When Burba, a 1984 Kenton Ridge High School graduate, returned to his hometown to visit his parents Gerald and Linda, who still lived in the Northridge neighborhood where he grew up, he recognized that he had probably thrown his last pitch in professional baseball.
“I just don’t think it’s going to happen,” Burba said then. “I don’t think somebody’s going to call and say, ‘Hey, we need you to come try out for spring training.’ A 39-year-old guy who didn’t even play in the big leagues last year. What do you think? You’ve got a better chance of winning the lottery.”
Even though Burba wanted to keep pitching, he couldn’t complain about what he was able to accomplish in the game. He pitched for six big-league teams, including the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians), between 1990 and 2004.
Burba was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. That remains the last playoff series the Reds have won. He pitched for three playoff teams in Cleveland.
Burba finished his career with a record of 115-87 and 4.49 ERA. He spent the majority of his time early in his career in the bullpen, became a starter with the Reds and Indians, and then finished his career as a reliever.
Burba did make one last attempt to resurrect his pitching career in 2006, signing with the Seattle Mariners in February, but he was released in late March.
The question of what was next for Burba came up in that 2005 interview. He mentioned the possibility of stepping into the broadcast booth. A year later, after not making the Mariners roster, he told the News-Sun he was interested in being a pitching coach.
That’s exactly what he’s done. Burba is now the pitching coach for the Lansing Lugnuts, the High-A affiliate of the Athletics in the Midwest League. It’s the latest stop in a coaching career that began in 2011.
Burba, 58, returned to Ohio for a recent series against the Dayton Dragons at Day Air Ballpark and once again spoke about a baseball career that has now spanned five decades.
“It’s been awesome,” Burba said. “When I first was done, I didn’t think that I would want to get back into baseball, but my kids started getting to the age where they were in little league, and of course, all the parents found out who I was. And it was, ‘Hey, can you coach?’ I’m not doing anything else. I guess I can. So I started coaching, and I enjoyed it.”
One day, Burba told his wife Star, “Hey, I can’t really be myself around these kids.”
“What do you mean?” Star asked.
“Well, I’m biting my tongue a lot.”
“What are you saying?”
“Well, I’m enjoying coaching, so I think I’m going to try to get back in.”
It took Burba a couple years to find an opportunity. He said he didn’t go about it the right way at first. He talked to people he knew in the game and told them he was interested in coaching. He thought if he talked to enough people eventually he would find a job. They told him they’d get in touch. No one got back to him.
Finally, his agent told him to put a resume together, and an old connection paid off. Burba pitched for the Indians from 1998-2002. John Hart was Cleveland’s general manager at that time. In 2011, Hart helped Burba get a job in the Colorado Rockies organization.
Burba started his coaching career with the Tri-City Dust Devils, a Short Season Class-A affiliate of the Rockies, in Pasco, Wash., in 2011. He spent two seasons there before moving to the Single-A Modesto Nuts in 2013. He coached with the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats in Connecticut in 2015 and stayed in Connecticut the following year as the Rockies moved their Double-A affiliate to Hartford. He has since coached with the Lancaster JetHawks in California and has spent time in the Arizona Complex League.
Burba moved to the Athletics organization last year, staying in the Complex League. Throughout his coaching career, Burba has developed his own style.
“I thought about some of the pitching coaches that I had — the good things that they did and the bad things — and I can remember being a player and saying, ‘I’m never going to do that to a player,’“ Burba said. ”I’m not going to mention names, but back in the day, you could tell who they paid attention to and who they didn’t. I didn’t think that was right. As a coach, you create the right spark, and you never know what could happen."
Burba has adjusted his methods as the game has changed. He coached through the defensive shift era and has seen the effects of the pitch clock. Technology also has given coaches and players new tools.
“The game has changed a lot,” Burba said. “I didn’t pay attention to it because I was in rookie ball. Well, I knew it was important, but to apply it to a rookie ball pitcher doesn’t make sense. You’re trying to get him to throw strikes. Then they’re like, ‘Hey, you’re going to High-A ball, and you need to know.’ So I did a lot of educating this offseason.”
Burba worked with Jim Gott, the pitching coach for the A’s Single-A affiliate, the Stockton Ports, in the offseason. They educated themselves.
“I’m no genius with it,” Burba said, “but I understand how it works.”
Burba has called Arizona home for decades now. This is the first time he has coached in the Midwest. The job in Lansing has allowed him to visit his dad Gerald and sister Jane in Springfield often this year. His mom Linda died in 2021 at 84.
The A’s told Burba they were sending him to Lansing this season. Getting to visit his family is a bonus. He also recently returned to Kenton Ridge. His friend Scott Zerkle, his former KR teammate and a former assistant coach with the program, invited him to visit. Burba threw batting practice for the players while he was there.
Burba was the first of four Kenton Ridge graduates in a three-decade span to make it to the big leagues. All had lengthy careers. All played for longtime coach Tom Randall, who retired after leading the Cougars to a state championship game appearance in 2007.
Burban debuted in 1990 with the Seattle Mariners. Rick White debuted in 1994 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dustin Hermanson debuted in 1995 with the San Diego Padres. From 1990-2007, at least one of those pitchers — and often all three — were in the big leagues.
The run of Kenton Ridge pitchers ended when White made his last big-league appearance in 2007. Adam Eaton graduated from Kenton Ridge that same year and made his big-league debut five years later with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Eaton’s 10-year career, which ended in 2021, included a World Series championship with the Washington Nationals in 2019.
“I just think it’s amazing,” Burba said, “not because I’m part of it but because of the fact that there’s four kids from an 800-student enrollment school to spit out four big leaguers and some other professional guys. Then you’ve got Greg Beals coaching (now at Marshall). It’s pretty neat.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
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