Biography

Van Burkleo attended Canoga Park High School and Chatsworth High School. He signed a minor league contract for $30,000 with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981. He was released in 1984 and signed a contract with the Angels' minor league system. He was blocked by Wally Joyner for most of his first stint with the Angels. Van Burkleo's Angels contract was bought by the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1987. He was traded to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in 1991 for cash considerations. Upon returning to the United States for the 1992 season, he signed with the Angels again, then played for the Rockies for two seasons, and in 1996 returned to the Angels for his last playing season.

In 1997, he began his coaching career with the High Desert Mavericks, an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate. In 2001, he found himself working for the Angels again, as the minor league hitting coordinator. He left the Angels at the end of the 2006 season. For the 2007-2008 seasons, Van Burkleo was the hitting coach for the Oakland Athletics. In 2009, he was signed by the Mariners to be the bench coach to manager Don Wakamatsu. The following year, he was hired by the Astros to be the minor league hitting coordinator. On August 19, 2012, Van Burkleo was named the interim hitting coach for the Houston Astros. He was named hitting coach of the Cleveland Indians on October 31, 2012, beginning with the 2013 season.

Personal

He is married to Chris and has five children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]