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2001 Tennessee Baseball Roster | College World Series
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Jersey Number 2
Chris Burke
- Class:
- Junior
- Position:
- 2B
- Ht/Wt:
- 5-11 / 183
- Hometown:
- Louisville, Ky.
- High School:
- St. Xavier High School
One of the most decorated players in Tennessee baseball history, Chris Burke was an elite producer at the plate and on the basepaths while also starring as a defensive phenom on the infield. He was the first Vol ever to hit for the cycle. A first-round MLB Draft pick after leading the Volunteers to the 2001 College World Series, Burke played six seasons in the big leagues with the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres. He was inducted into the Tennessee Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013.
CAREER BESTS
- Runs Scored: 5 // vs. Georgia State, 2/13/99
- Hits: 6 // at Hawaii-Hilo, 2/9/00
- RBI: 6 // vs. Georgia State, 2/13/99
- Triples: 2 // vs. West Virginia, 2/17/01
- Home Runs: 2 // at Florida, 3/11/01
- At-Bats: 7 // at Florida, 3/20/99
- Stolen Bases: 4 (2x) // last at South Carolina, 5/14/00
- Hit Streak: 18 games (2x) // last from 3/10/01 - 4/7/01
- Assists: 9 // vs. VCU, 2/10/01
HONORS
- 2001 First-Team All-American (Baseball America, Baseball Weekly, Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings)
- 2001 National Player of the Year Finalist (Smith Award, Baseball America, Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball, Dick Howser Award, ABCA/Rawlings)
- 2001 NCBWA District III Player of the Year
- 2001 ABCA/Rawlings All-South Region
- 2001 First-Team All-SEC
- 2001 SEC Academic Honor Roll
- 2001SEC Good Works Team
- 2001 College World Series All-Tournament Team
- 2001 NCAA Knoxville Regional All-Tournament Team
- NCBWA Co-National Player of the Week (May 7, 2001)
- SEC Player of the Week (May 7, 2001)
- SEC Player of the Week (March 26, 2001)
- 2000 First-Team All-American (USA Today/Baseball Weekly)
- 2000 Second-Team All-American (Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball)
- 2000 Third-Team All-American (American Baseball Coaches Association, Baseball America)
- 2000 USA Baseball National Team Member
- 2000 ABCA All-South Region Team
- 2000 First-Team All-SEC
- 2000 Academic All-SEC
- 1999 First-Team Freshman All-American (Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball)
- 1999 Second-Team Freshman All-American (Baseball America)
2001 - JUNIOR
- Finished his three-year career as Tennessee’s all-time leader in at-bats (777), hits (314), runs scored (224), singles (199), doubles (72), triples (17) and total bases (498).
- Finished his career ranked fourth all-time in SEC history with 124 stolen bases.
- First-team All-American and National Player of the Year finalized started 67 of Tennessee’s 68 games at shortstop while leading the Volunteers to the College World Series and a 48-20 (18-12 SEC) record).
- Was the only player in SEC to bat better than .400, as he posted an incredible .435 average in 271 at-bats.
- Led the SEC in batting average (.435), slugging percentage (.815), on-base percentage (.537), hits (118), runs scored (105), triples (110), stolen bases (49) and total bases (221).
- Tied for second in the league in home runs (20), fifth in walks (51), 10th in RBI (60) while tying for fifth in doubles (21).
- Responsible for 24.4 percent of UT’s total run production with runs scored.
- Ranked second in SEC history with 118 hits and 221 total bases. Is the second Vol and sixth player in SEC history to finish with a career batting average above .400, hitting .404 for the Big Orange.
- Became the first Vol ever to hit for the cycle when he went 4-for-5 with three RBI against Vanderbilt (5/11/01).
- Hit in 59 of his 67 games played, putting up a team-high 36 multi-hit games with seven four-hit outings.
- Scored in 58 of 67 games, putting up multi-run games 32 times.
- Hit .389 (7-for-18) with an inside-the-park home run and six steals in the College World Series.
- Hit .267 (4-for-15) with a triple and a home run in the NCAA Knoxville Regional.
- Went 6-for-7 with four doubles and four runs scored in the SEC Tournament.
- Hit five leadoff home runs (vs. The Citadel [2/18/01], Florida [3/11/01], ETSU [4/3/01, Ole Miss [5/6/01] and Vanderbilt [5/11/01].
