Founders’ Cup champions American had signed Burke to a seven-year contract to play for them. In joining American, Burke becomes part of an outfield that already has 12x All-Star, 2x Batsman of the Year, & 2x MVP Willie Davis along with Franklin Petty, a 7x All-Star, 1x Batsman of the Year, & 1x MVP.

Burke was an All-Star in each of his six seasons playing in Boston playing for Shamrock, a Team of the Year member three times, and his production has been something to behold:

What will be fascinating to see in the upcoming season is how Burke fares playing his home games in a much more batsman-friendly ballpark. With Shamrock, the left-handed Burke was playing in one of the toughest places to hit anywhere in the sport (AVG LHB: .935; AVG RHB: .856). With American, Burke will be playing in one of the three most friendly parks in the APBL for left-handers (AVG LHB: 1.078). If Burke was able to hit .325 to .330 in the APBL for Shamrock playing half of his games in the South End grounds, .365 to .370 wouldn’t be out of the question playing for American.

Speculation from the Writers Pool is that Petty will move over to Right Field to accommodate the signing of Burke due to the latter’s superior arm in Center Field, and an outfield trio of Burke, Davis, & Petty could mean that for the first time in roughly a decade St. John’s won’t be able to boast of having the most talented outfield trio in the sport.

Over in Boston the Shamrock front office moved quickly to replace Burke, announcing the recruitment of former Gotham & Flour City CF Hiram Majors just 24 hours later on Thursday at lunch time. Majors is a 3x Golden Glove winner who still has award-winning defensive range & skill at the position even though he turns 37 in January. However, Majors is a career .305 hitter (.737 OPS) between the NBBO & APBL and there is little doubt that he will be a very noticeable offensive downgrade from the man who has spent the past six years living up to his Greenhorn nickname “The Trenton Terror”. Shamrock has made good signings elsewhere so far in the offseason, but this is one position where they were not expecting a downgrade.

With regard to the champions, the rich are getting much richer. Not only are they getting one of the most dynamic players in the sport, but the outfielder Burke is replacing, Johnnie Sands, was basically a Replacement Level player in 1872 (0.1 WAR). American are the new kings of baseball, and it will most definitely be tough to take the crown from them.