Player #127A: Robert J. "Bobby" Burke. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1927-1935. 38 wins and 5 saves in 10 MLB seasons. In 1931, he pitched a no-hitter against Boston at Griffith Stadium. He was the last Washington pitcher to pitch a no-hitter until Jordan Zimmerman in 2014. His best season was 1934 as he posted a 8-8 record with a 3.21 ERA on 168 innings pitched. He ended his career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1937.
Deveaux addresses Burke's surprising accomplishment in 1931: However, it was neither (Washington pitchers, Lloyd) Brown nor (Firpo) Marberry who grabbed the biggest headlines among the Griffithmen in 1931. A 24-year-old beanpole named Bobby Burke, who already had four years and a composite 14-18 record with the Senators under his belt going into 1930 (sic), threw one of the American League's two no-hitters on August 8 at Griffith Stadium. Burke, 7-2 going into that game, struck out eight Red Sox and walked five, but his fielders never had a real tough play to make all day, and there were no miscues, in a 5-0 shutout. Buddy Myer and Joe Cronin both tripled, with Cronin's blow driving in two runs.
Bobby Burke claimed to have thrown just six curve balls in accomplishing the no-hitter. Amazingly, his feat still stands as the only no-hitter in the entire history of the Senators apart from Walter Johnson's in 1920. Just as amazing is that Burke didn't win another game over the final two months of the 1931 season. He managed to hang on with the Nats for another four seasons, largely on the strength, many believed, of that one game in August '31. He left the big leagues following a failed attempt at making the Philadelphia Phillies in 1937. The Senators' old field boss, Bucky Harris, dubbed Burke "the kid who got an eleven-year tryout." (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)
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