William Thomas Harris (December 3, 1931 – May 28, 2011) was a Canadian

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

teams. Listed at , , Harris batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Born in

Duguayville, New Brunswick Duguayville is a community in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It is situated in Saint-Isidore Parish, a parish of Gloucester County. History Notable people See also *List of communities in New Brunswick This is a list of commu ...

, he attended Dorchester School. Harris appeared in only two Major League Baseball games with the National League Dodgers – a losing

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in 1957 and a

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

appearance against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in 1959. About his Major League Baseball debut, Harris said, "It was at Shibe Park against the Phillies and I did O.K. but lost 3–2. I was pinch-hit for in the seventh inning and

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

came on in relief.

Roy Campanella Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering the minor lea ...

was the catcher and it turned out to be his last game".Baseball Players of the 1950s In addition, Harris pitched in 14

Minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

seasons from 1951 through 1964, seven of them for the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

, a Triple-A affiliate of the Dodgers. Harris' most productive season came in 1952, when he posted a 25–6 record with a minuscule 0.83

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 12

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s in 294

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

of work. Harris marveled at the talent that was around him in Montreal. "I think we had a team in Montreal that would beat most of the major league teams.

Sparky Anderson George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third t ...

was my second baseman. We also had Rocky Nelson (1B),

John Roseboro John Junior Roseboro (May 13, 1933 – August 16, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1957 until 1970, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A four ...

(C), George Shuba (OF),

Dick Williams Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1 ...

(OF) and

Chico Fernández Humberto "Chico" Fernández Pérez (March 2, 1932 – June 11, 2016) was a Cuban professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball ( MLB) with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets from ...

(SS). Those were some great names", he explained. Besides this, Harris went 14–10 with a 3.09 ERA for the Royals in 1958, helping them to clinch the International League pennant. Overall, Harris registered a 170–131 and a 3.39 ERA in 431 career appearances (300 starts), including one

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

and two one hitters, while pitching 2,461 innings. Harris also pitched six seasons in winter ball, in both

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

(2) and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

(4), playing for two of those years in the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

. In 2008, Harris gained induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ontario. Harris was a long-time resident of

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima R ...

, where he owned the popular tavern ''Billy's Bullpen'' for many years. Harris died at his home in Kennewick, at the age of 79, after suffering bleeding ulcers.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Bill 1931 births 2011 deaths Baseball people from New Brunswick New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball pitchers Brooklyn Dodgers players Los Angeles Dodgers players Fort Worth Cats players Miami Sun Sox players Mobile Bears players Montreal Royals players Spokane Indians players Tri-City Angels players Tri-City Atoms players Tri-City Braves players Valdosta Dodgers players Major League Baseball players from Canada People from Kennewick, Washington Canadian expatriate baseball players in Panama Canadian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela