Hercules Burnett

Hercules Burnett
Hercules Burnett
	Center fielder / First baseman
	Born: August 13, 1865; Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
	Died: October 4, 1936 (aged 71); Louisville, Kentucky, U.S
	Batted: Right Threw: Unknown
MLB debut
	June 26, 1888, for the Louisville Colonels
Last MLB appearance
	September 29, 1895, for the Louisville Colonels
MLB statistics
Batting average	.333
Home runs	2
Runs batted in	3
Teams
	Louisville Colonels (1888, 1895);

Hercules H. Burnett (August 13, 1865 – October 4, 1936) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in the major leagues as an outfielder and first baseman for the Louisville Colonels in the late 19th century.

Biography[edit]

Burnett's professional career spanned 1887 to 1903, although records of the era are incomplete.^[1] He played one game in the major leagues for the Louisville Colonels in 1888 while the team was in the American Association, and five games in 1895 when the Colonels were a member of the National League.^[2] He had a .333 batting average (7-for-21) and had three walks and three stolen bases.^[2] Of his seven hits, one was a triple and two were home runs, yielding a .714 slugging average.^[2] In 1897, while playing in the Western League, he was fined for hitting an umpire, then subsequently suspended for refusing to pay the fine.^[3]^[4] In 1903, he served as player-manager for the Montgomery Black Sox of the Interstate League.^[5]^[6]

Outside of his baseball career, Burnett worked for 47 years for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.^[7] He was already working for the railroad, as a fireman, at the time of his marriage in 1889.^[8] He died in 1936 at the age of 71 in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and is interred at Eastern Cemetery there.^[2]

^ "Hercules Burnett Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Hercules Burnett". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
^ "Burnett's Case". The Buffalo Commercial. Buffalo, New York. December 3, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved April 13, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Burnett Won His Lawsuit". Detroit Free Press. December 5, 1897. p. 12. Retrieved April 13, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
^ "1903 Montgomery Black Sox". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
^ "Inter-State League: Burnett's Montgomery Bunch Ready to Play". Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. April 22, 1903. p. 7. Retrieved April 13, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Hercules Burnett". Courier Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. October 5, 1936. p. 3. Retrieved April 13, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Burnett–Cofer". Courier Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. April 26, 1889. p. 6. Retrieved April 13, 2024 – via newspapers.com.

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet