Known as "Slug", or "Slugger" on the Cambridge sandlots, Burns initially pursued factory work after high school, and played for his employer's baseball team.[1] In 1927, he played for the Chatham-Harwich club in the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he was described as "the hardest hitting first baseman in the league."[1][2][3][4]
Burns's professional playing career began in 1928 for the Brockton Shoemakers of the New England League. After leading the Class A Western League in home runs with 36 in 1929, his contract was purchased by the St. Louis Browns of the American League. After a brief MLB trial in 1930, Burns became the starting first baseman for the Browns in 1931. He handled those duties until he was traded to the Detroit Tigers on April 30, 1936, for pitcherElon Hogsett. He returned to the minor leagues at the end of that campaign for the remainder of his playing career. In Burns's finest season for the Browns, 1932, he scored 111 runs, batted .305, hit 11 homers and drove home 70 runs batted in (RBIs). Over his big league career (1930–36), he appeared in 890 games, and batted .280 with 980 hits, 44 homers and 417 RBIs. His career fielding percentage was .992. He led American League first basemen in assists in 1931 and 1932.
Burns then spent five seasons (1955–59) as a Red Sox coach, working primarily as the third-base coach under manager Pinky Higgins. He scouted for Boston from 1960 until his death, at Brighton, Massachusetts, at the age of 67. As a New England–based Red Sox scout, he is credited with recommending and signing Baseball Hall of FamecatcherCarlton Fisk, a first-round selection in the January 1967 draft.[5]
