Where are they now? Former Texas Rangers & MLB All-Star is still bowling
When a pro athlete retires they usually run to the golf course, or “throw in” to catch a bass at the nearest lake, seldom do they make a beeline to the neighborhood bowling alley.
One odd detail to former Rangers All-Star pitcher John Burkett’s career that stood out remains so is his ability to bowl. Burkett could have made a killing as a bowler, but baseball and his 15-year Major League career “got in the way.” Burkett retired from baseball in 2003, but more than 20 years later he’s still an awesome bowler.
“I wouldn’t want to pick one or the other, because they’re different,” Burkett said in a recent interview with the Star-Telegram. “There is nothing like pitching in a stadium with 50,000 people. That is pretty cool, right?
“But bowling? The pressure is the same. And I’m just kind of a junkie for that. I love that blood flow, and the nervousness that comes with it.”
This year, the Rangers are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1996 team that won the American League West, and was the first to reach the playoffs. Burkett was acquired during the season, and his win in Game 1 of the 1996 ALDS against the New York Yankees was the only victory by a Senators/Rangers pitcher in the franchise’s first 49 years of its existence.
Burkett now lives in Fort Worth, in full view of TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium. He does play golf, sometimes, but to scratch his competitive itch he prefers the lanes, and attempting to complete a different type of perfect game full of strikes.
(So many pun opportunities here).
He plays in tournaments all over the country, and was scheduled to play in the 17th PBA World Series of Bowling at Bowlero Brooklyn Park in Minneapolis this weekend.
In July 2025, Burkett won the PBA60 Roth Championship, his first tour title on the PBA60 (players 60 and older).
The following will be appreciated only people at least 55 and up: Burkett was introduced to the sport when he was a kid, when he watched it on TV, and the most famous person associated with bowling was the announcer, the late ABC sports commentator Chris Schenkel. Bowling used to be televised regularly on the main networks; you can still find it today, but it requires a little more effort.
“My dad bowled, so I have been doing it regularly since I was 8. It was weird, I played baseball and I bowled,” he said. “When I was a kid, I had to wait to bowl because I had to be 8 before I could be a junior bowler.”
An outstanding athlete, Burkett took to bowling immediately, and he remained active in it, including when he was a starting pitching in the major leagues. He retired from baseball in 2003, after spending the final two years of his career with the Boston Red Sox.
Today, Burkett, 61, is in his 11th season as a professional bowler. He’s been ranked in the top 20 at various points in these 11 years.
“It’s going really well, and I am having a lot of fun with it,” he said. “I think I can keep doing this for a little while longer. I know some guys who are close to 70 and playing. From what I have heard, when you get to your mid to late 60s you start losing ball speed, which is the important thing.”
As a former big league player turned exceptional bowler, Burkett is not one of one. But he’s close. Some players talked about making the jump, but no one actually did it.
“There were a few who planned to be bowlers - guys like (former pitcher) Tom Candiotti - but they never did it,” Burkett said. “I always told everybody, ‘Hey, let’s set up a match and we can go paycheck for paycheck.’ That would have been fun to watch, right? I’m pretty confident I’d be having my paycheck and theirs.”
The one exception may be Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Mookie Betts.
Betts has competed in the PBA, and has rolled the perfect 300 game. Last year he bought his first PBA franchise.
“He is really, really good,” Burkett said. “He grew up like me in that he played the game his entire life. And he’s an exceptional athlete.”
Betts still has a few years left on his career, but when he does retire he will join Burkett on the unworn path from the Major Leagues not to the links but to the lanes.
