‘Something Special’

CALEB JARREAU Staff Writer

Larry Simcox took a trip up to Louisville, Kentucky, to watch a kid play in 1989. The kid grew up Catholic, and both of his parents were from Indiana. Notre Dame wanted him to play baseball, and that seemed like the easy choice.

Simcox – then infield coach for Tennessee – wanted the kid bad. A young Chris Burke had impressed the infield coach, who had recruited the likes of Todd Helton. Then head coach Rod Delmonico, the coach who brought the Vols to Omaha three times in 10 years, also liked what he saw in Burke.

The coaches brought Burke down to Knoxville. Little did they know then, Burke would become one of the most decorated players in Tennessee history and a Tennessee Athletics Hall of Famer.

“You could tell that he was just, a baseball guy,” Simcox recalled in a conversation with The Daily Beacon. “I mean, the questions he asked and things of that nature. I remember writing in my notes when I talked to him the first time, ‘This guy’s a baseball rat.’”

Simcox called Burke the first day he could with the recruiting calendar — July 1. Burke questioned Simcox about Tennessee’s program and its play style. Where would Burke fit into that program?

“He was always mature above his age,” Simcox said.”You’re talking to a 17-yearold kid … You just knew he understood the game.”

The decision for Burke came down to Tennessee and Notre Dame. The Catholic kid from northern Kentucky shocked his family. He wanted to play for the Vols.

“What parents would let their kid go to Tennessee when they had Notre Dame?” Burke said. “Like, who, who would do that? My parents did.”

Burke joined a Tennessee team that had been at the top of college baseball. Delmonico had just led Tennessee to its second College World Series appearance and three SEC championships. They had produced top talent like the 1995 National Player of the Year Helton and first-round draft pick R.A. Dickey.

Tennessee’s playstyle fit Burke. The Vols loved to run, steal bases and play gritty baseball. He wanted to be a part of that.

“We had a lot of success at that time and were winning at a high level,” Simcox said. “He wanted to come in and be part of that, and we’re glad we got him.”

Burke had a bone to pick going into col- lege. He didn’t get drafted out of high school, which was unexpected for the prospect out of St. Xavier High School, which has produced athletes like former Red Sox pitcher Paul Byrd and former NBA player Scott Padgett. The 5-foot-11 infielder was told by a professional scout that he was not projectable to the big league.

“You don’t say that to Chris Burke, because he’s going to carry that chip on his shoulder to rest his career,” Simcox said.

Burke took that chip on his shoulder and hit the ground running his freshman year.

He was named a freshman All-American in 1999, leading Tennessee offensively with a .372 batting average. He broke the freshman record for hits (87) and doubles (25).

“From day one he came here, he was a hard worker,” Simcox said. “He was a hard worker in the weight room. I probably hit more ground balls to that guy in three years than any other player I’ve ever coached.”

After a successful summer playing in the Great Lakes League, Burke built on his freshman-year success. Playing second base and batting leadoff, he started all 63 games for the Vols in 2000.

In the midst of “gorilla ball” and BESR bats, Burke hit .401 as a sophomore and led the SEC with 109 hits.

Burke finished as the club’s leading hitter, leading the United States to a gold medal in the Honkbal Tournament in Haarlem, The Netherlands. His play for Team USA got the attention of professional scouts.

The scouts watched as Burke began his junior season, a season that would go down as one of the best individual seasons in Tennessee history.

“He told me one day after we got through taking ground balls, he said, ‘Slim, I don’t want there to be one play that I can’t make,’” Simcox recalled. “And that’s kind of where he was. Whether it was a backhand slow roller ball at the middle, whatever it was, he wanted to be able to make that play. Because he took a lot of pride in his game.”

Burke became the first Vol to hit for the cycle his junior year against Vanderbilt, a year where he was responsible for 24.4% of the Vols’ run production.

While hitting leadoff his junior year, Burke reached base more than 50% of the time.

“We didn’t want to ever get in the game in the ninth inning, and he’s on deck when the game’s over,” Simcox said. “So we tried to lead him off to get him up there as many times as we could. He was a catalyst.”

