Frank Andrew Burrell (December 22, 1866 – May 8, 1962), was a professional baseball player who played catcher from 1891 to 1897 for the New York Giants and Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former major league player.
Early life
Frank Andrew Burrell was born on December 22, 1866, in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The first child of Andrew Burrell, a shoe maker and mechanic, and his second wife Eliza Hayden. Frank grew up with an older sister Alice, from Andrew’s first marriage, and two younger brothers, Albert and Fred. Somewhere along the way Frank acquired the nickname “Buster” and it stuck with him throughout his life. Growing up in the suburbs of baseball mad Boston, it was easy for the athletic Burrell to gravitate towards the game. By the time he was twenty one he was playing semi-professionally for teams in East Weymouth, Holbrook-Randolph, and Medford. By 1889, the catcher and first baseman had shown enough progress to be picked up by the Lovells, a talented club formed by the Lovell Arms Company of Boston. Buster played another year of semi-professional ball with the Atlantics in 1890.
Career
Buster began his professional career in 1891 with Salem (MA) of the New England League. Midway through the season, on July 18, due to bad management and poor attendance, the team disbanded. What appeared to be a setback was merely a bump in the road for Burrell. The New York Giants of the National League, were in need of a replacement catcher for the oft-injured starter Dick Buckley. On July 29, the Giants signed the Salem cast-off to play for the legendary Jim Mutrie.
Frank “Buster” Burrell played his first game for the Giants on August 1, 1891, against Tom Lovett and the Brooklyn Grooms. Catching starter, John Ewing, brother of Giants star Buck Ewing, Buster committed two passed balls and had two throwing errors in a 9–6 loss. He did however get his first big league base hit and scored a run off Lovett in the seventh inning. In his next start on August 7, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he again caught Ewing. He had a better day catching, but in the second inning he was tagged out by Pirates catcher, Connie Mack, on an unassisted double-play. He also struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. The Giants lost 2-0.
Not scheduled to catch on August 13, a strange turn of events placed Burrell behind the bat with future Hall of Famer Mickey Welch in the box. It was Pitcher Bob Barr’s first game for the Giants. In the 3rd inning after giving up a home run to Cincinnati Reds Arlie Latham, a foul ball was hit into the grandstand by the Reds Jocko Halligan. The ball was retrieved by a New York City policeman and heaved back onto the field striking Barr in the head and rendering him unconscious. Unable to continue, he was removed from the field and Welch came in to pitch. In the 5th inning, Dick Buckley injured his finger, resulting in Buster being subbed in to catch “Smiling Mickey”. He finished out the contest without incident.
Burrell played only sparingly over the next month. On September 21 another case of serendipity would put him in to catch the great Amos Rusie for the only time in his career. In a game against Philadelphia, injuries to several regulars forced the Giants to play Buster in center field. Starter Ewing injured his ankle running the bases in the second forcing manager Mutrie to bring in Rusie. After attempting to handle the “Hoosier Thunderbolt” for 2 innings and giving up 4 passed balls, second string catcher Artie Clarke traded positions with the intrepid Burrell. He too had a tough time handling Rusie’s fastballs. He finished out the game giving up 3 more passed balls and the Giants lost 11-9.
With New York out of the pennant race, Buster started at catcher in 6 of his teams last 8 games. He ended the season batting .094, with 5 hits in 53 at bats. He committed 14 errors and had 16 passed balls. Burrell would not be re-signed by the Giants for the 1892 season. Having shown that he wasn’t ready for “fast company”, Burrell returned home to play for the Woonsocket (RI) team of the New England League. As their starting catcher he helped lead them to the pennant in 1892. The following season while playing for Fall River, he batted .308 and was instrumental in securing the NENL championship for the Massachusetts club.