In his latest Historical Abstract Bill James quotes two stories about diving into a river to save young kids. At least one of those is made up or maybe the true story is a combination of both. He also said Burkett had a bet of a temper.
Bill James in the same article said Burkett never drank, smoked or chewed tobacco but didn’t couldn’t take a joke. That was how sometimes he would lose his temper. Burkett had a lifetime .334 average and got on base via the walk a lot for his era. He wasn’t really a great power hitter. Burkett apparently was an excellent bunter.
After playing in the majors, he “retired” when he started to fade. He bought a minor league team. Moved It to the town he and his family lived in. He managed and played for the team. He won the league batting title the first year and guided to the team to the first of four consecutive titles. Maybe they could make that into a movie.
Some information towards the end of this article I picked up from the SABR biography of Jesse Burkett.
