What years did Rick Burleson play?

Rick Burleson played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1987.

Was Rick Burleson a pitcher?

No. Rick Burleson was a position player (Shortstop).

How many home runs did Rick Burleson hit?

Rick Burleson hit 50 career home runs with 1401 hits.

Rick Burleson

Shortstop · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1974-1987)

AVG .273

HR 50

RBI 449

H 1,401

OPS .689

PIV -1,733

Position: Shortstop
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 5'10" / 165 lb
Born: 4/29/1951 in Lynwood, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1974-05-04
Last Game: 1987-07-08
Awards: 4× All-Star · Gold Glove · Silver Slugger

Full name: Richard Paul Burleson

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Career Batting Statistics

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,346	5,139	656	1,401	256	23	50	449	72	420	477	.273	.328	.361	.689	-1,733

Career AVG .273 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .328 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .361 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 6.7% below league average.

Career OPS .689 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — near 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
1974	BOS	AL	114	384	36	109	22	0	4	44	3	21	34	.284	.256 (+11%)	.324 (-1%)	.369 (+1%)	.693 (avg)	-76.7
1975	BOS	AL	158	580	66	146	25	1	6	62	8	45	44	.252	.257 (-2%)	.327 (-7%)	.374 (-12%)	.701 (-10%)	-925.6
1976	BOS	AL	152	540	75	157	27	1	7	42	14	60	37	.291	.255 (+14%)	.320 (+14%)	.360 (+6%)	.681 (+10%)	1226.9
1977	BOS	AL	154	663	80	194	36	7	3	52	13	47	69	.293	.264 (+11%)	.329 (+3%)	.401 (-5%)	.730 (-1%)	-170.1
1978	BOS	AL	145	626	75	155	32	5	5	49	8	40	71	.248	.257 (-4%)	.323 (-9%)	.378 (-11%)	.702 (-10%)	-1026.5
1979	BOS	AL	153	627	93	174	32	5	5	60	9	35	54	.278	.265 (+5%)	.329 (-4%)	.397 (-7%)	.727 (-6%)	-694.4
1980	BOS	AL	155	644	89	179	29	2	8	51	12	62	51	.278	.264 (+5%)	.326 (+5%)	.387 (-5%)	.714 (-1%)	18.5
1981	CAL	AL	109	430	53	126	17	1	5	33	4	42	38	.293	.255 (+15%)	.320 (+12%)	.368 (+1%)	.688 (+6%)	572.5
1982	CAL	AL	11	45	4	7	1	0	0	2	0	6	3	.156	—	—	—	—	-263.6
1983	CAL	AL	33	119	22	34	7	0	0	11	0	12	12	.286	.260 (+10%)	.324 (+7%)	.389 (-11%)	.714 (-3%)	-30.1
1984	CAL	AL	7	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CAL	AL	93	271	35	77	14	0	5	29	1	33	32	.284	.257 (+10%)	.325 (+11%)	.395 (-1%)	.720 (+5%)	326.6
1987	BAL	AL	62	206	26	43	14	1	2	14	0	17	30	.209	.262 (-21%)	.331 (-16%)	.415 (-24%)	.746 (-20%)	-690.2
Career · 13 seasons			1,346	5,139	656	1,401	256	23	50	449	72	420	477	.273	—	—	—	—	-1,733

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
14	44	3	14	3	0	0	3	5	2	.318

Playoff Batting by Year

Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1986	ALCS	CAL	4	11	0	3	0	0	0	0	.273
1975	ALCS	BOS	3	9	2	4	2	1	1	0	.444
1975	WS	BOS	7	24	1	7	1	2	4	2	.292

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1345 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	671	2514	353	686	27	231	.273
Away	674	2621	302	714	23	218	.272

Last 10 Games — Batting

Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO
1987-07-08	BAL	CHW	W	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987-07-07	BAL	CHW	L	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987-07-05	BAL	MIN	L	4	1	1	1	0	0	0
1987-07-03	BAL	MIN	L	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
1987-07-01	BAL	BOS	L	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987-06-30	BAL	BOS	L	5	1	4	1	1	0	0
1987-06-26	BAL	DET	L	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
1987-06-24	BAL	NYY	W	4	0	0	0	0	0	1
1987-06-22	BAL	NYY	L	2	0	1	1	0	1	0
1987-06-20	BAL	DET	W	3	1	1	1	1	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2B	92	85	192	235	9	66
3B	6	3	6	3	1	0
SS	1192	1164	2151	3871	179	827

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1974	BOS	2B	31	27	65	79	3	24
1974	BOS	3B	2	0	2	1	0	0
1974	BOS	SS	88	81	143	256	18	42
1975	BOS	SS	158	157	267	498	29	102
1976	BOS	SS	152	145	274	478	34	88
1977	BOS	SS	154	154	285	482	24	111
1978	BOS	SS	144	144	285	482	15	100
1979	BOS	SS	153	151	272	523	16	109
1980	BOS	SS	155	155	301	528	22	147
1981	CAL	SS	109	108	208	394	13	88
1982	CAL	SS	11	11	19	51	1	12
1983	CAL	SS	31	29	54	102	5	16
1986	CAL	2B	6	5	15	11	0	3
1986	CAL	3B	4	3	4	2	1	0
1986	CAL	SS	37	29	43	77	2	12
1987	BAL	2B	55	53	112	145	6	39

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position	Games
Second Base	92
Third Base	5
Shortstop	1193
Designated Hitter	45

Awards & Honors

Year	Award	Notes
1981	Silver Slugger	SS
1981	TSN All-Star	SS
1979	Gold Glove	SS
1977	TSN All-Star	SS
1976	Player of the Week	Week of 1976-08-20

Salary History

Year	Team	League	Salary
1987	BAL	AL	$200,000
1986	CAL	AL	$856,667
1985	CAL	AL	$856,667
Total Career Earnings			$1,913,334

Award Voting History

Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1979	Most Valuable Player	AL	21th	7.0	392	0
1978	Most Valuable Player	AL	36th	1.0	392	0
1977	Most Valuable Player	AL	22th	5.0	392	0
1975	Most Valuable Player	AL	13th	28.0	336	0
1974	Rookie of the Year	AL	4th	1.0	24	1

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Rick Burleson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rick Burleson

What years did Rick Burleson play?: Rick Burleson played in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1987.
Was Rick Burleson a pitcher?: No. Rick Burleson was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Rick Burleson hit?: Rick Burleson hit 50 career home runs with 1401 hits.