Mules in the Pros Morgan Burkhart Boston - 2000-01 • Kansas City - 2003 Morgan Burkhart made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox on June 27, 2000 and, in doing so, became the first former Mules’ baseball player to appear in a major league game. In his first major league at-bat, Burkhart singled off the Orioles’ Mike Mussina. He was 2-for-4 in the game. He wound up playing in 25 games with the Red Sox in 2000, hitting .288 with four home runs and 18 RBI. In 2001 Burkhart spent most of the season at Pawtucket (R.I.), where he hit .269 with 25 home runs and 62 RBI. He made his second trip to the major leagues that year, when he played in 11 games with Boston, hitting .182 with one home run and four RBI. However, the Red Sox released him after the 2001 season. In 2002, Burkhart played in 42 games with Japan’s Fukuoka Daiei Hawks before being signed by the Kansas City Royals for the 2003 season. In six games for the Royals, he went 3-for-15 (.200). Burkhart spent most of the season with Kansas City’s Triple A affiliate in Omaha, Neb., where he batted .251 with 17 home runs, 18 doubles, and 57 RBI. A key member of the Mules’ 1994 national championship team, Burkhart had spent five-plus seasons in the minor leagues before being called up. With Pawtucket in 2000, he hit .255 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI. Before the Red Sox signed him to a minor league contract in 1998, Burkhart had enjoyed a stellar career in the independent Frontier League for Richmond, Indiana. He won three league MVP awards and was Baseball America’s Independent Player of the Year in 1998, when he hit .404 with 36 home runs and 98 RBI in 80 games. In fact, the Frontier League Most Valuable Player award is now named in his honor. In 1999 he was named MVP of the Mexican winter league after hitting 18 home runs and driving in 55 runs in 67 games. As a major leaguer, Burkhart finished his career with 121 at bats, five home runs, 23 RBI, and a .248 batting average. Photo courtesy of Boston Red Sox Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB 2000 28 BOS AL 25 95 73 16 21 3 0 4 18 0 0 17 25 .288 .442 .493 .935 135 36 1 4 0 1 1 2001 29 BOS AL 11 34 33 3 6 1 0 1 4 0 0 1 11 .182 .206 .303 .509 32 10 1 0 0 0 0 2003 31 KC AL 6 16 15 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 .200 .250 .200 .450 18 3 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 42 145 121 20 30 4 0 5 23 0 0 19 38 .248 .366 .405 .770 96 49 2 4 0 1 1 Josh Outman Oakland - 2008-09, 2011 • Colorado - 2012-13 • Cleveland/New York (AL) - 2014 • Atlanta 2015 Josh Outman became the second Central Missouri player to make his major league debut when the lefty tossed two scoreless innings for the Oakland Athletics against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on September 2, 2008. He became the first player to begin the season on a major league roster in 2009, and made 12 starts for the A’s with a 4-1 record before suffering an elbow injury in late June that put him out for the year. In 2005, the St. Louis, Mo. product was the No. 2 pitcher for the top-ranked Central Missouri Mules at the Division II College World Series. He finished his career at UCM with a bang as well, tossing an eight-inning, seven strikeout performance that defeated Delta State 2-1 on May 30, 2005. After the season he was one of five Mules pitchers drafted in the top 11 rounds of the 2005 First Year Player Draft (more than any other school that season). He was picked in the 10th round by the Philadelphia Phillies and quickly moved up in that organization until July 2008, when he was involved in a trade for Joe Blanton that sent him to the Oakland A’s farm system. Outman was traded to the Colorado Rockies in a three-player deal in January 2012 and has also made stops with the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. Photos courtesy of Colorado Rockies Year Tm Lg W-L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB 2008 OAK AL 1-2 .333 4.56 6 4 0 0 0 0 25.2 34 14 13 1 8 1 19 2 0 1 116 91 1.636 11.9 0.4 2.8 6.7 2.38 2009 OAK AL 4-1 .800 3.48 14 12 1 0 0 0 67.1 53 30 26 9 25 0 53 0 0 1 276 127 1.158 7.1 1.2 3.3 7.1 2.12 2011 OAK AL 3-5 .375 3.70 13 9 2 0 0 0 58.1 62 27 24 4 23 0 35 0 0 3 254 109 1.457 9.6 0.6 3.5 5.4 1.52 2012 COL NL 1-3 .250 8.19 27 7 