On Saturday, Mitch Harris became the first Naval Academy graduate since 1921 to play in a Major League Baseball game, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame and the academy itself. Many of the stories noting Harris’ achievement, or his initial call-up to the St. Louis Cardinals from the minors, gave a passing mention to his lone USNA predecessor: Nemo Gaines, who pitched in four games for the Washington Senators. Like Harris, Gaines pitched in relief. Unlike Harris, his time in the majors didn’t come after his time in active service: Gaines secured what amounted to extended leave to pitch in the…
Browsing: Mitch Harris
There are no sure things in baseball. But if your minor-league club has a leadership award, and it also has an Naval Academy graduate on the roster who is four years older than everybody else on the team, and he’s got an earned-run average under 1.00, well … To no one’s surprise, the State College (Pa.) Spikes honored Reserve Lt. Mitch Harris with the Spikes Leadership Award late last month, a few weeks before wrapping up their season with a 4-3 loss to the Tri-City ValleyCats in Game 3 of the best-of-3 New York-Penn League Championship Series. Harris, a reliever…
Navy Reserve Lt. Mitch Harris has finished his duty on ships. Now, it’s time for the bus. The 2008 Naval Academy graduate, a 13th-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, will begin his minor-league baseball career Monday as a relief pitcher with the State College (Pa.) Spikes, a short-season single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The 6-foot-4 right-hander will team up with players fresh out of college, eager to start their path to the majors in the New York-Penn League, riding the bus all over the Northeast, from Maryland to Vermont. At 28, he’s a few months older…
Ten quick hits’ worth of military-related sports news before Congress tries to make all the academy football teams wear the same uniform (non-football news after the jump): 1. Bobsled-bound? Option quarterbacks need to be versatile, but former Army signal-caller Trent Steelman is taking things to a new level. Already under contract with the Baltimore Ravens, Steelman’s now in the running for a spot on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team, according to Army football guru Sal Interdonato. Steelman’s father told Interdonato that the Army officer performed well in the U.S. Bobsled Combine recently and will be participating in further qualifying events…
A few academy-sports quick hits for a Wednesday afternoon: Army-Navy kickoff set. The Black Knights and Midshipmen will kick off at 3 p.m. Eastern on Dec. 8 at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, according to a CBS news release. Times for the other Navy games on that release aren’t typos — the Mids will play Notre Dame at 9 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 1 in Dublin, and they will face the Air Force Falcons at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on Oct. 6 in Colorado Springs, Colo. — that’s a 9:30 a.m. local start. Hat tip on the Army-Navy news to the Times…
Almost four years after getting drafted, former Naval Academy pitcher Mitch Harris is getting onto the field with the pros. Lt. j.g. Harris, who served as training officer aboard the guided-missile frigate Carr last year, is taking advantage of time between deployments to join the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor-leaguers at spring training. Harris, drafted in the 13th round in 2008, is hoping the Navy will give the OK to pitch in the minors this year. He has one year left on his service commitment. You can read more on Harris’ story here (for recent developments) and here (how things shook…
