GENEVA, IL - A.J. Burnett, a Cougar from the 1998 squad, has become the most recent world champion with Kane County Cougars ties. The Yankees' right-handed starting pitcher has now been a part of two world championship teams, one from each league (Florida, 2003). Burnett was 1/3 of a three-man rotation used by manager Joe Girardi to lead the storied Yankees franchise to its 27th World Series crown.For Burnett, the bar was set quite high after a dazzling Game 1 performance by Phillies ace Cliff Lee. Behind a supportive New York crowd in Game 2, Burnett took the hill for the Yankees in arguably the biggest start of his life, having missed the entire '03 postseason with the Marlins due to an injury. Burnett stymied the Phillies, allowing just one run on four hits in seven innings while striking out nine and flashing a devastating curveball.
While Burnett struggled days later in a Game 5 loss at Philadelphia, the pitcher was right in the middle of the on-field celebration last night after Yankees closer Mariano Rivera retired Shane Victorino on a ground ball to second base.
"It was way better than anything I expected," Burnett told MLB.com following last night's win. "To be able to do what we did as a staff, it's special to be a part of that."
Burnett becomes the third former Cougar to be a two-time world champion, joining fellow American league pitcher Josh Beckett ('03 and '07 champion) and infielder Luis Castillo ('97 and '03).
As a Cougar in '98, Burnett struck out 186 batters - a single-season record in Cougars annals. He was also a 10-game winner that season, going 10-4 with a 1.97 ERA in 20 games. A year after leaving Kane County, Burnett made his Major League debut with the Marlins and also spent time with the Blue Jays before signing a five-year contract with the Yankees last December.
Ex-Cougars As Recent World Series Champions - At least one former Cougar has been a part of 6 of the last 7 World Series championship teams.
2009 - A.J. Burnett (Yankees)
2008 - Joe Blanton (Phillies)
2007 - Josh Beckett (Red Sox)
2006 - None (Cardinals)
2005 - Scott Podsednik and Ross Gload (White Sox)
2004 - Kevin Millar (Red Sox)
2003 - Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett, Mike Redmond, Josh Willingham, Luis Castillo, Adrian Gonzalez, among others (Marlins)
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