Thomas P. Burns “Oyster”
Born: 9/6/1864- Philadelphia, Pa
Died: 11/11/1928- Brooklyn, NY
Oyster Burns, to me, always had one of the more unusual nicknames in baseball. I chose him for this year’s biography just to find out how he got the name. I still don’t know how he got his name.
Some sources claim that he got the name because he worked on an oyster farm during the off season. While other sources, such as Bill James, claim that this nickname was bestowed upon Thomas P. Burns by historians to distinguish him from another Tom Burns that played in the 1880’s and 90’s. When he died in 1928 there was no mention in his obituary of his molluskian moniker. (Molluskian is not a real word, but it should be.) Both baseball cards that I could find of him has him listed as just Burns. So during his playing days he may have just been Tom Burns, but to me he’ll always be Oyster.
He made his ML debut in 1884 with the Union Association Wilmington Quicksteps. Half way through the season he was sent to the Baltimore Orioles of the AA. He played in 35 games, hitting .298 with 6 HRs. All at the tender age of 19.
After a poor start in 1885 he was released and sent to Newark in the Eastern League. He returned to Baltimore in 1887 and so impressed Mgr. Billie Barnie that he was named team captain. He had a .341 avg. and a league leading 19 triples. The next season there was some tension between the Oyster and the manager, and he not only was not named team captain but he was sold to the Brooklyn Bridegrooms half way through the season. He would spend 6 seasons with Brooklyn befor finishing his career with the NY Giants in 1895.
In 1890 he would lead the NL in HRs with 16 and in rbis with 128, and would help the Bridegrooms win their 1st NL pennant. He would become the 1st Bridegroom to hit for the cycle on 8/1/1890.
He was considered a natural leader and a clutch hitter, with a strong throwing arm. He would finish his career with exactly a .300 average, retiring at the age of 30.
After his retirement he would do a little umpiring as well as managing in the New England League for several seasons.
He would die in Brooklyn in 1928 at the age of 64.
Batting Record Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP SH SB AVG OBP SLG BFW Year Team 1884 WIL U 2 7 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 .143 .250 .429 0.0 1884 WIL U 1884 BAL a 35 131 34 39 2 6 6 23 7 3 .298 .348 .542 0.6 1884 BAL a 1884 Total 37 138 34 40 2 7 6 23i 8 3i 0i .290 .342 .536 0.6 1884 Total 1885 BAL a 78 321 47 74 11 6 5 37 16 6 .231 .280 .349 0.1 1885 BAL a 1887 BAL a 140 551 122 188 33 19 9 99 63 5 58 .341 .414 .519 3.2 1887 BAL a 1888 BAL a 79 325 54 97 18 9 4 42 24 1 23 .298 .349 .446 1.1 1888 BAL a 1888 BRO a 52 204 40 58 9 6 2 25 14 3 21 .284 .339 .417 0.1 1888 BRO a 1888 TOT a 131 529 94 155 27 15 6 67 38 4 44 .293 .345 .435 1.2 1888 TOT a 1889 BRO a 131 504 105 153 19 13 5 100 68 26 4 32 .304 .391 .423 1.2 1889 BRO a 1890 BRO N 119 472 102 134 22 12 13 128 51 42 4 21 .284 .359 .464 1.6 1890 BRO N 1891 BRO N 123 470 75 134 24 13 4 83 53 30 0 21 .285 .358 .417 1.2 1891 BRO N 1892 BRO N 141 542 88 171 27 18 4 96 65 42 6 33 .315 .395 .454 2.2 1892 BRO N 1893 BRO N 109 415 68 112 22 8 7 60 36 16 4 14 .270 .334 .412 -0.4 1893 BRO N 1894 BRO N 125 505 106 179 32 14 5 107 44 18 3 9 30 .354 .409 .503 1.0 1894 BRO N 1895 BRO N 20 76 7 14 0 1 0 7 8 2 1 0 0 .184 .271 .211 -0.8 1895 BRO N 1895 NY N 33 114 21 35 5 3 1 25 14 6 1 1 10 .307 .388 .430 -0.1 1895 NY N 1895 TOT N 53 190 28 49 5 4 1 32 22 8 2 1 10 .258 .341 .342 -0.9 1895 TOT N Total NL ( 6 Years) 670 2594 467 779 132 69 34 506 271 156 19 10i 129 .300 .371 .444 4.7 Total NL Total AA ( 5 Years) 515 2036 402 609 92 59 31 326 192 26i 22 134i .299 .366 .448 6.3 Total AA Total UA ( 1 Year ) 2 7 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 .143 .250 .429 0.0 Total UA Total (11 Years) 1187 4637 869 1389 224 129 65 832i 464 182i 41i 10i 263i .300 .368 .446 11.0 Total Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO HBP SH SB AVG OBP SLG BFW Year Team
I’ve seen him referred to as “Oyster Tommy” when he was with Baltimore. Don’t know where the name comes from, though.
Comment by Cliff Blau — January 16, 2010 @ 3:17 am |
The man you wrote about in this article is my Great Great Uncle. I have found some things out about his career and enjoyed reading your article.
Regards,
Linda
Comment by Linda Seabert — July 19, 2010 @ 12:29 pm |