It was a clear and breezy April day at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. The Oklahoma City Dodgers were playing the Sugar Land Space Cowboys for a midday game. The score was 3 to 1., and the Dodgers were up to bat in the 5th inning. Suddenly, the danceable 1977 hit “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps blasts out of the speakers. Walking up to the plate was a tall, lanky infielder with a charming smile, wearing his number 9 jersey.
Andy Burns is introduced by that disco classic, an introduction Burns will later say is a song that started right here in OKC.
“I think I’ll have them use that song for the rest of my career,” Burns said.
On this particular day he was burning up the field with his enviable athletic skills.
EARLY YEARS
Now into his early 30s, Burns has long loved baseball. Born in Greenville, South Carolina and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, Burns has had a deep passion for the game. “From an early age, my first word was ‘ball,’” Burns said, following a recent practice at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. “I’ve always had an interest in baseball.”
That interest in America’s Pastime has taken Burns far from the windswept hills of northern Colorado in the intervening years. Burns found himself playing for baseball teams around the world, including Australia, Japan, Canada, Korea, Venezuela, Taiwan and New Zealand. After playing for Fort Collins’ Rocky Mountain High School and helping their team win two state championships, he competed in the Major League Baseball Diamond Skills championship at the 1999 MLB All-Star Game in Boston. As he continued to develop his game, the right-hander realized turning this passion into a professional career would be possible.
In the minor leagues, Burns landed in Buffalo, New York, playing for the Bisons. In 2019, Burns was named the Bisons’ Jimmy Griffin Hometown Hero for his offensive statistics at home, with 19 home runs. But the weather was not a favorite for the standout ball player.
“The weather in Buffalo can be pretty cold. But the home crowd there was always great. I always enjoyed playing at home,” he said.
In May 2016, Burns crossed the US-Canada border to Toronto to make his first Major League Baseball debut, playing as a pinch hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays in a game against the San Francisco Giants. When Burns had been drafted in the MLB draft by the Blue Jays in 2011, he was at the University of Arizona.
WITH THE DODGERS
In December 2020, he was signed by the Dodgers as a free agent. In 2021, he played for Oklahoma City, although he was called out to Los Angeles, playing nine games for the team of legends Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, among many others. On an average day, Burns says he will get to the ball field between 1 and 1:30 p.m. to stretch and warm up.
“I have to tune up for the game at 7,” Burns said. “One thing I’ve learned in my career is you want to be ready at 7 p.m., as much as anything. When the fans show up and they have all of that energy … it just really helps us out.”
It was early in his minor-league career, playing for the Lansing (Michigan) LugNuts, that Burns met his wife, Kate, who had been a student at Michigan State University. They now have a 15-month-old daughter with another child on the way.
Alas, while in El Paso in 2021, Burns was riding a scooter and hit a pothole, fracturing his right wrist. Though Burns worried his career could be over, his wrist healed.
While playing the Albuquerque Isotopes, Burns racked up a career-high five RBI during the game, which was game two of a doubleheader. Burns also hit his team-leading seventh double of the season.
“It’s a long season,” Burns admitted. “We’ve got another five months, so it’s early in the season. Still, we’ve got a lot of camaraderie, good team chemistry and I think we’re just a really good team.”
All in all, Andy Burns is satisfied with the way things have turned out in his life.
“It’s a blessing to be able to do this. You can learn and see so much from traveling. I’ve been lucky to see the world through this game,” he said. “It’s been cool.”