Lew Burdette Stats

Lew Burdette was born on Monday, November 22, 1926, in Nitro, West Virginia. Burdette was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 26, 1950, with the New York Yankees. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Lew Burdette baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I make my living off the hungriness of the hitters," Lew Burdette used to say. That was when he was beating the Yankees for the Milwaukee Braves in Game 2, 5 and Game 7 of the 1957 World Series. By hungriness he meant eagerness to kill pitches chosen to be not killable." - Koppett, Leonard. Seattle Post Intelligencer Writer. The Thinking Fan: Playoff pitching proves point. 8 November 2001.

Lew Burdette

Lew Burdette Autograph on a 1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#310 | <a href='../baseball_cards/baseball_cards_oneset.php?s=1991top05' title='1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card Checklist'>Checklist</a>)

Lew Burdette Autograph on a 1991 Topps Archives Baseball Card (#310 | Checklist)

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Birth Name:   Selva Lewis Burdette
Nickname:   Bird Cage or Lew or Lou
Born On:   11-22-1926  (Scorpio)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Nitro, West Virginia
Year of Death Data Died On:   02-06-2007 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Winter Garden, Florida
Cemetery:   Cremated (Ashes Scattered off Longboat Key)
High School:   Nitro High School (Nitro, WV)
College:   University of Richmond
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-02   Player Weight Chart Weight:   190
First Game:   09-26-1950 (Age 23)
Last Game:   07-16-1967
Draft:   Not Applicable / Signing Bonus = $1,200

Lew Burdette

Lew Burdette Pitching Stats

1950 24 Yankees 2 0 0 0 0 .000 6.75 0 0 0 1.1 6 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
1951 25 Braves 3 0 0 0 0 .000 6.23 0 0 0 4.1 23 6 3 4 0 5 0 1 1 1 0 -
1952 26 Braves 45 9 22 6 11 .353 3.61 5 0 7 137.0 579 138 55 58 8 47 5 47 2 2 2 -
1953 27 Braves 46 13 24 15 5 .750 3.24 6 1 8 175.0 741 177 63 73 7 56 8 58 1 5 0 -
1954 28 Braves 38 32 3 15 14 .517 2.76 13 4 0 238.0 974 224 73 87 17 62 9 79 1 4 0 -
1955 29 Braves 42 33 4 13 8 .619 4.03 11 2 0 230.0 1,001 253 103 114 25 73 9 70 3 6 1 -
1956 30 Braves 39 35 2 19 10 .655 2.70 16 6 1 256.1 1,035 234 77 92 22 52 7 110 2 3 0 -
1957 31 Braves 37 33 3 17 9 .654 3.72 14 1 0 256.2 1,067 260 106 117 25 59 8 78 2 2 0 -
1958 32 Braves 40 36 2 20 10 .667 2.91 19 3 0 275.1 1,122 279 89 102 18 50 7 113 1 5 0 -
1959 33 Braves 41 39 2 21 15 .583 4.07 20 4 1 289.2 1,193 312 131 144 38 38 3 105 2 1 0 -
1960 34 Braves 45 32 9 19 13 .594 3.36 18 4 4 275.2 1,117 277 103 116 19 35 7 83 2 5 0 -
1961 35 Braves 40 36 4 18 11 .621 4.00 14 3 0 272.1 1,126 295 121 131 31 33 3 92 1 3 1 -
1962 36 Braves 37 19 11 10 9 .526 4.89 6 1 2 143.2 611 172 78 85 26 23 6 59 1 2 1 -
1963 37 Braves 15 13 2 6 5 .545 3.64 4 1 0 84.0 342 71 34 40 15 24 4 28 0 1 0 -
1963 37 Cardinals 21 14 3 3 8 .273 3.77 3 0 2 98.0 416 106 41 50 6 16 2 45 0 7 0 -
1964 38 Cardinals 8 0 2 1 0 1.000 1.80 0 0 0 10.0 43 10 2 3 1 3 0 3 1 0 0 -
1964 38 Cubs 28 17 3 9 9 .500 4.88 8 2 0 131.0 549 152 71 74 15 19 2 40 0 1 0 -
1965 39 Cubs 7 3 0 0 2 .000 5.31 0 0 0 20.1 93 26 12 17 3 4 1 5 0 1 0 -
1965 39 Phillies 19 9 2 3 3 .500 5.48 1 1 0 70.2 319 95 43 50 5 17 2 23 1 5 0 -
1966 40 Angels 54 0 22 7 2 .778 3.39 0 0 5 79.2 317 80 30 32 4 12 2 27 2 1 2 -
1967 41 Angels 19 0 8 1 0 1.000 4.91 0 0 1 18.1 71 16 10 10 4 0 0 8 0 1 0 -
18 Years 626 373 128 203 144 .585 3.66 158 33 31 3,067.1 12,745 3,186 1,246 1,400 289 628 85 1,074 23 56 7 -

Lew Burdette

Lew Burdette Hitting Stats

1950 24 Yankees 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1951 25 Braves 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1952 26 Braves 45 35 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 8 6 0 1 2 .114 .205 .114
1953 27 Braves 46 53 4 9 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13 5 0 0 0 .170 .170 .170
1954 28 Braves 39 79 3 7 1 0 0 0 4 1 0 14 5 2 2 0 .089 .119 .101
1955 29 Braves 45 86 10 20 5 0 0 0 7 3 0 20 3 0 0 0 .233 .258 .291
1956 30 Braves 45 86 9 16 1 0 0 0 8 2 0 16 11 2 1 1 .186 .209 .198
1957 31 Braves 41 88 11 13 2 0 2 0 9 3 0 22 4 1 1 4 .148 .183 .239
1958 32 Braves 47 99 11 24 1 1 3 1 15 3 0 24 5 0 1 4 .242 .272 .364
1959 33 Braves 52 104 14 21 7 1 0 0 8 3 0 36 5 0 1 0 .202 .231 .288
1960 34 Braves 46 91 11 16 3 0 2 0 4 7 0 22 2 1 1 2 .176 .240 .275
1961 35 Braves 42 103 10 21 5 0 3 0 11 2 0 39 3 0 0 0 .204 .219 .340
1962 36 Braves 39 51 6 9 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 17 2 0 1 1 .176 .208 .176
1963 37 Braves 17 26 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 11 4 0 2 0 .038 .138 .115
1963 37 Cardinals 21 31 0 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 3 0 0 0 .097 .097 .129
1964 38 Cardinals 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1964 38 Cubs 28 43 6 12 0 1 2 0 4 3 0 12 3 0 1 0 .279 .340 .465
1965 39 Cubs 8 6 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .500
1965 39 Phillies 19 20 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2 0 0 0 .300 .300 .300
1966 40 Angels 54 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 .125 .125 .125
1967 41 Angels 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
18 Years 666 1,011 101 185 27 4 12 1 75 32 0 271 63 6 12 14 .183 .216 .253

Lew Burdette

Lew Burdette Fielding Stats

1950 Yankees P 2 0 4 1 0.5 1 0 1 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 6.75
1951 Braves P 3 0 13 1 0.3 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.08
1952 Braves P 45 9 411 41 0.9 40 9 31 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .976 2.63
1953 Braves P 46 13 525 48 1.0 47 10 37 1 6 n/a n/a n/a .979 2.42
1954 Braves P 38 32 714 71 1.9 67 17 50 4 4 n/a n/a n/a .944 2.53
1955 Braves P 42 33 690 68 1.6 66 19 47 2 6 n/a n/a n/a .971 2.58
1956 Braves P 39 35 769 67 1.7 66 19 47 1 4 n/a n/a n/a .985 2.32
1957 Braves P 37 33 770 76 2.1 72 21 51 4 3 n/a n/a n/a .947 2.52
1958 Braves P 40 36 826 78 2.0 77 25 52 1 4 n/a n/a n/a .987 2.52
1959 Braves P 41 39 869 69 1.7 68 22 46 1 6 n/a n/a n/a .986 2.11
1960 Braves P 45 32 827 100 2.2 98 29 69 2 6 n/a n/a n/a .980 3.20
1961 Braves P 40 36 817 86 2.2 85 26 59 1 2 n/a n/a n/a .988 2.81
1962 Braves P 37 19 431 46 1.2 44 10 34 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .957 2.76
1963 Braves P 15 13 252 26 1.7 23 7 16 3 2 n/a n/a n/a .885 2.46
1963 Cardinals P 21 14 294 20 1.0 18 5 13 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .900 1.65
1964 Cardinals P 8 0 30 2 0.3 2 0 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.80
1964 Cubs P 28 17 393 43 1.5 43 10 33 0 3 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.95
1965 Cubs P 7 3 61 5 0.7 5 2 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.21
1965 Phillies P 19 9 212 16 0.8 16 4 12 0 3 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.04
1966 Angels P 54 0 239 20 0.4 18 8 10 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .900 2.03
1967 Angels P 19 0 55 5 0.3 5 0 5 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.45
P Totals 626 373 9,202 889 1.4 862 243 619 27 55 n/a n/a n/a .970 2.53
18 Years 626 373 9,202 889 1.4 862 243 619 27 55 n/a n/a n/a .970 2.53

