CHARLES “CHARLIE” BURDGE (Athlete, Charter Class of 1998, Posthumous)

Charlie Burdge, best known to many as a very successful Warren High School coach, was a member of the school’s first championship team (1929 Class B Basketball) and a Providence College pitcher who never lost a game.

As a member of that 1929 Class B title squad, he was named an All State guard.  Moving on to Providence College, he starred in both football and baseball.

As a tackle for the Friars, he was subsequently named to the school’s Mal Brown All-Time All Stars.

In baseball Charlie was a pitcher for Providence’s Eastern Collegiate Champions in 1932, and, as noted above, never lost a game during his career from 1932 to 1934.

He was a leading hurler for his home town in the Warren versus Bristol Baseball Little World Series from 1929 to 1935.  In the Warren Twilight League he was a member of the championship Narries in 1931.  And during the 1930s in football he starred as an offensive and defensive tackle for the Providence Steam Roller, the Warren Townies, and the Warren Wanderers. 

In 1935 he was appointed the freshman football coach at his alma mater, and a year later began his tenure as Warren High School’s head baseball and football coach and athletic director.  He coached Class C Championship elevens in 1936 and 1956 and led his baseball teams to five class championships in addition to state titles in 1939 and 1946.  His 1939 championship squad was the first Class C team to win a Rhode Island title in any sport.

He served as Warren Little League Baseball’s first player agent starting in 1952.

Charlie coached football until 1960; his baseball coaching and athletic director days ended with his retirement in 1969.  A charter member of the Rhode Island Football Coaches Hall of Fame, he was subsequently honored by the Umpires Association (Eddie Jansen Award) and the Providence Gridiron Club.

Having won the Bristol County Archery Championship while a youngster, he capped his athletic career by serving as the treasurer of the 1978 Knights of Columbus Bowling League.

(In 1935 he was given a tryout by the Boston Braves despite having a “dead arm.”  After a frustrating day of pitching batting practice, he roared into the locker room and tore through a set of swinging doors.  Behind him, as the doors swung back, he heard “oomph.”  Turning he was face-to-face with Babe Ruth, who was literally in the final days of his major league career.  Apologizing, he was happy to hear Babe say, “Don’t worry about it, Charlie.”  It was only later that he ruefully found out that Babe called everybody Charlie.)