Time & Change: Burba back in minors
Catching up with former Ohio State pitcher, who won 115 games in big leagues
Updated: July 12, 2012,
By Brad Bournival | BuckeyeNation
Tony Ranze/AFP/Getty Images
Former big-league pitcher Dave Burba played in the major leagues for 15 years after a stellar three seasons at Ohio State.
Time and Change is a series at BuckeyeNation where we chat with former Ohio State athletes.
Dave Burba always hinted that he wanted to see what the other side of baseball was like.
The Gilbert, Ariz., resident is doing just that as the pitching coach for the Tri-City Dust Devils. The Devils play in Pasco, Wash., and are a short-season Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.
Burba, 46, played for Ohio State from 1985-87 and had a major league career that spanned 15 seasons, including extended stints with both of Ohio's MLB teams. The right-hander played for Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Cleveland (twice), Texas and Milwaukee and finished his career back with the Giants in 2004.
He was drafted by the Mariners in 1987 and had a career record 115-87 with 1,398 strikeouts in more than 1,777 innings. His 115 wins are the most for any former Ohio State pitcher in the big leagues.
BuckeyeNation caught up with Burba, who talked about his close calls with championships, his thoughts on the OSU baseball program and a little bit about football, too.
BN: During your career you hinted that you wanted to get into coaching. Is it what you expected?
Burba: It's a little different from what I expected. I had no idea what to expect to be honest with you. It's the information and the difference of playing the game to trying to develop guys to be able to perform at a major-league level.
BN: As a player you had to deal with a lot of different personalities. Has that helped you in the coaching aspect as well?
Burba: It's helped tremendously. I considered myself a good teammate and that's one of the things that I preach. It's letting everyone know you're out there for them and not for yourself. As far as dealing with the personalities, you have to realize people aren't wired the same. Some people need a swift kick, others need a pat.
BN: You came to the Indians in 1998 and played straight through 2001. How close were those teams to winning it all?
Burba: Very close. In '98 we went to the ALCS. We had a 2-1 lead on the Yankees. Unfortunately, the Yankees got hot at the wrong time and put three on us and walked away to the World Series and ended up winning it. The next year we were two games over on Boston and blew that. We came up one game short of making the playoffs in 2000. In 2001, we went down to the wire with the Mariners and came up short.
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