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After two successful seasons in Lancaster, Rick Burleson returns as the enemy tonight

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

The last time JetHawks fans saw Rick Burleson at Lancaster Municipal Stadium he was wearing their beloved purple pinstripes and managing his team from either the first-base dugout or the third-base coach's box in Lancaster's 6-5 loss to High Desert in the first game of the 1998 Valley Division playoffs.

As the JetHawks open their 1999 home schedule tonight, Burleson once again will be part of the celebration at The Hangar. It will mark the third consecutive year he's been around for a JetHawks home opener.

But things definitely will be different this time.

Burleson still will work from the third-base coach's box, but this time he won't have to cross home plate to return to the dugout.

The familiar No. 7 on the back of his jersey no longer will be the familiar purple and red Burleson wore the last two seasons. Instead, it will be in black and cranberry, adorning a gray road jersey.

And rather than being introduced as the manager of the JetHawks during the pre-game festivities, Burleson will be announced as the new manager of the San Bernardino Stampede.

After two seasons with the JetHawks, Burleson was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers to manage the San Bernardino franchise. In a fitting turn of events, the former JetHawks skipper will return to The Hangar for Lancaster's first home game of the season.

"I think it's great that he's coming back," JetHawks Vice President and General Manager Matt Ellis said. "It will give Rick a chance for a curtain call. It gives our fans a chance to show their appreciation for what he's done the last two years."

JetHawks fans should be appreciative of what Burleson accomplished during the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

In 1997, Burleson's first as a manager on any level, Lancaster finished with a 75-66 overall record, beating Modesto in a onegame playoff to advance to the Cal League postseason for the first time in franchise history.

Last season, Burleson directed Lancaster to wins in 16 of its final 21 regular season games, including an improbable series sweep at Maverick Stadium in the final weekend to finish with a franchise best 78-62 mark.

The playoff run came to an abrupt end with a two-game, firstround sweep by High Desert in the first round, but that couldn't take away from what the JetHawks accomplished.

"When I sat back and looked at last season and how that team ended up, I realized those players really stepped up at the end of the season," Burleson said in a phone interview from his new office at The Ranch.

Although he said 1998 was tougher on him than his first season for a variety of reasons, a lot of the credit for the JetHawks' 153-128 regular-season mark over the last two seasons has to go to Burleson and his former pitching coach and close friend Jim Slaton.

Both Burleson and Slaton, now the pitching coach at Class AAA Tacoma, showed the ability to get the most out of every player despite a host of injuries and the lack of top prospects.

But when it came time to plan for 1999, the Mariners seemed to overlook the job Burleson had done.

Rather than offering him a managing position at Lancaster or elsewhere in the organization, the Mariners proposed a move to Tacoma to become a coach. Burleson passed, opting to seek an opportunity to manage elsewhere.

"I only started managing two years ago, and at this point in my life, that's the direction I wanted to go with my career," Burleson said.

Burleson's gamble to leave the Mariners was rewarded when the Dodgers started looking for someone to take over the San Bernardino franchise, which had three different managers last season in a turbulent 55-85 campaign.

Burleson still has fond memories of his two seasons in Lancaster, with the exception of the early-season cold and wind he might once again face at The Hangar this week.

"Those were my first two years as a manager, and it was a great place to start," said the 47-year-old Burleson, who still lives in LaHabra Heights with his wife, Karen, and four children. "The people were outstanding there as far as the owner and general manager and the fans and booster club, which is the best I've seen anywhere I've been. It's a class setup all the way around."

The JetHawks plan to remind Burleson just how much class they have.

"We're not going to do anything too overblown, because we don't want to take away from introducing our new team this year to our fans," Ellis said. "But we'll do a couple of small things behind the scenes to show him our appreciation. . . We'll welcome Rick back, then go about our business of kicking his butt on the field."