Steve Burleson

All those wins paled, however, when it came to a call Burleson received from one of his former players.

“It was a guy who had been through a lot of different professions who called to tell me had just passed the bar exam in Alabama,” said Burleson, who retired in 2015. “There are always going to be good players and great games, but the true highlights are those kinds of things where guys have got things worked out in their lives and called to tell me that in some indirect fashion my influence had something to do with that.

In his 36 seasons, Burleson’s teams won seven Jayhawk Conference championships, and he was named coach of the year four times. From 1985-87, the Blue Devils won three straight Region VI championships and were ranked in the Top 20 nationally all three years. A graduate of William Jewell College where he was a multi-sport standout, he coached at Washington High School before coming to KCKCC.

“When the games are over, the people still remain and those relationships are clearly the most important, especially those when someone has worked harder or who did not have as much talent but found a way to succeed,” he said. “Not only will they do that in baseball but in the classroom and down the road in their family life.”

Burleson’s contributions, however, extend far beyond wins and losses. He wrote the constitution for the Jayhawk Conference; served as chairman of NJCAA Hall of Fame, Baseball Hospitality and International Competition committees and was vice-president of the NJCAA Baseball Association. In 1987, he coached the North team to the gold medal in the U.S. Olympic Festival, and in 1991, was the head coach of an NJCAA All-Star team, which finished fourth in the Tournament of Americas in Cuba. He was inducted into the NJCAA Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016 and later into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.

Perhaps the most telling statistic in Burleson’s resume is having 88 percent of the players he coached receive scholarships to continue their education.

“I read somewhere that 84 percent of people hate their jobs,” he said. “I loved this job. I got to work with assistant coaches who were absolutely incredible at their jobs and very, very special human beings. And ultimately, I got to work at a college that gave me the opportunity to learn the game from the best people in the game and an outstanding faculty to keep kids connected academically. The two most important things I look at on a college campus are the students and faculty and everything should revolve around them.”

Burleson’s most successful players, David Segui and Kevin Young, played a combined 27 years in the major leagues – Segui 15 years with the Orioles, Mets, Expos and Mariners and Young 12 years with the Pirates and Royals. Members of the first KCKCC Hall of Fame class, both are adamant that Burleson was far and away the most influential in their baseball careers.

“His knowledge is second to none,” said Segui, who had a .291 batting average and one of the top fielding averages for a first baseman. “When it came to teaching, it was the best I ever had. I was never more prepared for a season at any level than I was for the two seasons playing for Coach Burleson. Pro baseball needs guys like him, especially at the lower level where kids are never taught the fundamentals they need to learn about the game.”

Young said he does not think he would have ever reached his full potential if he had not been challenged by Burleson.

“He could not do it for me but he could bring it out of me,” said Young, who hit .441 as a freshman and a KJCCC record .477 as a sophomore before continuing onto Southern Mississippi. “He sees more than the game of baseball. He sees players as individuals and knows how to motivate them from both the team and individual level.”