By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
It was 27 years ago that a young shortstop in the Boston Red Sox organization had a rough indoctrination into minor league baseball.
"I committed 38 errors my first year," admitted Rick Burleson a few weeks ago, smiling slightly.
There are few times Burleson smiles when he's at the ballpark. A professional's professional, the Lancaster JetHawks' first-year manager is all business when he arrives at The Hangar's clubhouse before every game.
To Burleson, the JetHawks players are like 25 lumps of clay, ready to be molded each day by that same former player who made all those errors before most of them were even born.
Burleson is taking a novel, at least in the minor leagues anyway, approach to his job.
Since the first week of the season, Burleson has conducted drills with the position players before batting practice. Each day, he aims his focus at a certain aspect of the game.
"Granted, it is a little different," first baseman James Clifford said. "In the past, once we got out of spring training, most of our review was done."
Not this year.
One day, Burleson had his top base stealing threats out early to work on their jumps. The next day, the entire team was on hand an hour before batting practice was scheduled to begin for what Burleson called a "fundamental review."
"This game, you've got to work at it every day if you want to get better," Burleson said recently. "Sometimes I feel like they're not getting enough work. I don't think we're overdoing it."
Outfielder Tarrik Brock, who was one of the players who was out early to work on stealing, said he likes the fact that Burleson hasn't let the players lose focus of the basics.
"Spring training is all about getting the creases out," Brock said. "Now, it's about keeping the edges smooth."
On the basepaths of late, Brock's edges are real smooth. Since working on his jump that day with Burleson, Brock has stolen four bases without being caught.
After retiring as a player in 1987, Burleson has held a myriad of coaching jobs. In 1989, he worked for the Oakland Athletics as their roving minor league infield instructor. In 1991, he was Oakland's hitting coach.
From 1992-93, Burleson returned to the Red Sox as the team's third base coach, doubling as hitting coach in '92. For the past two seasons, Burleson was the California Angels' third base coach.
After all these stops, it has become obvious that Burleson has developed two coaching philosophies.
First, he is a believer in a hands-on approach.
"You have to be able to come out early and spend time with these guys," Burleson said. "If you don't do it, and just talk to them about plays, they're not always going to get it.
"They have to actually put the time in," he said.
Secondly, Burleson is a perfectionist who doesn't want to see any wasted motion from the time the players first hit the field in mid-afternoon until the national anthem is played.
During batting practice, while one-third of the position players are hitting, one-third are working on their baserunning. The other third is either fielding ground balls or working on bunting.
And if a group of pitchers is out early working on their pickoff moves, Burleson wants a group of base stealers out there to study them.
"He wants things done a certain way," catcher Dusty Wathan says of Burleson. "It's more of a big league atmosphere, as much as you can get in `A ball.' It's just going to prepare guys for moving up the ladder."
Burleson doesn't like losing. Who does? But he especially hates giving the opponent a win.
The JetHawks' first six losses this season were by one run. In those games, the defense committed nine errors.
Overall, Lancaster has made 20 errors in 13 games. Burleson sees that and figures the JetHawks have to make 20 extra outs to compensate for their mistakes.
"When I started off in the minor leagues," said Burleson, harkening back to his first year as a pro, "I made a lot of physical errors myself. A lot of times, as long as you don't get down as a player, and continue to work to try and get better, then over time you will."
Burleson should know. Less than a decade after his first minor league season, he won the Gold Glove award as the American League's best defensive shortstop.
"Sometimes I think `Gosh, we're on the field so long, how are (the players) going to feel in summer?'," Burleson said. "Are they going to be worn down? But if they want to get better, then they have to do it."
Burleson is already doing what he set out to do from the first day he took this job.
"I want to do it the way I think it should be done professionally," he said.