Joe Burke (GM)

Joseph Roy Burke

• Born December 8, 1923 in Louisville, KY USA
• Died May 12, 1992 in Kansas City, KS USA

Biographical Information

Joe Burke was a baseball executive for 45 years, beginning with the Louisville Colonels in 1948.

Burke was assistant GM of the Washington Senators from 1961 to 1963. He was the first General Manager of the Texas Rangers after they moved from Washington, DC in 1972-1973. He went on to work for the Kansas City Royals for nearly two decades, first as GM from 1974 to 1981, and later as President from 1981 to 1992.

Preceded by Bob Short

Texas Rangers General Manager 1972-1973

Succeeded by Dan O'Brien, Sr.

Preceded by Cedric Tallis

Kansas City Royals General Manager 1974-1981

Succeeded by John Schuerholz

Record as a General Manager

Draft Picks

1st Round - Rangers

• 1972: 4th overall 3B Roy Howell - Lompoc High School
• 1973: 1st overall P David Clyde - Westchester High School (Houston)

Other Notable Selections - Rangers

• 1972: 8th round (172nd overall) C Jim Sundberg - University of Iowa
• 1972: 25th round (572nd overall) 1B Mike Hargrove - Northwestern Oklahoma State University
• 1973: 3rd round (49th overall) P Len Barker - Neshaminy High School

1st Round - Royals

• 1975: 9th overall OF Clint Hurdle - Merritt Island High School
• 1976: 18th overall P Ben Grzybek - Hialeah High School
• 1977: 21st overall P Mike Jones - Pittsford Sutherland High School
• 1978: 25th overall SS Buddy Biancalana - Redwood High School
• 1979: 21st overall P Atlee Hammaker - East Tennessee State University
• 1980: 16th overall P Frank Wills - Tulane University
• 1981: 23rd overall OF Dave Leeper - University of Southern California

Other Notable Selections - Royals

• 1976: 15th round (354th overall) OF Ken Phelps - Arizona State University
• 1978: 16th round (415th overall) OF Frank Viola - East Meadow High School Did Not Sign
• 1979: 7th round (177th overall) P Craig Lefferts - University of Arizona
• 1980: 7th round (171st overall) C Don Slaught - UCLA
• 1981: 2nd round (34th overall) P Mark Gubicza - William Penn Charter School
• 1981: 3rd round (74th overall) P David Cone - Rockhurst High School
• 1981: 4th round (100th overall) SS Shane Mack - Gahr High School

Significant Trades

Rangers

• December 2, 1971 traded Del Unser, Terry Ley, Denny Riddleberger and Gary Jones to the Cleveland Indians for Roy Foster, Ken Suarez, Mike Paul and Rich Hand
• July 20, 1972 traded Don Mincher and Ted Kubiak to the Oakland A's for Marty Martinez, Vic Harris and Steve Lawson
• May 20, 1973 traded Mike Epstein, Rich Hand and Rick Stelmaszek to the California Angels for Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen

Royals

• May 16, 1976 traded Fran Healy to the New York Yankees for Larry Gura
• December 6, 1976 traded Jamie Quirk, Jim Wohlford and Bob McClure to the Milwaukee Brewers for Darrell Porter and Jim Colborn
• December 8, 1977 traded Mark Littell and Buck Martinez to the St. Louis Cardinals for Al Hrabosky
• December 6, 1979 traded Todd Cruz, Al Cowens and Craig Eaton to the California Angels for Willie Aikens and Rance Mulliniks

Significant Signings

Rangers

• None

Royals

• August 6, 1974 signed Orlando Cepeda as a Free Agent from Boston Red Sox
• January 24, 1975 signed Harmon Killebrew as a free fgent from Minnesota Twins
• January 7, 1975 signed Dan Quisenberry as a amateur free agent
• September 3, 1978 signed Marvell Wynne as a amateur free agent

Further Reading

• Steve West: "Joe Burke", in Steve West and Bill Nowlin, eds.: The Team That Couldn't Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2019, pp. 297-304. ISBN 978-1-943816-93-4

Related Sites

• Joe Burke at the SABR Bio Project