(Awarded Posthumously) A third baseman, pitcher, and outfielder, Burbes was the lead-off hitter for Francis Howell High School from 1962 to 1964. In 1963, the Francis Howell baseball team made it to the Missouri State tournament for the first time in the school’s history. During the three years he played for Francis Howell, Burbes had 40 stolen bases, and he was never thrown out. Four years later, in 1968, he started teaching in the Francis Howell School District. He retired in June of 1998. During his 30 years at Francis Howell, he served as a teacher, coach, athletic director, district activities coordinator, interim superintendent of schools, and he concluded his career as the associate superintendent of schools.

Burbes was the head baseball coach at Francis Howell High School from 1970 to  1980. During those ten years, he won six conference championships, and three district championships. Three of his teams made it to the state quarter finals. Three of his players advanced to professional baseball. Burbes is in the Francis Howell Baseball Hall of Fame. He played 20 years in the Eastern Missouri Baseball Association and had a composite batting average of .340 with 120 home runs. He was on the Cottleville & Harvester team for 19 years, and the Flint Hill team for one year. His C&H team won the EMBA championship seven times.

In 1980 and 1981, he received the Eastern Missouri Baseball Association’s Most Valuable Player Award. He was selected to the EMBA all-star team six times. He had 12 consecutive years of stolen bases without being thrown out. Burbes was the manager of the C&H junior baseball team, and he also coached little league baseball in the New Melle area. In 1990, he helped organize the Daniel Boone American Legion
baseball program, and he coached the Daniel Boone American Legion team for three years.

In 2005, Burbes was inducted into the St. Charles County Amateur Sports Hall of Fame. Burbes died on March 10, 2020 at the age of 73.