Good morning y’all! I apologize ahead of time, but this might be a long one! I received a call about a year and a half ago from a nice gentleman named Chad Osborne- he said he was a writer, was doing some research on the 1971 Marion Mets of the Appalachian League, and wanted to know if I was the Jeff Natchez that had been a member of the 1971 Bristol Tigers- I told him, as far as I know, I’m the one and only Jeff Natchez! Chad then asked me if I remembered a hot August night that year when a Marion Mets pitcher named Clarence “Ed” Burgy had struck out 20 batters against my Bristol Tigers- I proceeded to tell Chad that I did NOT remember that night, and it would be highly unusual for a sports nut like me to forget being on the wrong end of a 20 strikeout game! We continued to talk for another 30 minutes, and then decided to end the conversation, as it was evident that both of us could talk sports all day long! After I got off the phone with Chad, I looked up Clarence “Ed” Burgy- Ed was a legend in the Ohio Valley, a three-sport star in Bellaire, Ohio who was drafted by the Mets in the 7th round in June 1971. Ed was a standout for the ’71 Marion Mets (93 Ks in 74 innings) and had a great year in ’72 for the Pompano Beach Mets in the Florida State League (14-9 with a 2.91 ERA)- this guy was on the fast track to the big leagues! I saw that he only pitched 3 games in 1973 for the Memphis Blues of the AA Texas League, and then his career came to an abrupt end! Obviously, Ed must have hurt his pitching arm, and they could not fix arms back then! It was still bothering me that I was not remembering this 20 strikeout game until I remembered I had to fly back to Michigan for a couple days to attend orientation at the University of Michigan- I was enrolled for the fall semester and the school required that you attend orientation- NO exceptions! So, this remarkable game by Ed Burgy must have happened while I was in Ann Arbor- now things were making more sense! I’m not saying I could not have been part of a game in which my team fanned twenty times (hell, the guy probably would have had 23 Ks if I had been playing that night!)- I’m just saying I would definitely have remembered it! So, I called Chad back all excited to tell him why I did not remember that memorable, hot, sweaty August night in 1971 when Clarence “Ed” Burgy mowed down the Bristol Tigers, striking out 20 in the process! Chad and I had another nice conversation, and I mentioned that it was too bad that Ed had suffered a career-ending injury to his arm, when he was on his way to THE SHOW! Chad then told me that nothing could be further from the truth, that Ed had just told the Mets that “he decided to stop playing”, packed up his stuff, and returned to his hometown of Bellaire, OH!! Ed then worked in the coal mines, a steel mill, and for an asphalt company! Now, NO disrespect to any of those jobs (our country was built on the backs of coal miners and steel workers, etc.), but who would give up a chance to pitch in the big leagues to take on the long hours and the hard, back-breaking, dangerous work of those professions? ED BURGY, that’s who!! Ed must have thought that baseball was just not for him- all respect to him for having the guts to make that decision! But Ed, just remember I was NOT one of your 20 strikeouts on that legendary night in Marion, Virginia!