Smoky Burgess

Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1949-1967)

AVG .295
HR 126
RBI 673
H 1,318
OPS .807
PIV 11,198
Position
Catcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
5'8" / 185 lb
Born
2/6/1927 in Caroleen, NC, USA
Died
9/15/1991 in Asheville, NC, USA
MLB Debut
1949-04-19
Last Game
1967-10-01
Awards
6× All-Star

Full name: Forrest Harrill Burgess

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,691 4,471 485 1,318 230 33 126 673 13 477 270 .295 .362 .446 .807 11,198

Career AVG .295 vs. league average .255 across their career seasons — +15.8% above league average.

Career OBP .362 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — +11.8% above league average.

Career SLG .446 vs. league average .384 across their career seasons — +16.0% above league average.

Career OPS .807 vs. league average .708 across their career seasons — +14.1% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1949 CHN NL 46 56 4 15 0 0 1 12 0 4 4 .268 .262 (+2%) .343 (-8%) .384 (-16%) .727 (-12%) -109.1
1951 CHN NL 94 219 21 55 4 2 2 20 2 21 12 .251 .260 (-4%) .336 (-6%) .385 (-18%) .721 (-13%) -425.3
1952 PHI NL 110 371 49 110 27 2 6 56 3 49 21 .296 .252 (+17%) .326 (+16%) .369 (+16%) .696 (+16%) 1194.4
1953 PHI NL 102 312 31 91 17 5 4 36 3 37 17 .292 .264 (+10%) .335 (+10%) .397 (+5%) .733 (+7%) 483.6
1954 PHI NL 108 345 41 127 27 5 4 46 1 42 11 .368 .261 (+41%) .333 (+30%) .390 (+31%) .723 (+30%) 2083.1
1955 PHI NL 7 21 4 4 2 0 1 1 0 3 1 .190 — — — — 0.0
1955 CIN NL 116 421 67 129 15 3 20 77 1 47 35 .306 .258 (+19%) .332 (+12%) .393 (+27%) .726 (+20%) 0.0
1956 CIN NL 90 229 28 63 10 0 12 39 0 26 18 .275 .258 (+7%) .331 (+5%) .397 (+20%) .728 (+13%) 539.7
1957 CIN NL 90 205 29 58 14 1 14 39 0 24 16 .283 .257 (+10%) .323 (+9%) .391 (+45%) .715 (+29%) 1020.0
1958 CIN NL 99 251 28 71 12 1 6 31 0 22 20 .283 .257 (+10%) .324 (+6%) .394 (+4%) .719 (+5%) 250.8
1959 PIT NL 114 377 41 112 28 5 11 59 0 31 16 .297 .256 (+16%) .323 (+8%) .392 (+24%) .715 (+16%) 1063.2
1960 PIT NL 110 337 33 99 15 2 7 39 0 35 13 .294 .255 (+15%) .323 (+10%) .387 (+6%) .711 (+8%) 543.3
1961 PIT NL 100 323 37 98 17 3 12 52 1 30 16 .303 .258 (+17%) .328 (+11%) .399 (+22%) .727 (+17%) 1032.9
1962 PIT NL 103 360 38 118 19 2 13 61 0 31 19 .328 .257 (+27%) .326 (+15%) .393 (+27%) .719 (+22%) 1410.6
1963 PIT NL 91 264 20 74 10 1 6 37 0 24 14 .280 .246 (+14%) .308 (+9%) .371 (+6%) .680 (+7%) 360.5
1964 PIT NL 68 171 9 42 3 1 2 17 2 13 14 .246 .250 (-2%) .312 (-3%) .377 (-18%) .690 (-11%) -264.9
1964 CHA AL 7 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 .200 — — — — -264.9
1965 CHA AL 80 77 2 22 4 0 2 24 0 11 7 .286 .245 (+16%) .310 (+19%) .371 (+12%) .682 (+15%) 232.5
1966 CHA AL 79 67 0 21 5 0 0 15 0 11 8 .313 .248 (+26%) .309 (+33%) .376 (+3%) .685 (+17%) 257.8
1967 CHA AL 77 60 2 8 1 0 2 11 0 14 8 .133 .242 (-45%) .306 (-1%) .357 (-30%) .663 (-17%) -104.4
Career · 20 seasons 1,691 4,471 485 1,318 230 33 126 673 13 477 270 .295 — — — — 9,304

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 18 2 6 1 0 0 0 2 1 .333

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1960 WS PIT 5 18 2 6 1 0 0 0 2 1 .333

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1692 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home864220824964867344.293
Away828226223667059329.296

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1967-10-01 CHWTEXL 100000000
1967-09-29 CHWTEXL 100000000
1967-09-27 CHWKC1L 000000110
1967-09-22 CHWCLEL 101000100
1967-09-18 CHWLAAL 100000100
1967-09-16 CHWMINW 000000010
1967-09-15 CHWMINW 100000000
1967-09-14 CHWCLEW 000000010
1967-09-13 CHWCLEW 100000000
1967-09-12 CHWCLEL 100000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
C 1139 808 5214 441 71 63

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1949 CHN C 8 0 21 6 0 2
1951 CHN C 64 0 210 35 5 6
1952 PHI C 104 0 439 47 11 6
1953 PHI C 95 0 395 23 3 8
1954 PHI C 91 85 356 30 10 4
1955 PHI C 6 6 35 1 0 0
1955 CIN C 107 103 457 35 7 6
1956 CIN C 55 53 257 18 0 2
1957 CIN C 45 42 223 15 3 0
1958 CIN C 58 53 297 21 4 2
1959 PIT C 101 95 441 39 8 4
1960 PIT C 89 86 485 38 3 7
1961 PIT C 92 83 426 27 4 4
1962 PIT C 101 94 550 45 7 5
1963 PIT C 72 65 364 40 4 4
1964 PIT C 44 40 237 18 2 3
1965 CHA C 5 3 17 3 0 0
1966 CHA C 2 0 4 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Catcher 1141

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1961 TSN All-Star C

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1960 Most Valuable Player NL 20th 2.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Smoky Burgess (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Virgil Davis
    .308 avg, 77 HR
  2. 86
    Walker Cooper
    .285 avg, 173 HR
  3. 86
    Thurman Munson
    .292 avg, 113 HR
  4. 84
    Buster Posey
    .302 avg, 158 HR
  5. 77
    Mike Lieberthal
    .274 avg, 150 HR
  6. 77
    Jack Clements
    .287 avg, 77 HR

Compare Smoky Burgess

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Burgess's closest peers by position and era.

vs Bob Friend
vs Roberto Clemente
vs Harvey Haddix
vs Roy Face

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Frequently Asked Questions about Smoky Burgess

What years did Smoky Burgess play?
Smoky Burgess played in Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1967.
Was Smoky Burgess a pitcher?
No. Smoky Burgess was a position player (Catcher).
How many home runs did Smoky Burgess hit?
Smoky Burgess hit 126 career home runs with 1318 hits.