Former Phillie Pat Burrell, sober for five years, has found his place in baseball again

The call came early in the morning, asking Pat Burrell how quickly he could get to Philadelphia. The Phillies wanted to fly Burrell — then in triple A after being drafted two years earlier with the No. 1 overall pick — to Houston and make him a major leaguer.

“I just could not believe it,” Burrell said. “I was out the door and I don’t remember anything. I just remember getting there.”

Burrell arrived in Houston in May 2000, but his spot on the roster was not yet cleared, meaning he wasn’t permitted to be at the ballpark. The Phillies told him to stay at the hotel and watch their game against the Astros from his room. His spot would be cleared by the morning.

“I just couldn’t believe that one — I was there,” Burrell said. “And two, I was going to be on that TV tomorrow.”

Burrell was on that TV for 12 seasons, winning a World Series with the Phillies in 2008 and the Giants in 2010. He hit 30 or more homers four times, had an OPS better than league average in all but two seasons, and twice drove in more than 100 runs. But the show ended in 2011, a foot injury forcing Burrell to retire at 34.

He had been a baseball player his entire life, driven from a young age to be on that TV screen. When it was over, Burrell struggled. He was hired by the Giants as a scout, loved his work, but “there was still something missing and I wasn’t sure what that was.”

“I struggled with identity and where do I fit into this whole thing,” said Burrell, 46. “I started drinking a lot more and got to the point where I needed to quit. I went to rehab five years ago and I’ve been sober since. It was time.”

It took nearly 15 years, but the 2008 world champion Phillies have all now retired. Tom Gordon retired first in the summer of 2009 and Cole Hamels walked away in August. For some, retirement was welcoming. For others, it was a challenge. They committed their lives — from teenagers to adults in their mid-30s — to playing baseball. It was a great ride. But it eventually stopped for everyone.

“You get up to the big leagues at a young age and it’s not normal what goes on,” Burrell said. “The schedule, the whole lifestyle. It’s a little bit out of the ordinary, I’d say in the least. So when all that is gone, I’d say it’s pretty normal for players to feel out of place and struggle with that. I certainly did. Here I am today, still involved with baseball and I love it. But my life is a lot different.”

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Burrell worked for four seasons as a major league scout for the Giants, the team with which he played his final two seasons. But the travel became too much. He did some broadcasting in San Francisco and knew it wasn’t for him.

The Giants hired him before the 2020 season to be their high-A hitting coach. He lives 20 minutes from the ballpark in San Jose, making the job a fit as it allowed Burrell to stay home more. He had recently married his high school girlfriend, Boo, with whom he had reconnected after they both went through divorces. He wanted a slower pace of life. This would work.

But the pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league season and the Giants’ high-A team moved in 2021 to Oregon, which would not allow Burrell to spend half the season living at home. The Giants offered him a part-time role as a minor league hitting instructor, sending him out about twice a month to spend a week with one of their farm teams. He took it.

“If you sign up for the whole shebang, it’s a big part of your life,” Burrell said. “I have a little balance here. The enjoyment I get is from the younger guys coming out of the draft and being there for them. I really enjoy it. I’m pretty lucky to have a gig like this.”

The Giants have staffers to break down a minor leaguer’s swing mechanics using biomechanical technologies. They have analysts who can dig into advanced metrics and heat maps. For Burrell, he tries to stay away from technical advice. He hit 292 homers in the big leagues, delivered the hit that led to the winning run in the 2008 World Series, and led a parade down Broad Street.

“My addition to the group is through experience, so I try to talk to the guys as much as possible,” Burrell said. “More than anything, I praise patience for guys. Everyone is on their own little path here. This is called development, right? It happens at its own pace and we’re here to guide you along. Regardless of any timetable, we want you to be as prepared as you can be when the call comes.”

The game, Burrell said, is much different than when he got that call in Scranton from Phillies general manager Ed Wade. But the experiences he had — the daily grind to get ready, the mental battles with pitchers, the ability to shrug off a bad night — have not changed.

“It can’t,” Burrell said. “The failure part hasn’t changed, either. I was talking to a guy the other day and he said, ‘You had a great career.’ I said, ‘Look, I also struck out 1,500 times in a tough town.’ I don’t think any success I had really helps me here, but it’s the suffering that the guys really need to hear. They’re not alone.”

The Phillies, a year after nearly making the playoffs, finished 2002 with a losing record. But Burrell hit 37 homers and the Phillies had their centerpiece for the future. Renderings of Citizens Bank Park — the ballpark the Phillies moved into two years later — had images of Burrell hitting a winning homer projected onto the scoreboard. They gave “Pat The Bat” $50 million — then one of the game’s bigger contracts — before the next season. He responded by hitting 16 fewer home runs in 2003 and his OPS decreased more than 200 points. It was the worst season of Burrell’s nine in Philly.

“What happened? What changed?” Burrell said. “I got a big contract and I think mentally part of my problem was that year I thought, ‘OK, I just have to keep doing the same thing.’ I lost a little bit of the edge and I was quickly reminded that you’re constantly building here. It’s like a staircase. You never plateau. It’s a life lesson. You have to keep setting more goals. It’s a very hard game and there’s a ton of failure. But internally, we have to hold ourselves accountable at a high level so we can continue to grow. With the growth, there’s going to be some struggles.”

It’s a lesson Burrell now passes on to his minor league hitters. He followed that miserable year with five straight seasons with an OPS of at least .820 and three seasons with 30 or more homers. Burrell picked himself up.

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Burrell was at home in May when Casey Schmitt, a Giants infielder he worked with the last few years in the minors, hit a homer in his major league debut. The camera panned to Schmitt’s family in the stands. Everyone was losing their minds, Burrell said.

“I’m sitting here on the couch and my wife says, ‘You’re crying,’” Burrell said. “‘I don’t see you do this.’ I said, ‘Somehow, I’m putting myself in their shoes. I get it.’ I was very emotional about that. That was new to me. I guess I just didn’t realize how much of an impact that would have on me to see someone go through the process and fulfill their dream.”

The night Burrell spent in that hotel room gave his family enough time to get to Houston for his major league debut. They were on TV, just like Schmitt’s family, when he got his first hit. It’s a moment they talk about often.

“We were on this ride together and they had all been with me through the prior 20-some years,” Burrell said. “This game, if you sign up for it, it takes a village. Everyone plays a part. The ride itself is the fun part.”

He was on that TV that night for the first time. And now Burrell finds joy in helping others get their chance on the screen. Five years ago, he changed his life — “There’s actually a whole world out there of things to do and you don’t feel like crap,” Burrell said — and he found his place in baseball, again.

“My life is a lot different,” Burrell said. “I don’t think I’d go back and change anything, but I don’t think I’d do it all over again.”