- Belted a game-winning grand slam in bottom of 10th inning to lead Tennessee to 9-5 win over Arizona State (5/1/01). Went 3-for-6, accounting for seven of UT’s nine runs against the Sun Devils.
- Matched his career-high with an 18-game hitting streak from March 10 through April 7, batting .514 with nine doubles, eight home runs, 18 RBI and 16 steals.
- Homered in three straight games against Auburn, ETSU and Mississippi State during the first week of April.
- Went for 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and four RBI vs. Cincinnati (3/21/01).
- Had four hits, including two home runs and three RBI, against Florida (3/11/02) on his 21st birthday.
- Drove in five runs on two triples vs. West Virginia (2/18/01), collecting his 100th RBI in that 12-5 victory.
- Collected his 200th career hit and tied the Tennessee program record with nine assists vs. VCU (2/10/01).
- Became UT’s all-time hits leader with a 3-for-5 performance vs. Ole Miss (5/5/01) to give him 282 career hits, passing Todd Helton’s mark of 280.
- Hit .486 against left-handers, .417 against right-handers, .286 with the bases loaded, .409 with runners in scoring position and had nine two-out RBI.
- Reached as a leadoff hitter in 62 of 122 opportunities (50.8 percent).
SUMMER 2000 - USA BASEBALL NATIONAL TEAM
- Spent the summer of 2000 playing on the USA National Team. The squad went 27-3-1, going undefeated in its last 21 games, and posted the highest winning percentage ever by a USA National Team (.889).
- The Americans went 6-0 in winning the Gold Medal at the Honkbal Tournament in Haarlem, The Netherlands.
- Burke was the only American to play in every game.
- As the leadoff hitter, he finished as the club’s second-leading hitter, with a .376 average (41 for 109) with 21 runs scored, three doubles, two triples, nine RBI and a team-high 19 stolen bases.
- He saw action at second base, shortstop, left field, right field and designated hitter.
- Had 12 multi-hit games, including a four-hit contest against Taiwan (7/23/00).
- Posted a summer-high hit streak of eight games from July 22 through Aug. 6, batting .351.
- Collected four three-hit games, including going 3-for-3 against Cuba (8/10/00).
- Hit .375 (9 for 24) in the Honkbal Tournament, going 7-for-14 in the last three games against Cuba (twice) and the Netherlands.
- Named second-team Summer All-America by Baseball America.
2000 - SOPHOMORE
- Batted in the leadoff slot and started all 63 games at second base for the Volunteers while blossoming into a full-fledged All-American performer.
- Led Vols and ranked third in the SEC with a .401 average.
- Led the SEC with 109 hits, which tied Jeff Pickler’s school record from 1998.
- His hits total ranked fourth all-time in SEC history and was the highest-ever by an SEC sophomore.
- Also led the team with 69 runs scored and 26 doubles.
- Ranked second on the team with 55 RBI and 56 stolen bases.
- His 69 runs scored ranked sixth in Tennessee single-season history, while his 75 singles ranked second, 26 doubles ranked fourth, 56 stolen bases ranked second and 34 extra-base-hits ranked eighth.
- Logged at least one hit in 52 of 63 games.
- Led the team with 33 multi-hit games, including 16 with at least three hits.
- Collect four hits on five occasions.
- Ended season on a nine-game hitting streak and a 19-game errorless streak.
- Ranked fourth on the club with 13 multi-RBI games, including a team-high six games with three or more.
- Posted the second-longest hitting streak of the season, covering 14 games from March 4-26, batting .417 during that span.
- Stole at least two bases 16 times, including a career-high four on two occasions, versus Cincinnati (3/21/00) and South Carolina (5/14/00).
- Swiped three bases five times, scored three runs six times and hit two doubles three times.
- Ranked third in fielding percentage among SEC second basemen at .977.
- Matched his career-high with a 23-game errorless streak from Feb. 21 through March 31.
- His four home runs on the season cam against Hawaii-Hilo (2/9/00), Auburn (4/16/00), ETSU (4/26/00) and Middle Tennessee (5/10/00).
- Tied the school record with a 6-for-6 game at Hawaii-Hilo (2/9/00) that included an inside-the-park home run.
- Through his first two seasons as a Vol, his .387 career average ranked fourth all-time, while he ranked ninth with 196 hits, fourth with 51 doubles and fourth with 75 stolen bases.
