Mike Burns '76 led the Scots on the baseball field and went on to play professionally to ensure his place in Alma College athletic lore, becoming one of only a few to advance to the professional ranks.
For the Maroon and Cream, Burns remains among the MIAA leaders in single season strikeouts with 50 in 12 conference games in 1976.
In his first season with the Scots, he received Second Team All-MIAA honors and was an All-NAIA honoree. With the team in need of two wins at Kalamazoo College to win the MIAA Championship, Burns did his part by throwing a one-hit shutout to secure co-championship honors with Albion.
As a sophomore in 1974, he received honorable mention All-MIAA accolades, leading the team to an outright MIAA Championship. He went on as a junior to earn the team's pitching award, Second Team All-MIAA and All-NAIA recognition before being named a team captain in his senior season. That year he set a team record with 19 strikeouts in a single game.
However, his success did not stop there. In 1976, Burns was selected in the tenth round of the Amateur Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers. He was a member of the 1976 Florida State League Champion Lakeland Tigers. In 1977, he was a member of the Southern League Champion Montgomery Tigers.
For the month of April 1977, he was named Southern League Pitcher of the Month and the following spring he was traded with another player to the Boston Red Sox. Burns played a combined total of six years of professional baseball with the Tigers and the Red Sox.
After his professional aspirations were quenched, Burns played nine years of amateur baseball with Birmingham Lynch & Sons. During those nine years he won five state championships and made it to the championship game of the national tournament in 1987. He also had the privilege of being chosen to participate in an exhibition game against the U.S. Olympic Team in 1986.
Since then, Burns spent 7 years as an accountant/controller with Tier 1 Auto Supplies and is the vice president of finance with Great Lakes Entertainment, a position he has held for five years.
He and his wife, Gayla Burns, have a daughter, Lyndsay.
"My Alma College experience was truly a unique and enjoyable one," commented Burns. "There were no special perks or considerations given. First and foremost, I was a student. I went to class every day, studied and worked my schedule around baseball. I loved my four years at Alma. They provided a well-rounded education with plenty of student-teacher interaction. This helped prepare me for life beyond Alma because as a student-athlete, I was able to budget my time, interact with teammates, work as part of a team, and work with all different personalities."
