Burgess attended Tri High School in Caroleen, and played baseball under coach Forrest Hunt, who had been a catcher in the New York Yankees minor league system.

[5] When asked why Burgess was her only ball playing child, his mother explained it was because "Forrest couldn’t pick cotton like his brothers!

[4][11] At the beginning of the 1955 season, Burgess was once again traded for Andy Seminick and returned to Cincinnati, where he finally got the chance to play every day.

[14] In 1959, Burgess was traded along with Harvey Haddix and Don Hoak to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Frank Thomas, Whammy Douglas, Jim Pendleton and John Powers.

[17][4] By 1963, Jim Pagliaroni had taken over as the Pirates' starting catcher and in late 1964, Burgess was acquired by the Chicago White Sox, who were in the middle of a heated pennant race.

[7] In his first plate appearance with the White Sox, on September 15, against the Detroit Tigers, he hit a game-tying home run off pitcher Dave Wickersham.

[4] In 1966, he set a Major League record which still stands for the most games in a season (79) by a non-pitcher who did not score a run.

[33] Along with Curt Simmons, he was the last player to formally retire who had played in the major leagues in the 1940s[citation needed] (not counting Minnie Miñoso, who un-retired twice).

When his playing career ended, Burgess spent many years with the Atlanta Braves as a scout and minor league batting coach with the Pulaski Braves, in Pulaski, VA. Burgess was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, in 1975.

[36] On November 9, 2024, a statue of Burgess, completing his left-handed swing, was unveiled in his hometown of Forest City.