Hilarious hits,
courtesy of Jose Burgos

By Joe Mason
For the Times

Jose Burgos has two very important roles, and both are equally significant.
The first job for the Frankford High School leftfielder is to keep the team loose. Burgos is one of many senior leaders on the Pioneers, but when it comes to being a funny guy and the team’s entertainment, he’s in a class of his own.
His other role also brings plenty of smiles to the faces of his teammates. And that’s to hit the ball hard and hit the ball far.
"I’ve always been a home-run hitter, my whole life I’ve always hit the ball pretty good," Burgos said. "I think some of it is my swing . . . I try to hit it with good form."
That explains the long ball.
What about the long laughs?
"I think I get that from my mom," Burgos said of Maria Gonzales. "She’s very funny and she’s always joking around with me. When I’m with the guys, I love baseball, so I’m always trying to find something to laugh about. I take the game really seriously, but you can focus on the game and still have a good time."
During Burgos’ season-ending appearance with the Pioneers last year, he wasn’t having a good time.
When the first batter of the game slammed the ball, Burgos tried to make a diving catch — it was, after all, Frankford’s Public League semifinal game against GAMP. Burgos didn’t make the catch. He dislocated a shoulder and was taken to the hospital.
Frankford went on to win the Public League championship. Burgos had to take it easy for the next three months while his arm healed.
A long three months.
"I play baseball all the time and this happened in June, so I was done for the summer," he said. "It was tough. It hurt a lot and I was worried, but I did all the stuff to make it better, and it’s perfect now."
This year, the Pioneers were a game away from perfection in the Public League A Division. Frankford won the first 13 games of the year, only to fall to GAMP, 8-7, in the regular-season finale on May 8.
Despite the loss, Frankford still finished tops in A-Division play and will meet Overbrook in the first round of the Public League AAAA playoffs on May 15.
A big reason for the Pioneers’ success this year was Burgos’ dingers.
"This year, I’d say his four home runs went about two-thousand feet," said Frankford coach Juan Namnun. "But he’s improved in every area. He’s a complete hitter now. He’s become very good at hitting the ball the other way and he’s very cool under pressure.
"We have four guys who lead the way," Namnun said. "(Edwin) ‘Tito’ Rohena and (Esteban) ‘Shortie’ Meletiche give us our swagger. Jonny Bracero is our quiet leader and Jose is our joker. He’s a big part of everything we’re doing here."
And while Burgos was a huge part of last year’s squad, his only contribution on the field after the championship game was helping to dump a jug of water on head coach Bob Peffle, who retired at the end of last year.
This year, as the Pioneers set out to defend their crown, Burgos wants to experience it from the field, not the bench.
"I’d love to win a championship," he said. "I think this team is good enough to beat anyone, but there’s a lot of good teams out there, so we have to play hard. We can’t take teams lightly because we won last year. Everyone wants to win; we have to want it as much as anyone."
Next year, Burgos will likely continue his baseball career at La Salle University. While helping to build the Explorers’ program, he’ll be working on building other things.
"I want to major in engineering, and I’d love to design houses," he said. "My whole life, I’ve liked building things, and La Salle has a reputation for engineering. I think that would be perfect for me." ••