Burke etched his name in the record books during his junior season. He still holds the re- cord for runs scored (224), hits (314), singles (199), doubles (72), triples (17), total bases (498) and extra-base hits (115). During his junior season alone, he led the NCAA in hits (118), runs scored (105) and runs per game (1.57).

Despite all his accolades and accomplishments, nothing stands out more than game two of the 2001 Super Regionals. Tennessee took a trip to East Carolina, also a program in its heyday at the time. After winning a backand-forth offensive matchup in game one, the Vols were locked in a pitcher’s duel.

“Chris is one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached,” Simcox said. “He hated to lose. He never took an at-bat off. We could be playing in Omaha, we could be playing the opening weekend series of that season or we could have been intrasquading in February and it’s 20 degrees. He never wanted to lose an at-bat. He was that kind of competitor.”

Batting lead-off, Burke drew a walk in the bottom of the eighth to bring Stevie Daniel up to bat. Daniel was up with the bases loaded and a chance for Tennessee to take the lead.

Simcox, coaching third base, watched Daniel strike out his first two times to the plate.

“I walked over there to him after he struck out the second time,” Simcox said. “I said, ‘Hey, keep your head up. We’re gonna need a big bat out of you before this game’s over,’ because I knew it was gonna be that kind of game. I mean, it was a packed house and intense.”

Daniel cranked a home run off of East Carolina’s scoreboard to put the Vols up 6-3 going into the last half inning. Burke remembers the memory of rounding the bases, imagining a trip to the College World Series.

“We’re going to the World Series, it was the first time I’d really let my mind get there,” Burke said. “We went out there and got three outs in the ninth and, and headed to Omaha. So I would say that to me, that’s the memory that’s probably the most vivid.”

Burke was the soul of that 2001 team that earned a trip to Omaha. His banner season would go without hardware, but Tennessee flashed its offense in the College World Series.

The Vols scored 48 runs to fight through the loser’s bracket and become one of the final four teams alive. Eventual National Champion Miami ousted Tennessee, and ended Burke’s career at Tennessee.

Burke went on to get drafted 10th overall by the Houston Astros and played five years in Major League Baseball. He had his name etched into Tennessee Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2013.

On Friday, Burke returned to Tennessee to be inducted into the UT Athletics Hall of Fame on the 10-year anniversary of his induction into the Tennessee Baseball Hall of Fame.

Burke fought back tears in his acceptance speech as he thanked his wife and family for their support. His voice cracked as he thanked the coaches who offered the Catholic kid from Louisville a chance to play SEC Baseball.

“Why did he offer me a scholarship?”

Burke said in his speech on Friday night. “It was the perfect place for me to play. (Simcox) and Coach Delmonico were the perfect coaches for me to play for. A little dude who loves to run, loves to swing and bat, probably bigger than I probably should’ve, but they never told me not to. Thankful for that.”

Today, Burke’s voice can be heard all over ESPN broadcasts as he shares his love for college baseball. More often than not, Burke is in the booth at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

“He’s been a great ambassador for the University of Tennessee,” Simcox said. “When he does SEC network, that’s just another example of his knowledge and excitement that he has for college baseball.”

As Tony Vitello raises Tennessee baseball back onto the national stage, Burke gets a first-hand view from the broadcasting booth and someone who now gets to cover the sport.

As he shares stories of the Vols’ success under Vitello, he gets to tell stories about Delmonico’s success at Tennessee — the coach who made Tennessee baseball something “special,” as Burke told it. Simocox and Delmonico took the Vols to Omaha three times in 10 years.

“That’s a big deal,” Burke said. With his records still intact at Tennessee, Burke can add another illustrious thing to his collegiate baseball career – Tennessee Athletics Hall of Famer.

“I’m just so proud of him,” Simcox said. “He comes from a great family. The family was always very supportive. I’m just so proud of him because of the career he had, the kind of character he had. He’s been such a great ambassador for Tennessee baseball.”