Mike Burke, the most called upon starter in UB Baseball history, has been promoted from the Gulf Coast Orioles to the Aberdeen Iron Birds. Burke saw action in 11 games for the GCL Orioles, a rookie league team he was assigned to after being drafted in the 30th round of this past seasons MLB draft.
Burke managed a win, a save, and an under 3 ERA through the summer, now he will move from the rookie leagues to the short season A Ball. His new Boss is Cal Ripkin Junior.
Mike Burke's Stats with the GCL Orioles | |||||||||||||||||
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W | L | ERA | G | SV | SVO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | HB | BB | IBB | SO | AVG | WHIP | GO/AO |
1 | 0 | 2.45 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 18.1 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | .175 | 0.65 | 1.00 |
Ripken purchased the team, then known as the Utica Blue Sox, and moved them to his hometown of Aberdeen, Maryland before the 2002 season. The IronBirds play their home games at Ripken Stadium, which is visible from I-95. On August 16, 2006, the IronBirds played host to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game. Ripken Stadium was also used for the Cal Ripken World Series in 2003 and 2004.
A short season A team starts it's season starts in June, after major-league teams have signed their amateur draft picks to professional contracts, and ends in early September. There are 12 more games left for the Ironbirds this season.
If Burke has a good showing he may open up next season with the Delmarva Shorebirds, Baltimore's full season A league team.