3 0 0 0 40.2 47 37 37 7 20 0 40 0 0 5 185 59 1.648 10.4 1.5 4.4 8.9 2.00 2013 COL NL 3-0 1.000 4.33 61 0 8 0 0 0 54.0 56 27 26 3 23 2 53 3 0 2 238 102 1.463 9.3 0.5 3.8 8.8 2.30 2014 NYY/CLE 4-0 1.000 2.86 40 0 6 0 0 0 28.1 24 10 9 4 16 2 26 0 0 1 122 134 1.412 7.6 1.3 5.1 8.3 1.63 Totals 16-11 .593 4.43 161 32 20 0 0 0 274.1 276 145 135 28 115 5 226 5 0 13 1191 97 1.425 9.1 0.9 3.8 7.4 1.97 Lee Stoppelman was the MIAA Chris Matlock was the Nick Webber set the then Mules’ Danny Powers was the National Francisco Leandro was drafted Pitcher of the Year in 2012. He NCAA-II National Pitcher of the record with 11 saves in 2005 and Pitcher of the Year in 2005, and in the 24th round by the Tampa was drafted in the 24th round by Year in 2009 as a closer. He was subsequently became UCM’s was drafted in the 8th round by Bay Rays after earning first-team the St. Louis Cardinals. He went drafted in the 21st round by the highest all-time draft pick, in the the Minnesota Twins following All-America honors in 2004. a combined 9-9 with a 3.47 ERA Texas Rangers. second round (#78 overall) by the the season. Courtesy Dave Kopp in four seasons in the minors. He Courtesy Dave Kopp St. Louis Cardinals. reached Triple-A at the end of the Courtesy New Jersey Cardinals 2013 season. Courtesy Mike Janes/Four Seam Images 2020 MULES BASEBALL RECORD BOOK • UCMATHLETICS.COM @UCMMULES • @Mules_Baseball • #teamUCM BASEBALL 43 Mules in the Pros 74 former Mules players either have signed as free agents or have been drafted by major league organizations and played in the minor leagues. Listed below are the former Mules who were drafted or who signed as free agents, the organization(s) signing them, and the years they signed. All were signed to minor league contracts. Players listed in bold are currently active in the minor or major leagues. Cliff Crenshaw, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals, 1959 James Kammerer, P, Colorado, 1995 Steve Sharpe, P, Oakland, 2004 Alex Kent, P, Independent, 2010 Bill Green, 3B, Houston, 1966 Joe Spinello, C-DH, Chicago (AL), 1995 Steve McReynolds, P, Independent, 2004 Matt Curtis, P, Cleveland, 2011 Carl Black, P, New York (AL), 1967 Morgan Burkhart, 1B, Independent, 1996/ Josh Outman, P, Philadelphia, 2005; Don Lisi, P, Independent, 2011 Ron Zuber, P, Cleveland, 1967 Boston, 1998/Kansas City, 2002/Chicago Oakland, 2008; Colorado, 2012; Cleveland/ Lee Stoppelman, P, St. Louis, 2012 Steve Eckinger, 3B, Washington, 1971 (AL), 2004 New York (AL) 2014; Atlanta 2015; Kyle Grieshaber, IF, St. Louis, 2013 Tom Tessar, C, Oakland, 1972 Brad Crede, 1B, Philadelphia, 1996 Pittsburgh 2016 Zach Davis, P, Houston, 2014 Bob Tuttle, 2B, Kansas City, 1974 Daryl Jefferies, SS, Chicago (NL), 1996 Mike Phelps, P, Chicago (NL), 2005 Kyle Gehrs, P, Houston, 2014 Jeff Dean, P, San Diego, 1982 Brad Plackemeier, C, Independent, 1996 Danny Powers, P, Minnesota, 2005 Trevor Jones, OF, Independent Tim Mulcahy, P, Baltimore, 1982 Casey Castrop, P, Independent, 1997 Jason Schutt, P, Cleveland, 2005 Grant Gavin, P, Kansas City, 2016 Dave Thielker, 1B, Baltimore, 1983 Justin Crisafulli, OF, Cleveland, 1997 Nick Webber, P, St. Louis, 2005 Tyler House, P, Tampa Bay, 2016 Donnie McGowan, P, Boston, 1985 Dave Goodwin, DH, Kansas City, 1998 Shawn Callahan, C, Oakland, 2005 Ethan Westphal, P, Colorado, 2016 Chris Schnurbusch, 3B, Detroit, 1987; Ben Slemmer, SS, Kansas City, 1998 Dustin Bolton, Independent, 2005 Lucas Williams, P, Houston, 2016 Cincinnati, 1987 Eddie Medlin, C, Independent, 1999 Patrick Evers, P, Independent, 2005 Zak Whalin, C, New York (NL), 2019 Kirk Baldwin, P, Kansas City, 1989 Nathan Lipowicz, OF, Los Angeles, 2000 Brent Lacy, Independent, 05, Cleveland, 06 Larry Hawks, C-3B, San Diego, 1990 Josh Reynolds, P, New York (NL), 2000/ Bridger Hunt, 3B, Los Angeles, 2006; Tom Broyles, P, California, 1993 Boston, 2003 Independent, 2011, 2012; San Diego, 2013 Rob Davis, P, Independent, 1993 Craig Ringe, SS, Texas, 2002 Bryan Collins, P, Oakland, 2007 Eddie Lewis, P, Houston, 1993 Jason Herz, P, Independent, 2002 Nick Jaros, Independent, 2007 Kyle McCune, SS, Houston, 1993 Chris Umphres, 1B, Independent, 2002 Gered Mochizuki, Independent, 2007, Kris Ralston, P, Kansas City, 1993 Zach Norman, 3B, Philadelphia, 2003 New York (NL), 2009 O.J.