Greg Allen Harris (born November 2, 1955) is an American former

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 ...

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 ...

, who played in

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) for 15 years (–), Harris pitched in 703 career games, starting 98. He pitched for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

in the 1984 World Series, which they lost to the

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 ...

in five games. Though he spent his career as a right-handed pitcher, Harris threw left-handed to two batters in a 1995 game (the penultimate game of his career), becoming the first switch pitcher to pitch in a Major League game in the modern era. Harris also was unusual in that, for periods during 1991–93 pitching for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, he achieved success while throwing curve balls almost exclusively.

Early career

Greg attended

Los Alamitos High School Los Alamitos High School (also known as Los Al) is a public school for grades 9 to 12 located in Los Alamitos, California, and also serving the city of Seal Beach and the community of Rossmoor. It is the only traditional high school in the Los ...

and then

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...

. He was selected by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in 7th round (130th overall) of the 1976 January Amateur Baseball Draft.

Switch pitcher

A natural right-hander, by 1986 Harris could throw well enough left-handed that he felt he could pitch with either hand in a game, but his team would not allow this, keeping him from being a legitimate ambidextrous major league pitcher. Harris wasn't allowed to throw lefty in a regular season game until September 28, 1995, his penultimate game with the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. In the ninth inning, Harris retired

Reggie Sanders Reginald Laverne Sanders (born December 1, 1967) is a former right fielder in Major League Baseball. He batted and threw right-handed. He played professionally with the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, S ...

pitching right-handed, then switched to his left hand for the next two hitters,

Hal Morris William Harold Morris III (born April 9, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman who played for several teams from 1988 to 2000, including an eight-year stint with the Cincinnati Reds. From until 2016, he was the di ...

and

Ed Taubensee Edward Kenneth Taubensee (born October 31, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball catcher. Taubensee played for three different ballclubs during his career: the Cleveland Indians (, ), Houston Astros (-), and Cincinnati Reds (-). He made his ...

, who both batted lefty. Harris walked Morris but got Taubensee to ground out. He then went back to his right hand to retire

Bret Boone Bret Robert Boone (born April 6, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During his career Boone was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He is a third generation professio ...

to end the inning. Harris's glove, which was custom built with an extra thumb so that it could be worn on either hand, is now on display at the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Personal life

His son, Greg Harris, Jr., was drafted by 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 ...

in the 17th round of the

2013 MLB Draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

and was traded to the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

in November 2014. During his career, Harris was often known as Greg A. Harris to differentiate him from fellow pitcher

Greg W. Harris Gregory Wade Harris (born December 1, 1963), is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1988 through 1995. Greg Harris was drafted by the San Diego Padres out of Elon University in the 10th round of ...

, whose career he overlapped.

References

External links

Greg Harris
at Ultimate Mets Database

from Harris' ambidextrous game, Sept. 28, 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Greg A. 1955 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from California Boston Red Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Indianapolis Indians players Jackson Mets players Lynchburg Mets players Maine Phillies players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Expos players New York Mets players New York Yankees players Ottawa Lynx players Philadelphia Phillies players San Diego Padres players Texas Rangers players Tidewater Tides players Long Beach City Vikings baseball players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players

Early career

Switch pitcher

Personal life

See also

References

External links