Burleson’s Throwing Arm May Be Tired, but His Bat Is Lively

Shortstop Rick Burleson of the Angels, one of the true worker bees of baseball, didn’t start Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Twins.

It’s that shoulder thing again. Team doctors told him not to worry about it, but it’s not the doctor’s career that’s in jeopardy.

Burleson’s right shoulder has been the brunt of a cruel joke called a rotator cuff for more than four years now.

He first tore it in 1982 and missed 224 games. He re-injured it in 1984 and missed most of the next two seasons.

That he ever made it back to the big leagues is a story in itself. But Burleson, probably the only player ever to be disciplined for working too hard in practice, did make it back. He has appeared in 11 of the Angels’ 13 games this season and started eight straight games at shortstop. But he has missed the last two games in the field with what everyone is calling a tired arm.

“Sure, it worries you,” Burleson said Sunday when asked the same old questions about his shoulder. “To come this far and go all spring with no problems . . . well. But I think it’s just worn down a little. I haven’t played eight games in a row at shortstop since 1982.”

Angel Manager Gene Mauch is watching the situation closely. Mauch said that the problem with Burleson is his work ethic.

“He works too hard,” Mauch said. “He always has. He goes out there before a game and takes three times as many ground balls as anyone else. I told him yesterday (Saturday) not to pick up a ball. Today, I told him to throw nothing but underhanded.”

But the thing is, Burleson tends to go crazy sitting around in a dugout.

On Sunday, he paced the bench for eight innings with nothing to do but watch. Nothing hurts Burleson more, save his right shoulder once in a while.

In the top of the ninth inning, the Twins’ Tom Brunansky drilled a Terry Forster pitch into the left-field seats to give Minnesota a 5-4 lead.

Burleson wondered how he could help.

Mauch let him know in the bottom of the ninth by handing him a bat.

Burleson said he could count on one hand the number of times he’s pinch-hit in his career.

Batting for Gary Pettis, though, Burleson started the ninth inning with a single to left field off Twins reliever Ron Davis.

“A pinch-hitter has to be aggressive,” Burleson said. “I haven’t seen many pitchers over the last three years, so I went up with the idea of being aggressive.”

For Minnesota, it was the beginning of the end. Burleson scored the tying run on Wally Joyner’s single, and Brian Downing later ended the game with a three-run homer to left.

Mauch had a feeling about Burleson.

“It was his time,” Mauch said. “Rick Burleson has been there lots and lots of times.”

And that’s what makes Burleson so valuable, even when he’s not in the starting lineup. Burleson is the kind of player every team needs, a guy who shows up early and usually works overtime.

It’s the kind of thing rookies such as Joyner can’t help but notice.

“He’s a winner,” Joyner said of Burleson. “I’ve always wanted to choose winners to follow. Just being around him is a bonus to me. He’s moral support. Like today, when he gets us going in the ninth inning.”

For a moment, at least, Burleson’s hit took his mind off his shoulder.

“We’ll just have to see how it is,” he said. “I don’t want to get too excited or too worried about it. I just want to help the team win.”

He did that Sunday, without having to make a throw.