Chris Burke steps up again
ASTROS WIN!!!
Every so often, a player comes in and steps up at crunch time. Someone who has always been a good player, but they take it to another level when it counts the most. Chris Burke is certainly doing it for the Astros this post-season. Watching Chris these last few games was like watching Josh Beckett of the Florida Marlins in 2003 and the performance he put up in the World Series. It is just amazing to see someone take it to the next level, especially when it is for the home team. I think it is a tribute to the Astros front office and farm system, which is one of the best in baseball.
As for me and my family, we will be going to Minute Maid Park today to present, together with the Astros, the Berkman and Burke home-run balls to the Baseball Hall of Fame and watch the team workout.
GO ASTROS!!!
Hit 'Em My Way 
U GO GUY THAT WAS SO AWESOME…2 AT ONE GAME AND EACH WITH SUCH MEANING BEHIND THEM… I AIN’T HATING JUST SO AMAZED…
Not only are you lucky, but you’re obviously a good guy too. I don’t know many fans who would give up those balls – I think it’s wondeful that you’re doing that! Good for you. Lots of luck to your team a well!
http://redsoxchick.mlblogs.com/
i think the stros should at least get you seats in the same spot, to bring them some luck in the next three games!! thanks for being a classy guy and representing our city so well. i’d like to see someone on the east coast be so generous.
As an Astros fan since-well, forever,(the 70’s), congradulations on the thrill of a life-time. A class act representing a class city (we DO NOT start fires and riots after championships in the Bayou city, Remember the Rockets?). Good Luck to you in all that you do. Hurray for the home team! Go Astros!
As for the guy that said you **** and that he hated you, he MUST have been a BRAVES fan!
I was at last nights game in St. Louis. Got to meet Chris Burke again. He signed my Astros flag. That was the second time i meet him.First time was on September 28th 2005.I wish i could be in Houston this weekend. But i can’t afford the trip to Houston.
I’m a huge Cardinals fan, but I like the Astros a great deal (with Clemens, Pettite, Oswald, & Lidge you’ve got to at least repect this team, if not love ’em). Congrats on your catches and on your honorable decision to donate the balls to Cooperstown. Whether you get any cash or gifts in return is irrelevant when considering that your name will be in the museum with the greats of baseball. Cheers and good fortune to you and your team. On the other hand, GO CARDS!!
This story makes me sad. For one, the Astro players are talking like hypocrites. There’s Berkman saying “It shows that there are still good people out there, that he’s not just one of those guys out to make $100,000 off a ball like that, or whatever it would be”. Hey Berkman, would you take a $100,000 salary cut for the good of the game and to show what a good guy you are?
Then the article I read goes on to say that “you hope every fan has the same heart”. The same heart for what? The same heart for jeoparizing the ability to send your kid to college or put a down payment on a home, just for the sake of protecting the “integrity” of major league baseball? Give me a break.
I feel sorry for Shaun. I really do. He’s getting played like a chump by an organization that puts money ahead of everything, including the fans. Remember the player strikes and the lockouts? Look, I’ve got no problem with profit and capitalism. But I do have a problem when the big fish takes advantage of the little fish and has the audacity to hide behind the smokescreen of “what a great guy he is”.
So the Astros parade Shaun in front of some reporters on the field, Berkman jokes with Shaun for a few minutes, Shaun gets to watch batting practice for 30 seconds, he gets some signed jerseys and a few seats behind homeplate for the next game. And the only price he had to pay was to take perhaps the only opportunity he’ll ever have to gain a little financial freedom and then flush it down the toilet. All for the “good of the game”.
If any of you every catch an historic homerun ball, pleae, PLEASE make sure you get every possible penny you can for it … unless you’re already rich. Put your family and your future ahead of MLB. Once you get on the same playing field as professional sports, feel free to play by the same rules they do.
I think the comments above are a bit cynical, and here’s why: I respect what you did because your action stands on its own. It’s not based on the goodness of the players or anyone else, just your desire to be a good guy and your love for the game. Whether or not Berkman would take a pay cut, or if the game/league is deserving of your selflessness is not even taken into account. It’s irrelevant because what’s right or wrong for you is not dependent on what others do. That’s awesome. We should all be inspired by your actions.
I still think you should take the opportunity to write a column or whatever you can do since you’re an instant celebrity, but part of that is BECAUSE of your decency and refusal to be an opportunist. I like it when good people come out ahead, it gives me courage to make right choices in my life.
Whether I’d sell the balls or not myself in the same situation, I don’t know, but I hold you in the highest respect for the choice you made. I hope much good comes of it. Anyway, had to holla at you- you’re a credit to our city!
I would have kept the balls
Shawn, I’d like to invite you to join a forum I’ve set up for Chris Burke Fans. We’d love to have be part of our group.
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChrisBurkeFan
Go Chris!!!