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

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for the

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

teams. Listed at , , Harris batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Born in Duguayville, New Brunswick, 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 * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

to the

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

in 1957 and a

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

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 a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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 (; né Braun; born December 30, 1935), nicknamed "the Left Arm of God", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 195 ...

came on in relief.

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

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 Nort ...

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 (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, 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 (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

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). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

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 from 1970 to 1978 and the American League's Detroit Ti ...

was my second baseman. We also had

Rocky Nelson Glenn Richard "Rocky" Nelson (November 18, 1924 – October 31, 2006) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball for all or parts of nine seasons between and for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh P ...

(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 George Thomas Shuba (December 13, 1924 – September 29, 2014) was an American professional baseball utility outfielder and left-handed pinch hitter in Major League Baseball who played seven seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His seven seasons inc ...

(OF),

Dick Williams Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager (baseball), manager, coach (baseball), coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball (MLB). Known especially as a hard-d ...

(OF) and

Chico Fernández Humberto "Chico" Fernández Pérez (March 2, 1932 – June 11, 2016) was a Cubans, Cuban professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillie ...

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

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

(2) and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

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

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series ( Spanish: ''Serie del Caribe'') is an annual club tournament contested by professional baseball teams in Latin America. It is organized by the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation. The series is normally played in ...

. In 2008, Harris gained induction into the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum () is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates the great players, teams, and events from Canadian baseball history. History The museum was founded in November 1982 in ...

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 ...

, 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 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Sportspeople from Kennewick, Washington Canadian expatriate baseball players in Panama Canadian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela