#CardCorner: 1978 Topps Ray Burris

With the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fernando Valenzuela standing between them and a World Series berth, the Montreal Expos twice turned to 31-year-old journeyman Ray Burris to face the rookie sensation in the 1981 National League Championship Series.

Burris responded with 17 innings of one-run baseball and nearly pitched the Expos to the Fall Classic. It was the peak of a career that saw Burris go from small-town Oklahoma to the big leagues.

Born Bertram Ray Burris on Aug. 22, 1950, in Idabel, Okla., Burris grew up the son of a sharecropper in southwest Oklahoma. He worked on the farm throughout his youth and was an exceptional all-around athlete while growing into his 6-foot-5, 200-pound frame.

Burris’ baseball hero growing up was Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson – and following his graduation from Duke High School in Duke, Okla., Burris enrolled at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He played baseball and basketball for the Bulldogs, making a name for himself on the diamond when he went 16-4 as a junior in 1971, earning NAIA first team All-America honors. He pitched for amateur teams in the Lawton, Okla., area following his college season, leading the Lawton Pepsis to the National Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita, Kan.

In June 1972, the Chicago Cubs selected Burris in the 17th round of the MLB Draft. He was sent to the Cubs’ minor league affiliate in Bradenton, Fla., but was promoted all the way to Double-A Midland of the Texas League before pitching a game on the strength of his batting practice sessions. In Midland, Burris was 7-5 with a 3.51 ERA over 14 starts. He struck out 91 batters in 95 innings while walking just 20.

The Cubs brought Burris to Spring Training in 1973, where he drew comparisons to Cubs ace Fergie Jenkins with his fastball/slider combination that he consistently kept down in the strike zone.

“Burris definitely will pitch in Chicago, barring injury,” Cubs manager Whitey Lockman told the Chicago Tribune. “When, I can’t predict. This year – who knows?”

Lockman answered his own question when he kept Burris on the Opening Day roster after Burris dominated Cactus League hitters in Spring Training. Burris made his big league debut on April 8 with 3.1 shutout innings of relief vs. the Expos and started his first game 10 days later, working five shutout frames vs. the Mets to pick up his first victory in a 1-0 Chicago win.

The Cubs sent Burris to Triple-A Wichita in May – mainly because Lockman felt he couldn’t get Burris enough work. He returned to the big leagues in June and worked as a mop-up man for the rest of the season, going 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA in 31 games. The Cubs were 3-28 in games that Burris pitched despite Burris’ better-than-average numbers.

“I didn’t think I would make it this fast,” Burris told the Lawton Constitution following the 1973 season. “I figured it would take two or three years before I even got a shot with the big team. But they really liked my performance in Spring Training and put me on the roster.

“I didn’t like going down to the minors, but it was better for me.”

Following the season, Burris spent time at the Cubs’ instructional league camp in Arizona before pitching winter ball in Venezuela.

Burris began the 1974 season in the Cubs bullpen and once again was sent to Triple-A for a mid-season stint. He finished the year 3-5 with a 6.60 ERA in 40 games – and the Cubs went 7-33 in those contests.

But in 1975, manager Jim Marshall – who replaced Lockman during the 1974 season – put Burris into the starting rotation. Burris responded with six wins in his first 10 games, including his first big league shutout in a four-hitter against the Braves on May 26.

Burris stayed in the rotation all season and finished with a 15-10 record and 4.12 ERA over 238.1 innings.

“I’m a pitcher now after throwing just hard stuff for two years,” Burris told the Associated Press. “The turning point for me came when I was sent down to Wichita (in 1974) and I realized I couldn’t go with a fastball only.”

Burris earned the Opening Day nod for the Cubs in 1976 and recovered from a 1-7 start to finish 15-13 with a 3.11 ERA in 249 innings. He was named the National League’s Pitcher of the Month for August when he went 6-1 with a 1.88 ERA and four complete games.

Burris again started on Opening Day in 1977 and this time got out to a quick start, winning seven of his first 11 decisions as the Cubs surprised many observers by leading the NL East. But both Burris and the team cooled off as the season progressed – with Burris finishing with a 14-16 record and 4.72 ERA (allowing an NL-high 29 home runs) for a Chicago team that went 81-81.

Burris attributed his performance drop-off to weight gain and reported to Spring Training in 1978 in better shape. But he struggled to a 7-13 record with a 4.75 ERA that season and was the subject of trade rumors for much of the year.

In 1979, Burris began the season in the bullpen. He made 14 appearances without a decision or save. Then on May 23, the Cubs sent Burris to the Yankees in a one-for-one deal for pitcher Dick Tidrow.

“I didn’t know (the trade) was coming,” Burris told the Mount Vernon (N.Y.) Argus. “I wish I pitched regular (in Chicago). I’m sorry things didn’t work out.”

Burris’ teammates on the Cubs reported that he was genuinely shocked by the deal.

“Ray was a super guy, a leader on the ballclub,” reliever Willie Hernández told the Argus. “He was always straight up. It was kind of unexpected, no one read about it. It surprised me, really.”

The Yankees planned to used Burris in the bullpen to help replace Goose Gossage, who was injured in a clubhouse fight in April.

“I don’t know why the Cubs put me in the bullpen,” Burris told the Jersey City Journal after the trade. “I’d rather be a starter. I’d always been a starter until this year and I’m probably a better pitcher when I’m starting. But I’ll do whatever they want me to do. I’m flattered that the Yankees, the champs, wanted me.”

But Burris was unable to help New York win a third straight World Series title. He made 15 relief appearances, going 1-3 with a 6.18 ERA before the Mets claimed him off waivers on Aug. 20. The Mets put Burris back in the rotation for four starts, and Burris finished the season with a combined 1-5 record and 5.32 ERA.

“We started inquiring about Ray as soon as the Yankees put him in the bullpen,” Mets manager Joe Torre told United Press International.

And with the Mets in full rebuild mode in 1980, Burris was moved back to the rotation. At 29, he was the staff veteran and started 29 games, going 7-13 with a 4.02 ERA for a team that lost 95 games.

A free agent following the season, Burris signed a one-year deal with the Expos worth a reported $325,000 on Feb. 18, 1981. It would turn out to be a bargain for a Montreal team that had fallen just short of the postseason in two straight seasons.

Burris started the season’s second game for the Expos and was 3-5 with a 3.09 ERA when the strike interrupted the season in June. But he won his first four decisions when the season resumed and pitched Montreal to a crucial 1-0 win over the Phillies on Sept. 21, matching zeros with Philadelphia ace Steve Carlton through 10 innings. Carlton struck out 12 and Burris fanned only one, but both allowed only three hits in a game Montreal won 1-0 in 17 innings. Many observers believed it was the game that made believers out of the Expos themselves.

Burris later pitched Montreal past Pittsburgh by a 5-2 score on Oct. 1, keeping intact the Expos’ half-game lead over St. Louis. The next day, Montreal won and St. Louis lost, and the Expos clinched the NL East title on Oct. 3.

Appearing in the postseason for the first time, the Expos won Game 1 of the NLDS over the Phillies behind Steve Rogers. Montreal won Game 2 and then manager Jim Fanning handed the ball to Burris for Game 3 – with a chance to close out the series. But Burris allowed four runs (three earned) over 5.1 innings in a 6-2 loss. Philadelphia won Game 4 to set up a winner-take-all rematch of Game 1 between Rogers and Steve Carlton – and Rogers threw a six-hit shutout to send the Expos to the NLCS vs. the Dodgers.

But with their ace unavailable after that Game 5 performance, the Expos lost Game 1 to the Dodgers 5-1. Enter Burris, who was matched up for Game 2 against Valenzuela, the international sensation who would go on to win the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards. But the Expos got two runs in the second on RBI hits by Warren Cromartie and Tim Raines and added another in the sixth on an RBI single by Gary Carter. Burris, meanwhile, allowed just two runners as far as second base as he shut out the Dodgers on five hits.

In a five-game series, it amounted to a must-win for Montreal.

“They had never seen me change speeds like that before,” Burris told the Montreal Gazette.

The Expos won Game 3 but the Dodgers evened the series in Game 4, setting up a rematch between Valenzuela and Burris in the deciding Game 5. Montreal jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a run-scoring double play ball hit by Andre Dawson, and Burris made the lead stand up until the fifth inning, when Valenzuela’s RBI groundout scored Rick Monday to tie the game. No one reached base for either team until Valenzuela extinguished a rally in the bottom of the seventh, and Burris did the same in the top of the eighth.

Then in the bottom of the eighth inning, Fanning called on Tim Wallach to hit for Burris with one out and no one on. Wallach grounded out and the Expos went down in order, leaving Burris with a no-decision.

Rogers came on to pitch the ninth and surrendered a legendary home run to Monday after retiring the first two batters of the inning. After Valenzuela got the first two outs in the ninth, Carter walked and was replaced by pinch runner Jerry Manuel, who advanced to second when Larry Parrish walked.

With the winning run on first base, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda called on Bob Welch to relieve Valenzuela – and Welch got Jerry White to ground out to second base to end the game.

“We have to sit down and analyze as a team what we did and what we didn’t do,” Burris told the AP after Game 5. “There’s going to be a lot of soul searching on the part of Ray Burris to see what I can do to maintain consistency. But it’s been an exciting season considering all things. I don’t think there will be any negative thinking about what we’ve done.”

Burris returned to the Expos on a new contract, signing a three-year deal worth a reported $1.8 million. Both sides were optimistic for the future when the 1982 season began.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody pitch any better,” Fanning told the Palm Beach Post of Burris’ performance late in the fall of 1981. “Fastballs in, slow curves, sinkers – just superb games. He’d pitch an entire game without making a mistake.”

But the good times would not last. After pitching to a 1.17 ERA in his first three starts in 1982, Burris was tagged for 24 earned runs in his next five appearances – prompting his demotion to the bullpen. He worked as a spot starter and reliever the rest of the way in 1982, going 4-14 with two saves and a 4.73 ERA over 123.2 innings.

He spent the 1983 season as a swingman again, going 4-7 with a 3.68 ERA in 40 games – an improvement he credited to a better diet. With one year remaining on his contract, Burris was traded to the Athletics on Dec. 7, 1983, in exchange for outfielder Rusty McNealy and cash. He rewarded the A’s with the fourth-and-final 200-inning season of his career, going 13-10 with a 3.15 ERA.

The Athletics, looking to sell high, traded Burris to the Brewers exactly one year after his trade to Oakland in exchange for a package that brought future Hall of Famer Don Sutton to the A’s. Burris had requested a trade when he was told his contract would not be extended.

“Ray leaves the Oakland club with the greatest regrets on our part,” Athletics vice president Sandy Alderson told the AP. “We were not happy losing Ray. We’re happy to get Sutton.”

Burris started the Brewers’ second game of the season in 1985 and allowed just one run over nine innings in an 8-1 win over the White Sox. But Burris lost his next four starts. And after going 4-1 in August, Burris was 0-4 in September to finish the year 9-13 with a 4.81 ERA.

Released by the Brewers in the waning days of Spring Training in 1986, Burris caught on with the Cardinals but was released before the end of the season – finishing with a 4-5 record and 5.60 ERA in 23 games.

He joined the Brewers’ minor league coaching crew in 1987 before attempting a comeback that summer, working his way through the minors and then joining Milwaukee’s bullpen in July. He made the final 10 appearances of his career over the season’s last two months, picking up his final big league win on Sept. 27 with two scoreless innings of relief against the Red Sox.

“I had a chance to see in person our minor league prospects,” Burris told the Associated Press. “The consistency in pitching isn’t there.

“I went down to the minors and I worked hard to get in this position. I showed there was still something left.”

Burris returned to the Brewers’ minor league staff after his playing days and also pitched for the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989. He served as the Brewers’ bullpen coach in 1990-91 under manager Tom Trebelhorn, then took the same job with the Rangers in 1992. He later worked in the minor leagues with the Cardinals, Tigers and Phillies.

Over 15 big league seasons, Burris went 108-134 with a 4.17 ERA in 480 games. But for Expos fans, Burris will always be remembered for a few weeks in late 1981 when he nearly pitched Montreal to baseball’s promised land.

“Baseball is a beautiful sport,” Burris told the Lawton Constitution following his first season in the big leagues. “It’s a nice career, and a great opportunity for me. I wish everyone who had the talent had the opportunity to try it.”

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum