Chris Burke arrived at Tallahassee\u2019s Dick Howser Stadium in April 2012 eager for his first broadcast as a college baseball color analyst. Florida State, the No. 1 team in the nation, was hosting rival Miami in a key ACC showdown. What a way to start a new career.<\/p>\n
But he forgot something.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so clueless,\u201d Burke said, \u201cI didn\u2019t even have a scorebook, and my play-by-play guy, a guy named Tom Block, said, \u2018Well, how are you going to know the players?\u2019 I said, \u2018Well, I memorized their names.\u2019 And he\u2019s like, \u2018What if they sub?\u2019 So he handed me a roster and a scorebook, and I was like, \u2018Yeah, this is way easier.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It proved to be a minor speed bump for Burke\u2019s rapid climb up the food chain at the ESPN family of networks. Later that season, he called his first NCAA Tournament game. Three years later, he was covering the College World Series. And in two weeks, he will be in the booth for his fourth consecutive CWS finals with Karl Ravech and Kyle Peterson.<\/p>\n
Burke, to many, is best known for hitting one of the most dramatic home runs of the 21st century, a walk-off blast in the bottom of the 18th inning in Game 4 of the NLDS that sent the Astros to the 2005 NLCS.<\/p>\n
Chris Burke’s walk-off homer in the 18th inning ended what was the longest #postseason<\/a> game at the time, as the @Astros<\/a> moved on to the 2005 NLCS. pic.twitter.com\/XfPkf5dp6L<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 MLB Vault (@MLBVault) October 26, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n But he\u2019s a college baseball guy through and through.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the urgency,\u201d said Burke, a two-time All-American at Tennessee who led the Volunteers to the 2001 College World Series. \u201cI love how, especially once you get into conference play, it\u2019s really like major league postseason baseball every game. \u2026 If you love the sport, you really enjoy the intensity of each and every conference game.\u201d<\/p>\n Burke\u2019s passion for the sport comes across on each broadcast, whether it\u2019s a midweek game in late February or Game 3 of a Super Regional with a College World Series berth on the line.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know anybody that watches more college baseball, to the depth with which he watches it,\u201d said Tom Hart, an ESPN\/SEC Network play-by-play announcer who has worked with Burke for over a decade. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to work with a lot of great guys, for example, on the football side. They study film all week. Burky approaches games like game film. And what he sees, and how he sees the game, and the swings, and the approach, it\u2019s just next level.\u201d<\/p>\n Peterson has been a college baseball analyst with ESPN since 2003. He remembers hearing Burke call a game and being immediately impressed.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew of him, but I had never met him,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cWhen I heard him, I remember calling Mike Moore, our coordinating producer at the time, and saying, \u2018I think a three-man booth with Chris and myself,\u2019 \u2014 and it was Dave (Neal) for a lot of it and then Tom (Hart) \u2014 \u2018I think it will really work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Peterson, a former pitcher at Stanford, believed he and Burke would complement each other well.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just sees different things on the field than I see,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just breaking down swings, but the way that he analyzes baserunning and defense. He\u2019s really good, man.\u201d<\/p>\n No announcers are without their critics, but Peterson, 49, and Burke, 45, are as universally well-liked by their target audience as any broadcasting duo in sports.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s this trust factor between us, first of all,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cWe can say absolutely anything to each other, and no one\u2019s going to get offended. And I think he and I realized that right away. And then, it takes the right personality on both sides. He has no ego, and it creates a very honest broadcast. I think it makes for a more complete broadcast.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s as good as there is at doing what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n Burke, who hit .435 with 20 home runs in his final collegiate season and went on to play five years in the majors, is at his best when diagnosing a hitter\u2019s plan at the plate.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to teach the game,\u201d said Burke, 45, who lives in his hometown of Louisville with his wife and five children. \u201cSo I try to kind of call the game through that lens. I love being able to break down swings and plays and pitch sequences and things like that. I coach so much back home that I call the game the way I would watch the film with my team.\u201d<\/p>\n Burke\u2019s attention to detail \u2014 every minute detail \u2014 can get him, at times, into trouble with his friends.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to ride in a golf cart with him for four hours, you better be mentally prepared,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cHe is going to literally tell you about every single swing he takes. And he\u2019s probably going to tell you about yours, too. Every single one. And then when you get done and you\u2019re having lunch, he\u2019s then going to go back and he\u2019s going to go through every single swing on every single hole again.<\/p>\n \u201cDave (Neal) and I laugh about it. I\u2019m like, \u2018Dave, you gotta ride with him today. I can\u2019t, I can\u2019t do it today. You gotta ride with him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Burke\u2019s time in the broadcast booth has coincided with the golden age of college baseball. More games are on television. More fans are attending games. And the talent level is at an all-time high. The past two College World Series have featured a combined 15 future first-round MLB Draft picks, including five of the top nine picks in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cI really enjoy watching players on the front end, before they become stars,\u201d Burke said. \u201cGetting to enjoy the journey of Dansby Swanson, the journey of Alex Bregman, the journey of Kumar Rocker, seeing Paul Skenes burst onto the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n Burke has been on the call for some iconic performances over the past decade-plus. He didn\u2019t hesitate to identify a few that stand out in his memory.<\/p>\n \u201cSo right here, in this exact seat,\u201d he said from the Hawkins Field press box before a Vanderbilt-Alabama game earlier this month, \u201cDansby Swanson (in the 2015 Nashville Regional), he hit a two-run homer in the (top of the ninth inning) to give Vanderbilt the lead vs. Indiana, in the 1-0 game. And then, to start the bottom of the ninth, he made a Derek Jeter jump throw play from the hole, and I almost get goosebumps telling the story. That\u2019s the most alive I\u2019ve ever heard this place, for sure, but it\u2019s also the most future major league All-Star, 1-1 pick of the draft moment that I\u2019ve had for a position player.\u201d<\/p>\n Vanderbilt SS Dansby Swanson (@LieutenantDans7<\/a>) goes full Jeter in the bottom of the 9th of a 6-4 @VandyBoys<\/a> Regional win over Indiana. pic.twitter.com\/ow9yAHg8Qy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) May 31, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n