Alonzo Harris (born September 17, 1947) is a former
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), ...
player
Player may refer to:
Role or adjective
* Player (game), a participant in a game or sport
** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games
** Athlete, a player in sports
** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...
for the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
just at the beginning of the season (April 13-April 27). He had been signed by the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
as an amateur free agent before the 1966 season, then drafted by the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
from the Orioles in the 1966 first-year draft (November 28, 1966) after attending
John C. Fremont High School in South Los Angeles, CA.
During his one season in the Oriole farm system, Harris played a total of 97 games for three teams in the lower minors and hit a combined .287 (95-for 331). While playing for the
Bluefield Orioles Bluefield may refer to:
*Bluefield, Virginia, US
*Bluefield, West Virginia, US
*Nvidia BlueField, a line of computer hardware
See also
*Bluefields
Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, South Caribbean Autonomo ...
, the speedy
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
led the
Appalachian League
The Appalachian League is a collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wood bats, its season runs from ...
with 34
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
s in just 58 games.
Harris began the 1967 season with the Houston club, and at the age of 19 was the sixth-youngest player to appear in a
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
game that season. During his short time with the Astros, he was used as a
pinch runner
In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...
five times and as a
pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...
one time, and never got a chance to play on defense. In his only
major league at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
, he struck out against
Mel Queen of the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
.
From May 26 through the end of the season he was in the
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
, and never again played in a big league game.
Trivia
*One other player made his
major league debut
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), ...
on the same day as Harris:
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 ...
Tom Seaver
George Thomas Seaver (November 17, 1944 – August 31, 2020), nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets, Cinc ...
(April 13, 1967).
References
*1968 Baseball Register published by
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
External links
Retrosheet
1947 births
Living people
Major League Baseball outfielders
Baseball players from Alabama
Houston Astros players
Sportspeople from Selma, Alabama
John C. Fremont High School alumni
African-American baseball players
Bakersfield Dodgers players
Batavia Trojans players
Bluefield Orioles players
Cocoa Astros players
Columbus Astros players
Elmira Pioneers players
Florida Instructional League Orioles players
Florida Instructional League Phillies players
Florida Instructional League Astros/Senators players
Greensboro Patriots players
Peninsula Astros players
Raleigh-Durham Triangles players
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