Meet Some Local Ex-Pro Ballplayers: Gary Burnham, South Windsor

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — After nearly a decade and a half of traveling the world, playing professional baseball in seven different countries, Gary Burnham has settled back in to his hometown of South Windsor, where his passion for the game started at an early age. Both sides of his family had strong connections to the national pastime; it's as if his immense ability was in his genes.

His grandfather on his mother's side was Ralph Giansanti Jr., who played in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization just after World War II, but who was best known for founding the South Windsor American Legion program in 1978. Ralph's brother Vic had played minor league ball in the 1930s, and his son, also named Ralph, was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1980 and spent four years in their farm system.

Not to be outdone, Burnham's uncle Jimmy played baseball at Eastern Connecticut State College. His younger brother Brett spent two seasons in the San Diego Padres organization, and his cousin Anthony Giansanti has played 12 years of pro ball since being drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2009; he has competed in the Mexican League since 2018.

With all that talent in one family, Gary emerged as the clear standout.

"When I was 9 or 10, I started becoming a really good player," he said in a recent interview with Patch. "I started to really blossom and hit home runs when I was 11, when I hit 11 homers. At 12, I hit 18, and when I was 13 and 14, I played up on my grandfather's American Legion team. There was a buzz about me - 'this kid can hit, this kid can play.'"

At South Windsor High School, Burnham played four years on the varsity football and baseball teams. However, he suffered a severe setback when he tore an anterior cruciate ligament during his junior football season, forcing him to miss baseball the following spring.

"That caused a major speed bump, threw a wrench in the whole system," he recalled. "I worked hard and came back in my senior year probably twice as good as I was. I was focused and committed."

The Bobcats, seeded fourth in the 1993 Class L tournament, defeated Plainville 5-4 in extra innings to secure the program's only state title. Burnham led the way, earning All-American and Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year honors. He was drafted in the 22nd round by the Chicago Cubs, but instead accepted a scholarship to Clemson University.

Following his sophomore year with the Tigers, Burnham was named an All-American. He twice played in the College World Series, hitting a pair of home runs in a game nationally televised on ESPN. For two summers, he played in the prestigious Cape Cod League, making the All-Star Game both years and being selected Most Valuable Player of the 1995 game at Fenway Park.

He was drafted a second time following his junior year in 1996, this time by the Oakland Athletics, but again did not sign, opting to return to the Clemson campus. He continued to pound the cover off the baseball, hitting .391 with 15 home runs in 64 games. He finished his college career with an eye-popping .340 batting average, and in 213 games, compiled 215 runs scored, 270 hits, 77 doubles, 10 triples, 29 home runs and 209 runs batted in. In a reversal of the norm for muscular power hitters, in each of his last three seasons in college, Burnham drew more walks than strikeouts, with 144 bases on balls compared to fanning 97 times.

He was drafted a third time in 1997, by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 22nd round. Assigned to the Batavia Clippers in the New York-Penn League, he picked right up where he left off at Clemson, batting .325 with 94 hits and 45 RBI in 73 games. The following year, he skipped a level with a promotion to High-A Clearwater of the Florida State League, but continued to mash the ball with a .296 average in a career-high 139 games, with 93 runs, 152 hits, 51 extra-base hits and 70 RBI.

In 1999, he was promoted again, to Reading of the Eastern League. Here he experienced struggles at the plate for the first time, batting just .258 in 227 games over the next two seasons.

"After that second year, I decided to look in the mirror and test who I was," he said. He passed the test, hitting 15 home runs and knocking in 77 runs while batting .318, good for third in the league. However, in spring training 2002, he was told there was no room for advancement - "we don't have any at-bats for you in Triple-A" - so he was traded to Toronto for ... no one.

"They gave me to the Blue Jays for no compensation," he laughed. "I didn't care; they needed a first baseman at Syracuse, and I was going to Triple-A."

With the SkyChiefs, Burnham hit .281 with 34 doubles, 17 homers and 88 RBI. He was the starting first baseman in the Triple-A All-Star Game, and was chosen team MVP at season's end. Following that year, however, he made a decision that he later called "a big mistake" by undergoing laser eye surgery.

"It gave me night blindness issues, it changed the way you see the ball at night," he said. "80 percent of minor league games are at night. Not the smartest thing to do."

After batting just .269 with nine home runs, and with Carlos Delgado leading the American League with 145 RBI, there was again no chance for Burnham to get a taste of the big leagues. He became a minor league free agent, signed with the Cincinnati Reds for their Louisville Triple-A team, then was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals organization, where he appeared in 36 games for Triple-A Memphis. It was in Tennessee that he underwent a second laser eye surgery, which corrected the glitches in his vision.

At this point, he was 30 years old and had no contract offers, so he signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He placed second in the league with a .320 average while smacking 18 home runs, driving in 84 RBI and playing in the All-Star Game.

He returned to Bridgeport to start 2006, batting .319 in 19 games, then accepted an offer in late May to return to the Phillies system. In 90 games, mainly at Reading, he swatted at a .348 clip, with 17 round-trippers and 68 RBI. In the process, he set a franchise record by hitting his 54th home run in a Reading uniform.

With a new stadium under construction in Lehigh Valley, the Phillies temporarily shifted its Triple-A team to Ottawa, Ontario in 2007. Burnham had a solid season with the Lynx - .292, 35 doubles, 84 RBI, team MVP - but encountered a familiar situation: Ryan Howard, the National League MVP in 2006, was coming off a second straight monster season, leaving Burnham nowhere to go.

He spent the 2007-08 offseason playing winter ball first in the Dominican Republic, then with Hermosillo, Mexico. His international journey continued after a conversation with his wife, Rachel.

"I told her with my resume, we can make some good money in Japan," he said. "I called Bobby Valentine, who was there at the time, and he said I'm full, but try to find a way to get out here."

Burnham signed with the La New Bears of Taiwan in Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2008 season. He broke the league record for foreign players by hitting safely in 23 consecutive games. At the end of the year, Valentine called him to join the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japan Pacific League.

"Bobby said, 'Come to Tokyo, I got you a contract for $150,000 plus a $30,000 signing bonus and other bonuses,'" he said. "I made about $325,000 in Japan. My wife was a teacher and came over in the summer. We had an amazing time."

After the 2009 campaign, Valentine was let go by Chiba Lotte, and consequently, Burnham was not brought back.

"We got home and I said to Rachel, 'We can do this one more year,' so we decided to go to Italy," he said. He played for the Godo Knights in the Italian Baseball League, hitting .329 in 143 at-bats, but retired following the season at age 35.

In 14 years of pro ball, Burnham played in 1,492 games, batting .293 and slugging 155 home runs. He even pitched in mop-up relief four times between 1999 and 2004.

He and his cousin Ralph were inducted into the South Windsor High School Hall of Fame in 2014. His brother Brett and sister-in-law Cristi followed a year later, and the 1993 state championship team was honored in 2019. In 2016, he joined longtime big league stars Pat Burrell and Nick Punto, among others, as inductees into the Reading Phillies Hall of Fame.

Among his most memorable moments were playing a few big league games in spring training, including getting a pair of hits off Roger Clemens.

"When you step out on that field and you see Derek Jeter at shortstop and Roger Clemens on the mound when you're in the batter's box, it's pretty cool," he said. "That's one of my biggest brag stories; I had a smile on my face for about a week."

Burnham also had a chance to hang out one day with another legendary player during his brief stint with the Reds organization, when he encountered Ken Griffey Jr. at spring training.

He recalled, "I said, 'Ken, you've hit a million home runs, what's your secret?' He said, 'Man, I want you to take a closer look at the size of my ass. You've got to have a big yard to go yard, man. My suggestion to you is to gain about 10 pounds, double up and eat a little bit more after the game.' There's people that are genetically superior, and he's one of them."

Armed with a health science degree from Clemson, Burnham and his wife returned to Connecticut, where he worked in the medical sales industry for a dozen years. They also started a family, built a beautiful home in South Windsor, and formed a rental property business, owning nine multi-family homes in West Hartford. He recently earned his mortgage license, passed the national loan officer test and now works with a firm.

He has operated Gary Burnham Baseball Instruction for 26 years, working with young ballplayers.

"Now he's passing on all of these gifts that were given to him," Rachel Burnham said. "It's challenging to work with young children, but I know he's making a huge impact. It's a legacy."

Other stories in this series:

• Brad Tweedlie, Enfield