Appetite fuels routine success for Burkhart
By Joshua Lehman
Take a practice swing. Step into the box, left foot first. Tap the plate.
Ping!
It’s a typical Dan Burkhart at-bat, with the ideal conclusion. The 2008 Buckeye baseball team has been a squad defined by freshman contributions, and none of those have been bigger than the play of their true freshman backstop, Burkhart.
Don’t get any delusions; the transition from high school to starting catcher on a Division 1 school isn’t as easy as he’s made it look.
“[The college game] is faster paced,” said Burkhart. “I had to get used to the pitchers I was going to catch all year, which took a little time.”
The Cincinnati native’s defensive prowess and ability to handle a pitching staff was what stood out to OSU head coach Bob Todd when he recruited him. But Burkhart was only a week away from attending elsewhere.
“I went to Virginia Tech to visit a week before I came here and I said, ‘Alright, I think I’m going to go here,’” said Burkhart. “But then I saw this place.”
Kent State, Miami, Xavier, Cincinnati Ohio and Ohio are other schools that went after Burkhart, but the lush green of Bill Davis Stadium and the widespread support of OSU athletics can be difficult to turn down. Throw in Bob Todd’s penchant for winning Big Ten titles and you have an attractive package for any recruit.
The real key to Burkhart’s success has been his meticulous routine. Every at-bat is the same. Before every game, he says the same prayer. In between innings, he sits in the same spot by the coach.
“As an athlete, you want to get in a routine to be successful,” said Todd.
Coming into the season, Burkhart faced a lot of pressure. The man he replaced was one of the most beloved players in recent Buckeye history. Eric Fryer played three years at OSU before being drafted in the 10th round by the Milwaukee Brewers and electing to play minor league ball.
But Burkhart started working with the veteran OSU pitching staff right away, and was the opening day starter at catcher.
“You want a catcher to know you real well and be able to call the signs,” said senior Dan DeLucia, the only three-time captain in OSU history. “If you’re up there shaking a lot, you start losing confidence in your catcher. Burkhart has done a great job with different situations and a lot of the pitchers.”
DeLucia, the staff ace, spent time rehabbing an injury during fall ball, but worked with his new catcher between innings, talking about not only how he likes to pitch, but how the other guys on the staff like to operate.
“I would sit down with him and say, ‘This is what I like to throw.’”
Maybe the only thing bigger than Burkhart’s presence behind the plate is his famous appetite. At 5-11, 205 lbs, he’s not a small guy by any stretch of the imagination. But it’s not necessarily how much he eats as much as how he does it.
“He doesn’t look at anything but the plate. You know how the Chinese eat their food, just all into their plate? That’s how he is,” said DeLucia. “A lot of times when the pitcher throws it, we’re not sure he’ll throw it back to the pitcher. If he’s hungry he might eat the ball.”
Burkhart comes from a baseball family. His uncle, Bo Burkhart, played at Xavier, and his twin brother, Jeff, is a pitcher at Ohio Dominican. Baseball is just part of the routine for the Burkhart family, and that might explain why he’s established such a routine on the diamond.
The next addition to his daily ritual might be his hitting. Catchers are not typically known for their bats, and Burkhart entered the weekend with a .277 average. But the wood appears to be coming around: Burkhart had seven hits in 11 tries in the weekend series with Illinois, raising his average to .304.
“The expectations of that position here at Ohio State — we’ve had some quality catchers,” said Todd. “I think before it’s over with, people will see a quality Dan Burkhart.”
Burkhart figures to be a staple at Bill Davis Stadium for a long time, and that’s something that Buckeye fans can get used to.
Originally Published: Issue 648 - May 14, 2008
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