For 15 major league seasons, Dave Burba worked on figuring a way to get the opposition out.
Now, the former Indians pitcher is doing the same thing, but it’s for his own players.
The pitching coach for the Hartford Yard Goats — an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies organization — Burba is at his best when he’s pushing his players through Double-A ball to the Show.
“It’s development, absolutely,” Burba said. “That’s what it’s all about. Obviously, you want to teach them a winning recipe, but the end game is making them ready for the next level and more importantly for the big leagues.
“It’s pride and satisfaction. It’s about the accomplishment for the kid. Of course you take pride in helping in the process, but it’s all about the kid actually following through, pursuing his dream and achieving it.”
The right-hander, who played for the Indians from 1998-2001 and then again in 2002, pitched his last game at the big-league level on Sept. 19, 2004, for the San Francisco Giants.
But the game never really left him.
As it turns out coaching his son, Dylan, and his daughter, Madison, gave him the itch to return.
“It got me back,” Burba said. “I started coaching little league. Then it was the all-star team and the travel team. It just wasn’t the level I was accustomed to. I was like, ‘OK. I need to be somewhere else.’ Fortunately, my wife agreed to it.”
He got back in at the minor league level in 2011 as a pitching coach for the Short-Season-A Tri-City Dust Devils where he continued his role with the Rockies until 2013, when he moved up to Advanced-A ball with the Modesto Nuts. In 2015, he made his way to the Eastern League with the New Britain Rock Cats, who are now the Yard Goats.
A Kenton Ridge High School graduate and former Ohio State star, Burba now lives in Gilbert, Ariz., but still has very fond memories of his days in Northeast Ohio.
“It’s a thrill to be back here,” Burba said. “My parents are here along with a couple friends and my high school coach. It’s neat to be in an area where I grew up. I played right up the road. It’s always a thrill.”
The corner of Carnegie and Ontario pulls at the heartstrings as well. While he played in 142 regular-season games for the Tribe, it’s Game 2 of the 1998 American League Division Series against Boston that he remembers most.
“Personally, the game that stands out for me was the playoff game when I came on in relief of Doc Gooden and pitched 5⅓ [innings],” he said. “[Manager Mike Hargrove] took me out and I was walking off the field and got the standing ovation. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
More to the point, Burba has never forgotten about the fans who pushed him to be a 15-game or more winner from 1998-2000.
“The best memories about Cleveland would definitely be going to the field every day to a sellout crowd,” he said. “For me, going to Cleveland every day with a sold-out stadium was electric. It was a thrill to be there even when I wasn’t playing. I’d get my work in, but you knew when it was 7:05 that electricity was going to be there. It was exciting.”