Former Met of the Day: Ray Burris (1979-1980)

Bertram Ray Burris was born August 22, 1950. He certainly is the only Met to ever have the name of Bertram. He went to SW Oklahoma State and was drafted by the Cubs in 1972 in the 17th round. He was a regular on the Cubs staff for the next six seasons, winning 15 games twice and pitching over 190 innings four straight seasons. He had some stretches of being a top pitcher but was always plagued by the long ball, leading the league in HRs allowed in 1977. His ERA was usually over four except in 1976, when he enjoyed his best season 15-13 with a 3.11 ERA. In mid 1979 he was traded to the AL NY team for Dick Tidrow and then his contract was bought by the Mets.

He came to a bad 1979 Mets team and was thrown in the rotation at the end of the season going 0-2 in four games. Burris was a good athlete and a good base runner who was sometimes used as a pinch runner. In 1980 he led the Mets staff in games started (29) innings pitched (171) losses (13) and HRs allowed (29). On May 2nd 1980 he went 8 innings allowing only 2 hits & one run but took a loss. He pitched a complete game against the Phillies in June allowing only one run getting no decision. He had a good stretch in mid August going 3-1 & lasting beyond the 7th inning each time. In those outings he allowed less than two runs all but once. He finished up with a 7-13 record and a 4.02 ERA.

After the season he was a free agent and signed with Montreal making the playoffs going 1-1. He struggled in 1982 going 4-14, was traded to Oakland where he won 13 games in 1984. He finished up in 1987 with the Brewers. Overall Burris went 108-134 lifetime with a 4.17 ERA. & 1067 strikeouts. He is currently a pitching coach in the Tigers organization and has a serious phobia of bees.