- He hit .366 vs. left-handers, .413 vs. righthanders, .200 with the bases loaded, .403 with two outs, .408 with runners in scoring position and also added a team-high 20 RBI with two outs.
1999 - FRESHMAN
- Freshman All-American infielder led the Vols with a .372 average and started all 56 games at second base.
- Broke UT freshman records for average, hits (87) and doubles (25).
- Led the SEC with 25 doubles and led all second basemen in the conference with a .985 fielding percentage, making only four errors in 268 chances.
- Had a 23-game errorless streak from Feb. 19 through March 24, covering 108 chances.
- Made only one error in his last 29 games, covering 140 chances, for a .993 fielding percentage. He also made no errors in his last 21 games.
- Paced the squad with 27 multi-hit games, including collecting at least three hits 13 times and posting 10 multi-RBI contests.
- Hit .403 (77-for-191) in the last 43 games after batting just .233 (10-for-42) in first 13 games.
- Ended the season on a 16-game hitting streak, while also hitting in 21 of his last 22 outings.
- Stole 19 bases—second-most on the team.
- Stole three bases in games against Louisville (2/27/99), Toledo (3/9/99) and Georgia (5/2/99).
- Legged out two doubles in a game five times, while doubling in five straight games from April 18-24 against Mississippi State, ETSU, Middle Tennessee and Kentucky.
- Rapped out three straight three-hit games against Kentucky (4/24-25/99) and Georgia (4/30/99).
- Had a tremendous collegiate debut against Georgia State (2/13/99), going 4-for-6 with five runs and a season-high six RBI.
- Hit two home runs in a three-game span against Alabama (3/14/99) and UT Martin (3/16/99).
- Went a perfect 4-for-4 versus Cincinnati (3/24/99).
- Collected two other four-hit games, against Georgia (5/2/99) and Vanderbilt (5/15/99).
- Hit .460 against left-handers, .348 against right-handers, .346 with runners in scoring position and .357 with two outs.
- Had 15 two-out RBI while going 4-for-14 with the bases loaded.
- During the summer of 1999, he played for Northern Ohio in the Great Lakes League, earning first-team all-league honors.
- Helped lead Northern Ohio to the league-best regular-season record of 28-10, while posting a .438 (57 for 130) batting average.
- Totaled 10 doubles, two home runs, 21 RBI and a league-leading 23 stolen bases during his summer stint.
HIGH SCHOOL
- Played for coach Joe White at St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where he hit .500 as a senior in 1998 with nine home runs, 55 RBI and 49 stolen bases.
- Three-time Academic All-State selection.
- 1998 Baseball America Honorable Mention All-America.
- Named runner-up for Mr. Baseball in Kentucky in 1998.
- Was a two-time all-state, all-region and all-district selection.
- As a senior, 31 of his 40 hits went for extra bases, including 18 doubles.
- Named MVP of the 1998 National Amateur All-Star Baseball Tournament.
- Hit .420 as a junior in 1997 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI, stealing 24 bases.
- His junior-year squad finished 29-4 as district champions and reached the region quarterfinals.
- Named all-district, all-region, and an all-state all-star as a junior.
- He hit .422 as a sophomore in 1996, with two home runs and 18 RBI.
- His team finished 20-9 when he was a sophomore, reaching the quarterfinals of region tournament.
- Attended the Mid-American 5-Star camp, earning the top defensive player award.
- Participated in the Eastern Area Code games and the Mid-Atlantic Showcase.
- Was a point guard on the basketball team for four years.
PERSONAL
- Full name is Christopher Alan Burke
- Born March 11, 1980, in Louisville, Kentucky
- Son of John Alan and Mary Jo Burke.
- Has one sister, Erin, and one brother, Paul, who played baseball at Bellarmine College and in the Atlanta Braves organization.
- Academic Major: Business
BSB | Josh Elander Introductory Press Conference (10.27.25)
Monday, October 27
BSB | Tennessee Super Regional Postgame Presser at Arkansas (6.8.25)
Sunday, June 08
BSB | Tennessee Super Regional Postgame Presser at Arkansas (6.7.25)
Saturday, June 07
BSB | Tennessee Official Super Regional Preview Press Conference (6.6.25)
Friday, June 06
