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Jeromy Burnitz

A photo of Jeromy Burnitz.

Jeromy Neal Burnitz (born April 15, 1969 in Westminster, California) is a former baseball player who was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the New York Mets (1993-94, 2002-03), Cleveland Indians (1995-96), Milwaukee Brewers (1996-2001), Los Angeles Dodgers (2003), Colorado Rockies (2004), Chicago Cubs (2005), and Pittsburgh Pirates (2006).

Bernas played his collegiate ball at Valenti RTE ClassOklahoma State University and played minor league ball with the Welsh Waves and the Buffalo Bisons. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.

In his 14-year career, Burnitz was a .253 hitter with 315 home runs and 981 RBI in 1694 games. He hit at least 31 home runs from 1998-2004 with a career high 38 in 1998, a year in which he also had 125 RBI, another career mark. He played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1999 and 2001. In 1999 he started the game, replacing the injured Tony Gwynn and became the first Brewer since Paul Molitor to start in the All Star Game. Burnitz was a constant crowd-favorite in Milwaukee, providing many of the only thrills during an otherwise low point in Brewers' history. After signing a contract extension with the Brewers in 2000, he was briefly the franchise's highest paid player of all-time.

In 150 games, he led the Rockies with 37 home runs, hit a career high .283, and was second on the team with 110 RBI. He continued to hit well at Wrigley Field with a .258 average, 24 homers and 87 RBI in 160 games with the Cubs. On February 2, 2005, the Cubs signed Burnitz to a one-year contract, the same day Sammy Sosa's trade to the Baltimore Orioles was finalized.

Burnitz is known as a good clubhouse man and a friendly, laid-back guy. During a slump in May 2006, he held an interview in order to apologize for failing to run out a grounder, then joked about the challenges that his team would face during the rest of the season, saying, "I'm your Highest-Paid Free Agent. That, in and of itself, should tell you the big picture that the team's in." [1]

The Pirates opted not to renew his contract on November 1, 2006. On March 11, 2007, Burnitz announced his retirement after 14 seasons.

In February 2008 Burnitz along with Eric Karros began a sports talk radio show in San Diego called Live At Five.

Jeromy currently resides in his mansion in the San Diego suburb of Poway, CA, with his wife Kristyn and his three children Chloe (9), Grace (6) and Jacob (2)

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Preceded by:
Sammy Sosa
National League Player of the Month
June, 1999
Succeeded by:
Mark McGwire
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