Jeff Burroughs

Almost nobody has ever heard of Jeff Burroughs, probably the most obscure MVP of all time. Burroughs was an outfielder with a pretty nice career and a few monster seasons for the Rangers and Braves in the 1970’s. As a fan of both teams, I feel obligated to at least spread the word about this little known star. 

Jeffrey Alan Burroughs was born in Long Beach, California, on March 7, 1951. He was a fairly normal child, a lover of pranks, and once glued geese to his neighbor's mailbox. He played both football and baseball at Woodrow Wilson High School, and was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 1969 amateur draft. 

A phenom in the minor leagues, Burroughs earned his first Big League call up in 1970, making his MLB debut at the age of 19. It took some time for his power to flourish, however, but after hitting 24 homers in 84 games for Denver in 1972, he was called back to the big club, which was playing its first season in Texas as the Rangers. Burroughs responded by hitting the first grand slam in Texas Rangers history, and blasted 30 homers as a regular in 1973. A first baseman in the minor leagues, Burroughs only played six games at first in the Big Leagues, instead patrolling left and rightfield. In 1974, Burroughs was the AL MVP, slashing .301/.397/.504 with 25 homers and a league high 118 RBI’s. His high water mark for homers was 41 in 1977, and his best overall season was probably 1978, when he hit 23 homers and led the Majors with 117 walks and a .432 OBP. 

Burroughs’s 1978 season was his last big season as a regular, but he was by no means ineffective in reserve roles. Three AL teams sought his powerful bat, using him as a DH, backup outfielder, and a pinch hitter. From 1979 through 1983, Burroughs reached double digit home run totals each season, extending his streak to eleven. He retired after a productive 1985 season (114 OPS+ in 86 games for Toronto) and reached the only postseason of his career. Although Burrough’s Blue Jays put up a valiant effort, they fell to the Royals in a seven game ALCS. 

For his career, Burroughs batted .261/.355/.439 with 240 home runs and 882 RBI’s. He had 1,443 base hits and 831 walks. These are impressive enough totals to be remembered, in my opinion. Burroughs was a very good player with imposing power and the first MVP in Rangers history. While he was certainly not a Hall of Famer, more people should know who he was and what he accomplished.