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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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, ...

, who played in

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 ...

(MLB) for 15 years, 1981–1995. Harris pitched in 703 career games, starting 98. He pitched for eight different teams, including 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

when they lost the

1984 World Series The 1984 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1984 season. The 81st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Detroit Tigers and the Nationa ...

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

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 In baseball, a switch pitcher is an ambidexterity, ambidextrous pitcher who is able to pitch with either the right or left hand from the pitcher's mound. Switch pitchers are rare at higher levels of competition, with Pat Venditte being the only p ...

to pitch in a major-league game in the modern era. Harris also was unusual in that, for periods during 1991–1993 while 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, he achieved success while throwing

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

s almost exclusively.

Early career

Harris 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 high school in the Los Alamitos Uni ...

and then

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California, United States. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus (LAC) in Lakewood Village and the Trades, Technology, an ...

. He was selected by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

in the 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 () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

. In the ninth inning, Harris retired

Reggie Sanders Reginald Laverne Sanders (born December 1, 1967) is an American 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 ...

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 a ten year stint with the Cincinnati Reds. From until 2016, he was the direc ...

and Ed Taubensee, 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 an American former professional baseball second baseman who is a hitting coach for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). During his career, Boone was a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glo ...

to end the inning. Harris's glove, which was custom built by

Mizuno () is a Japanese sports equipment and sportswear company, founded in Osaka in 1906 by Rihachi Mizuno. Today, Mizuno is a global corporation which makes a wide variety of sports equipment and sportswear for table tennis, boxing, badminton, gol ...

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 a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...

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

in the 17th round of the

2013 MLB Draft The 2013 Major League Baseball 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 reverse order of t ...

and was traded to the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

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

References

External links

Box score
from Harris' ambidextrous game, Sept. 28, 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Greg A. 1955 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada 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 Los Alamitos High School alumni Baseball players from Lynwood, California 20th-century American sportsmen

Early career

Switch pitcher

Personal life

See also

References

External links