Lew Burdette

Lew Burdette Miscellaneous Stats

1950 Yankees 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00 0.00 0.00
1951 Braves 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.20 2.08 10.39
1952 Braves 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.4 0.0 1.00 3.09 3.09
1953 Braves 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.1 53.0 1.04 2.98 2.88
1954 Braves 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 0.0 5.6 19.8 1.27 2.99 2.34
1955 Braves 0 0 .000 0 3 n/a 0.0 4.3 12.3 0.96 2.74 2.86
1956 Braves 0 0 .000 0 6 n/a 0.0 5.4 10.8 2.12 3.86 1.83
1957 Braves 0 0 .000 0 4 n/a 44.0 4.0 9.8 1.32 2.74 2.07
1958 Braves 0 0 .000 0 7 n/a 33.0 4.1 6.6 2.26 3.69 1.63
1959 Braves 0 0 .000 0 11 n/a 0.0 2.9 13.0 2.76 3.26 1.18
1960 Braves 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 45.5 4.1 22.8 2.37 2.71 1.14
1961 Braves 0 0 .000 0 2 n/a 34.3 2.6 9.4 2.79 3.04 1.09
1962 Braves 0 0 .000 0 2 n/a 0.0 3.0 51.0 2.57 3.70 1.44
1963 Braves 0 0 .000 0 2 n/a 0.0 2.4 26.0 1.17 3.00 2.57
1963 Cardinals 1 0 1.000 0 0 n/a 0.0 5.2 31.0 2.81 4.13 1.47
1964 Cardinals 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.00 2.70 2.70
1964 Cubs 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 21.5 3.6 10.8 2.11 2.75 1.31
1965 Cubs 1 0 1.000 0 1 n/a 0.0 6.0 0.0 1.25 2.21 1.77
1965 Phillies 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.9 0.0 1.35 2.93 2.17
1966 Angels 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.7 8.0 2.25 3.05 1.36
1967 Angels 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00 3.93 0.00
18 Years 2 0 1.000 0 40 n/a 84.3 3.7 13.5 1.71 3.15 1.84

Lew Burdette

Lew Burdette Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1950 New York Yankees 27 $5,000.00 - -
1951 Boston Braves 33 $5,000.00 - -
1952 Boston Braves 33 $6,000.00 - -
1953 Milwaukee Braves 33 $8,500.00 - -
1954 Milwaukee Braves 33 $16,000.00 - -
1955 Milwaukee Braves 33 $20,000.00 - -
1956 Milwaukee Braves 33 $20,000.00 - -
1957 Milwaukee Braves 33 $25,000.00 Stats Stats
1958 Milwaukee Braves 33 $35,000.00 - Stats
1959 Milwaukee Braves 33 $45,000.00 Stats -
1960 Milwaukee Braves 33 $47,500.00 - -
1961 Milwaukee Braves 33 $49,000.00 - -
1962 Milwaukee Braves 33 $55,000.00 - -
1963 Milwaukee Braves 33 $50,000.00 - -
1963 St. Louis Cardinals 33 $40,000.00 - -
1964 St. Louis Cardinals 33 $35,000.00 - -
1964 Chicago Cubs 33 "     "     - -
1965 Chicago Cubs 33 $35,000.00 - -
1965 Philadelphia Phillies 30 "     "     - -
1966 California Angels 32 $35,000.00 - -
1967 California Angels 32 $40,000.00 - -

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Selva Lewis Burdette was a Major League Baseball player with the New York Yankees (1950), Boston Braves (1951-1952), Milwaukee Braves (1953-1963), St. Louis Cardinals (1963-1964), Chicago Cubs (1964-1965), Philadelphia Phillies (1965), and California Angels (1966-1967). Lew, his nickname, was a two-time All-Star (1957, 1959) who led the league in shutouts twice (1956, 1959), wins and games started (1959), and an ERA Championship (1956). The two-time back-to-back twenty-wins twirler (1958-1959) had SEVERAL memorable highlights during his eighteen year career:

Lew Burdette Rookie Card | Baseball Almanac

Lew Burdette Rookie Card | 1952 Bowman Baseball Card (#244 | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix pitched – what some historians believe was the greatest game in baseball history – a twelve-inning perfect game, but lost the contest in the thirteenth inning. His opponent that historic day, Lew Burdette, scattered twelve hits across thirteen frames, but did not surrender a single run, and ended the day pitching a 1–0 shutout. The media called it the greatest game ever, so Burdette often quipped, "I'm the greatest pitcher that ever lived. The greatest game that was ever pitched in baseball wasn't good enough to beat me, so I've got to be the greatest pitcher."

Lew Burdette No-Hitter Newspaper Story | Baseball Almanac

Lew Burdette No-Hitter | Corpus Christi Caller | 19 August 1960 | Page 1D
Baseball Almanac Research Library

On August 18, 1960, Lew Burdette doubled in the eighth inning, then scored the only run of the day when Bull Bruton doubled him home. Earlier, in the fifth frame, Burdette plunked Tony Gonzalez, but finished the day without surrendering a single hit, facing exactly twenty-seven batters, a near-perfect game, just the second no-hitter tossed by a Milwaukee Braves pitcher.

Lew Burdette | 1957 World Series | MLB Properties, LLC.

Today, complete games are rare. Shutouts, even more rare. Burdette started 373 games in his career, stayed on the mound through the last batter 158 times (including seven extra inning complete games), and totally shutout the opposing team 33 times. However, he is often remembered for his performance during the 1957 World Series, where he started three games (Game 2, Game 5, Game 7), completed every one of them, won all of them, and shutout the defending world-champion New York Yankees twice, including Game 7 in Yankee Stadium. Burdette, the first player in Braves history to win the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, passed away on February 6, 2007, in Winter Garden, Florida. The Braves Hall of Fame member (Class of 2001) was 80 years old.