Chalmer Luman Harris (January 17, 1915 – November 11, 1996) was an American right-handed

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, and scout 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), ...

. Born in New Castle, Alabama, Harris began his playing career with the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

in 1937. His

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

that season was Paul Richards, who in 1938 became Atlanta's player-manager. Richards and Harris would form a decades-long association in baseball at the minor and Major League levels.

Playing career

The , Harris compiled a 35–63 record with a 4.16

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 numbe ...

in 151

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

games with the Philadelphia Athletics (1941–1944 and 1946) and Washington Senators (1947). He missed the 1945 season while serving in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the Pacific Theater of Operations during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. As a big leaguer, Harris allowed 874 hits and 265 bases on balls in 820 innings pitched and 151 games, with 232 strikeouts. He pitched at the Triple-A level during his last three active seasons in pro ball. The remainder of Harris' Major League career would be spent working in tandem with Richards, initially as a coach with 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 ...

(1951–1954),

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1955–1961) and

Houston Colt .45s 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 s ...

(1962–1964). In each case he worked under Richards, who was either his manager,

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, or (in Baltimore from 1955 to 1958) both. Despite his playing background, Harris was never a pitching coach; he usually served as a third-base coach.

Manager of Astros and Braves

Harris' first managerial experience came late in the season. On August 30, Richards stepped down as skipper of the Orioles to become the general manager of the expansion Colt .45s, and Harris took command as interim pilot on September 1. He led them to 17 wins in 27 games (.630), as Baltimore finished third in the

. After the season, however, Harris rejoined Richards in Houston as a coach, while

Billy Hitchcock William Clyde Hitchcock (July 31, 1916 – April 9, 2006) was an American professional baseball infielder, coach, manager and scout. In Major League Baseball ( MLB), he was primarily a third baseman, second baseman and shortstop who appeared i ...

took over as Baltimore's permanent skipper for . Harris served for almost three full seasons as a Colt .45 coach under

Harry Craft Harry Francis Craft (April 19, 1915 – August 3, 1995) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. Born in Ellisville, Mississippi, he was a center fielder for the Cincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1942. Craft attended Mississippi Colleg ...

, until September 19, 1964, when Richards promoted him to manager. In , Harris helmed the re-christened Houston Astros, serving for the team's debut season in the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

. But the 1965 Astros went only 65–97 to finish ninth in the ten-team

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 ...

and, at the end of the year, Richards was fired and Harris was replaced by Grady Hatton as the Astros' pilot. Harris then served as a Houston scout in . In August 1966, Richards returned to the major leagues as the vice president for baseball operations (in effect, general manager) of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. After that season, Harris rejoined his old boss in 1967 as skipper of the Richmond Braves, Atlanta's Triple-A

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

. Then, from to the middle of the season, Harris managed the big-league Braves (ironically, succeeding Hitchcock). Harris led Atlanta to 93 victories and the first

National League West Division The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

championship in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

—an expansion year when both the National and American leagues grew to 12 teams and adopted divisional play for the first time. It was the franchise's first postseason berth since losing the

1958 World Series The 1958 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1958 season. The 55th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion New York Yankees and the National League champion Milwaukee Braves. ...

as the Milwaukee Braves; however, Harris' squad lost the

1969 National League Championship Series The 1969 National League Championship Series was a best-of-five match-up between the East Division champion New York Mets and the West Division champion Atlanta Braves. In what was the first ever NLCS, the Mets defeated the Braves three games to ...

to the eventual world champion

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 three straight games. When the Braves slumped in ensuing years, Richards was fired during the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

season, on June 1; slightly more than two months later, on August 6, Harris was replaced as manager by former Braves'

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 ...

Eddie Mathews Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played 17 seasons for Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967– ...

. Harris' final managerial record was 466–488 ( .488). Harris died due to ill effects of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

at age 81 in

Pell City, Alabama Pell City is a city in and one of the county seats of St. Clair County, Alabama, United States, other seat being Ashville. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,939. At the 2010 census, the city-limit population jumped to 12,695. It was ho ...

.Ex-Braves manager Harris dies at 81
/ref> He is buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery.

Managerial record

References

External links

Baseball-Reference.com
– career managing record and playing statistics * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Lum 1915 births 1996 deaths Atlanta Braves managers Atlanta Crackers players Baltimore Orioles coaches Baltimore Orioles managers Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from Alabama Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama) Burials in Alabama Caribbean Series managers Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chicago White Sox coaches Deaths from diabetes Houston Astros managers Houston Astros scouts Houston Colt .45s coaches Houston Colt .45s managers Jersey City Giants players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball third base coaches Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Minor league baseball managers People from Jefferson County, Alabama People from Pell City, Alabama Philadelphia Athletics players Senadores de San Juan players United States Navy personnel of World War II Washington Senators (1901–1960) players