Ty Van Burkleo
First baseman / Hitting coach
Born: (1963-10-07) October 7, 1963 (age 60)
Oakland, California
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
Professional debut
NPB: 1988, for the Seibu Lions
MLB: July 28, 1993, for the California Angels
Last appearance
NPB: 1991, for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp
MLB: July 30, 1994, for the Colorado Rockies
NPB statistics
Batting average.239
Hits157
Home runs55
MLB statistics
Batting average.132
Hits5
Home runs1
Teams
As player

As coach

Career highlights and awards

Tyler Lee Van Burkleo (born October 7, 1963) is a former bench coach for the Seattle Mariners, hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians, and a former first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for two different major league teams in his career: the California Angels (1993) and Colorado Rockies (1994). He also played for two teams in Japan: the Seibu Lions (1988–1990) and the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (1991). At 24, he was player of the year with the Seibu Lions, hitting 38 home runs and driving in 90 runs for the 1988 Japan Champions.

Van Burkleo wore the #44 uniform during his tenure as the Mariners' bench coach in 2009.

Biography

Van Burkleo attended Canoga Park High School and Chatsworth High School.[1][2] He signed a minor league contract for $30,000 with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981.[3] He was released in 1984 and signed a contract with the Angels' minor league system. He was blocked by Wally Joyner for most of his first stint with the Angels.[4] Van Burkleo's Angels contract was bought by the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1987.[5] He was traded to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 1991 for cash considerations.[6] Upon returning to the United States for the 1992 season, he signed with the Angels again, then played for the Rockies for two seasons, and in 1996 returned to the Angels for his last playing season.

In 1997, he began his coaching career with the High Desert Mavericks, an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate.[7] In 2001, he found himself working for the Angels again, as the minor league hitting coordinator.[8] He left the Angels at the end of the 2006 season.[9] For the 2007–2008 seasons, Van Burkleo was the hitting coach for the Oakland Athletics.[10][11] In 2009, he was signed by the Mariners to be the bench coach to manager Don Wakamatsu.[10] The following year, he was hired by the Astros to be the minor league hitting coordinator.[12][13] On August 19, 2012, Van Burkleo was named the interim hitting coach for the Houston Astros.[14][15] He was named hitting coach of the Cleveland Indians on October 31, 2012, beginning with the 2013 season.[16]

On August 7, 2020, Van Burkleo announced he was opting out of the remainder of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 6, 2021, the Indians announced Van Burkleo would not return as hitting coach for the 2022 season.[17]

Personal life

He is married to Chris and has five children.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Van Burkleo Keys Win Over Slumping Gulls". Los Angeles Times. July 5, 1986. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  2. ^ Fletcher, Jeff (April 28, 1996). "Back in Minors, Van Burkleo Preaches What He Practices". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  3. ^ Hiserman, Mike (August 7, 1994). "Ex-Angel Reconsiders His Moves : Van Burkleo Ponders Path of His Careers". Los Angeles Times. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  4. ^ Henson, Steve (July 20, 1986). "Van Burkleo Seeks Texas Address". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  5. ^ Hiserman, Mike (August 7, 1994). "Ex-Angel Reconsiders His Moves : Van Burkleo Ponders Path of His Careers". Los Angeles Times. p. 1. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  6. ^ Penner, Mike (March 26, 1993). "Van Burkleo Enjoys Japan from Distance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  7. ^ "Fast Fact". Los Angeles Times. November 13, 1997. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  8. ^ Stone, Larry (December 2, 2008). "Mariners hire coaches Ty Van Burkleo, Lee Tinsley". Seattle Times. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  9. ^ MacPherson, Brian (April 17, 2013). "Indians' hitting coach taught Napoli how to hit". The Providence Journal. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Astros Announce Minor League Coordinators and Medical Staff". MLB.com. December 19, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  11. ^ "A's name Ty Van Burkleo hitting coach". MLB.com. December 4, 2006. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  12. ^ "Astros announce remaining 2011 field staff". MLB.com. December 21, 2010. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  13. ^ Muskat, Carrie (December 21, 2010). "Astros complete Minors staff assignments". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.((cite news)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ McTaggart, Brian (August 19, 2012). "Astros tab DeFrancesco as interim manager". MLB.com. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  15. ^ "Last-place Astros fire manager Brad Mills, Houston names Tony DeFrancesco interim manager". New York Daily News. August 19, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  16. ^ Bastian, Jordan (October 31, 2012). "Familiar faces among Francona's coaching staff". MLB.com. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  17. ^ Bell, Mandy (October 6, 2021). "Van Burkleo out as Cleveland's hitting coach". Indians.com.
  18. ^ Brewer, Jerry (February 23, 2009). "Mariners' new bench coach Ty Van Burkleo is a Renaissance man". Seattle Times. Retrieved March 4, 2014.

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