Sox 88 – Ellis Burks

In mid-March 1988, a headline appeared on a Ron Borges article in the Globe entitled "Ailing Ankle Shelves Burks". According to Borges, " He walked through Logan Airport without  a limp, the pain far more evident on his face than on his balky ankle. Ellis' Burks first opening day at Fenway Park had just dissolved in a sea of floating bone chips surrounding his right ankle, but what hurt at the moment was not his ankle, it was his heart."

 

Burks had made his debut in center field at Fenway at age 22, and his rookie year had been excellent. Playing 133 games, he had batted .272 with 20 homers and 59 rbi's. He also became only the third Sox player ever to hit 20 and steal 20 in one season. Burks was also named to two all-rookie teams. He showed excellent range and a strong arm.

 

But beginning in 88, two issues clouded his Boston career-one physical and one racial. Burks would recover quickly from his ankle problem and have another fine season. But in his six-year career with the Sox, he would constantly be dogged by injuries.He would have shoulder surgeries, bad knees and back spasms. Only once would he appear in over 150 games, and his stolen base numbers would drop rapidly. Burks' power figures were good, but not great. In his last two seasons in Fenway, he would average only .253 with 11 homers and 42 rbi's. After the 92 campaign, he signed with the White Sox as a free agent.

 

The second issue is the racial one. For much of his Boston career, he would be one of only two African-Americans on the team. A quiet, reserved man, Burks found the polarized climate of the city unsettling. Unlike some other black athletes, he did not particularly want to talk about racial issues. "I don't think there's more pressure on me, " he was once quoted as saying. There are a lot of eyes on me, obviously. But once I get on the field, it's just me…Once you go to work, you got to work." Unlike onetime teammate and mentor Jim Rice, Burks did live in the city and worked with kids in Roxbury. When asked about the absence of black players, he would vaguely reply that there were some in the minors.

 

Stories also abounded about friction between Burks and Joe Morgan, his manager from mid-88 to 91. It is well-known that if not openly a racist, Morgan was at least an old-school baseball man who was not particularly interested in helping African-American athletes. It has been alleged that Morgan once warned Burks about being seen at nightclubs with white women. Reportedly, Ellis was deeply insulted and resolved to get out of Boston as soon as possible.

 

From Chicago, Burks would go to Colorado, San Francisco and Cleveland. His career would blossom. In 96, he led the NL in runs, slugging, total bases and extra base hits, with a .344 average. He would go on to play 18 years and bat .291 with 352 homers and 1206 rbi's. Though steroid use has been hinted at,  Burks has always denied it and his name did not appear on the 2007 Mitchell Report.

 

Perhaps to mend fences with him Theo Epstein signed Ellis in 2004, at the end of his career. Though only a part-time player, he did get to pick up a World Series ring.

 

Whatever the reasons, letting go of Burks was a huge mistake. If he had come along a few years later, things might have been very different.