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

as an amateur free agent before the 1966 season, then drafted by the

from the Orioles in the 1966 first-year draft (November 28, 1966) after attending

John C. Fremont High School John C. Fremont High School is a Title 1 co-educational public high school located in South Los Angeles, California, United States. Fremont serves several Los Angeles neighborhoods and the unincorporated community of Florence-Graham; some sect ...

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, Nicaragua *Bluefields, Jamaica Bluefields is a settlement in Westmoreland Parish on the Cari ...

, 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 c ...

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 J ...

with 34 stolen bases 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 ...

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 subs ...

five times and as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...

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) requ ...

, 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 (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, who attempts to e ...

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 {{US-baseball-outfielder-1940s-stub