Elliott: Scout Walt Burrows saw Mantle in a young Mike Trout
From SABR member Bob Elliott at the Canadian Baseball Network on August 25, 2016:
Walt Burrows answered my call and whispered “I’m at a game … can I call you later?”
Burrows, then Canadian director for the Major League Scouting Bureau, was helping with coverage south of the border in June of 2011. After the game he returned my call, answered my question about the dates and times of the open August Bureau camps he had emailed me about.
Question asked and answered I asked how his game had gone?
Now, before we move any further down the line we should tell you Walter Burrows, of Brentwood Bay, BC would never be mistaken for legendary scouts Huey Alexander, Ellis Clary, Wilbur (Moose) Johnson or Howie Haak when it came to making expansive comments about a can’t-miss, blue-chip, Cooperstown-bound teenager. Burrows can tell a story like how he told this infielder he was making a mistake playing hoops over baseball (hello Steve Nash).
“How was the game?” repeated Burrows quietly, “oh I saw Mickey Mantle tonight.”
Read the full article here: http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles//elliott-burrows-saw-the-mantle-in-a-young-trout
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Originally published: August 25, 2016. Last Updated: August 25, 2016.