Boyd Gail Harris Jr. (October 15, 1931 – November 14, 2012) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who played for the

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and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

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), ...

(

MLB 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), ...

) during all or part of six seasons between and . In , Harris hit a career high 20

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s with the Tigers. Harris batted and threw left-handed and was listed as tall and .

Baseball career

Early life

Harris was born in

Abingdon, Virginia Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and f ...

, and was an athletic standout at now-defunct William King High School in Abingdon.

New York Giants

He signed with Giants at age 18 in 1950 and spent 5 seasons in their

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before making his debut on June 3, 1955. With

Whitey Lockman Carroll Walter "Whitey" Lockman (July 25, 1926 – March 17, 2009) was a left-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder, coach, manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball. Playing career Born in Lowell, North Carolina, Lockman ...

shifting to

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

, Harris became the Giants' starting first baseman for the rest of the season. But he batted only .232 in 79

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, and lost the starting job to future eight-time

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 ...

All-Star Bill White. Harris hit only .132 with the 1956 Giants and spent most of the season at Triple-A. In , the Giants' last season in

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, White entered the military and opened up a spot for Harris as the team's backup first baseman. On September 21, Harris hit the last homer by a New York Giants player, off Red Witt of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of t ...

, part of a four-

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...

, seven- RBI day.Gail Harris dies in Virginia at 81
/ref> He appeared 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 ...

in Giants' penultimate game at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

on September 28,

fouling out In basketball, a personal foul is a breach of the rules that concerns illegal personal contact with an opponent. It is the most common type of foul in basketball. A player fouls out on reaching a limit on personal fouls for the game and is disqual ...

in the eighth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

of a 1–0 defeat. For the season, Harris hit .240 with nine home runs in 90 games played. On January 28, 1958, he was traded by the relocated

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

to the Detroit Tigers with

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

Ozzie Virgil for third baseman

Jim Finigan James Leroy Finigan (August 19, 1928 – May 16, 1981) was an American professional baseball player and Major League infielder. Primarily a third baseman and second baseman, he played for the Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics (1954–1956) ...

and cash.

Detroit Tigers

The trade set up Harris' best MLB season. He began in a backup role to right-handed swinging

Ray Boone Raymond Otis Boone (July 27, 1923 – October 17, 2004) was an American professional baseball infielder and scout who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Primarily a third baseman and shortstop, he was a two-time American League All-Star ( an ...

. But in mid-June, with Harris hitting over .300, Detroit swapped Boone to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

and Harris became the Tigers' starting first baseman. Appearing in a career-high 134 games, starting 112 at first base, he established career bests in runs (63), hits (123),

extra-base hits In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire anot ...

(46, including his 20 homers),

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(82), and batting average (.278). But he could not sustain that production in . Mired in a horrible early-season slump (as were the Tigers, who lost 15 of their first 17 games), Harris was hitting as low as .149 on May 22. He didn't exceed the .200 mark until the last day of July

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The 1959 DET A regular-season batting log for Gail Harris
/ref> before finishing the year at .221 with only nine home runs. The following year,

Norm Cash Norman Dalton Cash (November 10, 1933 – October 11, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who spent almost his entire career with the Detroit Tigers. A power hitter, his 377 career home runs were the fourth most by an America ...

became the Tigers' everyday first baseman. After only eight games with Detroit, Harris was traded to 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 ...

on May 7 for

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 ...

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. He spent the rest of and all of 1961 at Triple-A before leaving pro baseball.

MLB career totals

In 437 career MLB games and 1,331

at bats 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 ...

, Harris hit .240 lifetime with 189 runs batted in. His 320 hits included 38 doubles, 15

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

and 51 home runs.

Retirement

Following Harris' baseball career, he worked in insurance sales. He lived in

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

, and his son, Mark, played in the minors briefly and was a minor league instructor for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

' organization. Mark Harris was the hitting coach for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

' Double-A affiliate, the

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League, and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who play their home games at FNB Field on City Island, which opened in 1987 a ...

, and was hitting coach for the 2014 Futures Game.

Death

Gail Harris died on November 14, 2012, in

Gainesville, Virginia Gainesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 17,287 in the 2020 census. History Gainesville was once a changing point for stagecoach horses on the Fauquier & Alexan ...

References

External links

Article on Gail Harris at Tricities.com

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Gail 1931 births 2012 deaths Baseball players from Virginia Detroit Tigers players Knoxville Smokies players Lenoir Red Sox players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball first basemen Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Nashville Vols players New York Giants (NL) players Omaha Dodgers players People from Manassas, Virginia Sportspeople from Prince William County, Virginia People from Washington County, Virginia St. Paul Saints (AA) players Sioux City Soos players