Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Goodbye Ellis
Ellis Burks announces his retirement.
He retires as one of the greatest major leaguers to pass through New Britain. With apologies to John Marzano, he should be ranked third on that list that I just made up, behind Roger Clemens and Jeff Bagwell.
Interestingly, all three of those players left the Red Sox when they had many good years still left in them.
Perhaps he will be bumped down the list ultimately by someone like Torii Hunter or David Ortiz, if you want to count the "Hardware City Rock Cats," but those players have a long way to go to match the career of Ellis.
Also filing for free agency Tuesday was outfielder Ellis Burks, who has said he will retire. The 40-year-old veteran of 18 major league seasons began and ended his career with the Red Sox....When he returned at Fenway Park on Sept. 23, he singled as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth and was removed for a pinch-runner to a standing ovation. His only appearance after that was an Oct. 2 start when he became the 200th major leaguer to play in 2,000 games.Ellis Burks was a very good player for the Red Sox from 1987-1992, but really made his mark after that with some Coors Field-inflated numbers, and a long career, despite many injuries the last few years.
He retires as one of the greatest major leaguers to pass through New Britain. With apologies to John Marzano, he should be ranked third on that list that I just made up, behind Roger Clemens and Jeff Bagwell.
Interestingly, all three of those players left the Red Sox when they had many good years still left in them.
Perhaps he will be bumped down the list ultimately by someone like Torii Hunter or David Ortiz, if you want to count the "Hardware City Rock Cats," but those players have a long way to go to match the career of Ellis.
# posted by Darlucky @ 10:51 AM 
