Random Thoughts: Burns had a brief but interesting career. He was one of those "catching lightning in a bottle" type call ups from triple A in the summer of '88 for Oakland. Out of nowhere he started 14 games at the back end of the AL champs rotation going 8-2 and showing much promise. He was one of those average prospects who benefited from being on a good team that was on a roll. Inexplicably, (but most likely because they found better candidates) Burns was pushed back to the bullpen in '89 and his numbers fizzled out before being signed by Texas in '91. After bouncing around for a few more years, Burns was cut by Seattle in spring training of '94 and his major league career was abruptly over.
The Card Itself: Not much to say about the photo again, just a run of the mill mug shot. But come to think of it, I miss average photography on cards lacking gloss and full color backs and foil stamping obscuring the design and player names and serial numbers and patches and autos. Maybe some day just plain old baseball cards will make a comeback.
Did You Know?: To give you some idea of how Burns' career numbers stack up, according to Baseball Reference, his stats compare with those of such luminaries as Manny Sarmiento, Joe Beckwith, Todd Frohwirth, Brian Holton and Scott Terry. Talk about a who's who of bummy 80's and 90's pitchers whose duplicates and triplicates haunted wax pack collectors of the era.
Where Are They Now?:He currently runs the Todd Burns School of Baseball in Huntsville, Alabama.
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