 Ellis Narrington Burton was born August 12, 1936 in Los Angeles, CA. He signed an amateur free agent contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955, fresh out of high school. He spent his first few seasons in the minor leagues. He was drafted by the St.Louis Cardinals in the 1957 minor league draft and made his major league debut playing outfield for the Cardinals in September of 1958. Burton spent most of his career in the minor leagues. He did appear in 119 major league games in 1963 with the Indians and Cubs. He played and handful of games with the Cubs in 1964 and 1965 but was out of major league baseball by the end of the 1965 season. Burton played 5 seasons in the major leagues. He struggled at the plate with a .216 batting average but he did smack 17 HRs and was the first player in major league history to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same inning. After baseball, Burton went into banking and eventually became manager of the Bank of America in Burbank, CA. |
