Sorry, don't have anything to add regarding that interesting card, but man, the rabbit holes you go down. I barely remember Tim Burke, but he had a sneaky good few years as a reliever.
Shows how differently we look at relievers and pitchers in general nowadays.
1985, his Rookie year. He had an arguably great season as a Rookie. Led the league in games pitched (78), pitched 120 relief innings with a 2.39 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP.
Not a stopper though, so he didn't even show up in the ROY voting. Weird, right?
2 years later in 1987 he pitched 91 innings in relief. Was 7-0, 18 Saves on a save by committee staff, Posted a 1.19 ERA and 0.89 Whip and an absolutely filthy ERA+ of 356 (Mariano's best season was 316 in only 70 innings) and posted a 4.3 WAR (out of this world for a reliever and equivalent to Mariano's best year as a stopper).
Easily the most dominant reliever in the league that year.
You know who won the Fireman Award AND Cy Young that Year? Steve Bedrosian! Same amount of innings and inferior in all other analytical categories...but with a boatload of saves.
Did Burke garner a single point on the Cy Young ballot? No!
Did Burke even make the All-Star team? No!
Did Burke win his Arbitration case the next year, to bump his salary from $625,000 a year to $850,000 a year? He must have...right?
HELL NO!
Anyways...cool card.
04-26-2022, 01:47 PM
Similar Threads
Threaded Mode