Born in Niles, Ohio, Burns was a line drive hitter and a solid defensive first baseman who hit .300 or better in all but one of his full seasons between 1918 and 1927.

During the season, after shortstop Ray Chapman died one day after being hit by a pitch, Burns had welcomed newly acquired Joe Sewell by giving him one of his own bats; Sewell went on to use the same bat, which he called "Black Betsy", throughout a 14-year career in which he struck out only 114 times.

[citation needed] After the 1921 season, in which he and Johnston again competed for playing time, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox, and batted .306 and .328 in 1922 and 1923, finishing second in the league in doubles the latter year.

He got the first hit ever in Yankee Stadium in 1923, and on September 14 of that year against the Indians, Burns turned an unassisted triple play – only the fourth in major league history (third by modern-era baseball rules), and the first by a first baseman.

The following January, he was traded back to the Indians – notably, in a deal which involved Bill Wambsganss, who had turned the only unassisted triple play in World Series history as Burns's teammate in 1920.

[1] Burns died in early 1978 at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland at age 84, and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Seattle.