View source for Gail Harris (baseball)

{{Short description|American baseball player (1931–2012)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Gail Harris
|image=Gail Harris (baseball).jpg
|position=[[First baseman]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1931|10|15}}
|birth_place=[[Abingdon, Virginia]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2012|11|14|1931|10|15}}
|death_place=[[Gainesville, Virginia]], U.S.
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=June 3
|debutyear=1955
|debutteam=New York Giants
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=May 30
|finalyear=1960
|finalteam=Detroit Tigers
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.240
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=51
|stat3label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=190
|teams=
* [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] ({{mlby|1955}}–{{mlby|1957}})
* [[Detroit Tigers]] ({{mlby|1958}}–{{mlby|1960}})
}}
'''Boyd Gail Harris Jr.''' (October 15, 1931 &ndash; November 14, 2012) was an American professional [[baseball]] [[first baseman]] who played for the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] and [[Detroit Tigers]] of [[Major League Baseball]] ([[MLB]]) during all or part of six seasons between {{mlby|1955}} and {{mlby|1960}}. In {{mlby|1958}}, Harris hit a career high 20 [[home run]]s with the Tigers. Harris batted and threw left-handed and was listed as {{convert|6|ft}} tall and {{convert|195|lb}}.

==Baseball career==
===Early life===
Harris was born in [[Abingdon, Virginia]], and was an athletic standout at now-defunct William King High School in Abingdon.

===New York Giants===
He signed with Giants at age 18 in 1950 and spent 5<small>{{fraction|1|2}}</small> seasons in their [[farm system]] before making his debut on June 3, 1955. With [[Whitey Lockman]] shifting to [[left fielder|left field]], Harris became the Giants' starting first baseman for the rest of the season. But he [[batting average (baseball)|batted]] only .232 in 79 [[games played]], and lost the {{mlby|1956}} starting job to future eight-time [[National League (baseball)|National League]] [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] [[Bill White (first baseman)|Bill White]]. Harris hit only .132 with the 1956 Giants and spent most of the season at [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]]. In {{mlby|1957}}, the Giants' last season in [[New York City]], White entered the military and opened up a spot for Harris as the team's backup first baseman. On September 21, Harris hit the last homer by a New York Giants player, off [[Red Witt]] of the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] at [[Forbes Field]], part of a four-[[hit (baseball)|hit]], seven-[[runs batted in|RBI]] day.<ref name="Gail Harris dies in Virginia at 81">[https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/8665158/gail-harris-dies-was-last-new-york-giant-hit-home-run Gail Harris dies in Virginia at 81]</ref><ref>[[Retrosheet]] [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1957/B09212PIT1957.htm box score (21 September 1957, game 2): "New York Giants 9, Pittsburgh Pirates 5"]</ref> He appeared as a [[pinch hitter]] in Giants' penultimate game at the [[Polo Grounds]] on September 28, [[foul out (baseball)|fouling out]] in the eighth [[inning (baseball)|inning]] of a 1–0 defeat.<ref>[[Retrosheet]] [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1957/B09280NY11957.htm box score (28 September 1957): "Pittsburgh Pirates 1, New York Giants 0"]</ref> For the season, Harris hit .240 with nine home runs in 90 games played. On January 28, 1958, he was traded by the relocated [[San Francisco Giants]] to the Detroit Tigers with [[third baseman]] [[Ozzie Virgil Sr.|Ozzie Virgil]] for third baseman [[Jim Finigan]] and cash.

===Detroit Tigers===
The trade set up Harris' best MLB season. He began {{mlby|1958}} in a backup role to right-handed swinging [[Ray Boone]]. But in mid-June, with Harris hitting over .300, Detroit swapped Boone to the [[Chicago White Sox]] and Harris became the Tigers' starting first baseman. Appearing in a career-high 134 games, starting 112 at first base, he established career bests in [[run (baseball)|runs]] (63), hits (123), [[extra-base hits]] (46, including his 20 homers), [[runs batted in]] (82), and batting average (.278).

But he could not sustain that production in {{mlby|1959}}. Mired in a horrible early-season slump (as were the Tigers, who lost 15 of their first 17 games), Harris was hitting as low as .149 on May 22. He didn't exceed the .200 mark until the last day of July<ref>[[Retrosheet]]: [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1959/Iharrg1010051959.htm The 1959 DET A regular-season batting log for Gail Harris]</ref> before finishing the year at .221 with only nine home runs. The following year, [[Norm Cash]] became the Tigers' everyday first baseman. After only eight games with Detroit, Harris was traded to the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] on May 7 for [[outfielder]] [[Sandy Amoros]]. He spent the rest of {{mlby|1960}} and all of 1961 at Triple-A before leaving pro baseball.

===MLB career totals===
In 437 career MLB games and 1,331 [[at bats]], Harris hit .240 lifetime with 189 runs batted in. His 320 hits included 38 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], 15 [[triple (baseball)|triples]] and 51 home runs.

==Retirement==
Following Harris' baseball career, he worked in insurance sales.<ref name="Gail Harris dies in Virginia at 81"/> He lived in [[Manassas, Virginia]], and his son, Mark, played in the minors briefly and was a minor league instructor for the [[Kansas City Royals]]' organization. Mark Harris was the hitting coach for the [[Washington Nationals]]' [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]]  affiliate, the [[Harrisburg Senators]], and was hitting coach for the 2014 Futures Game.

Mark is currently the hitting coach for the [[Washington Nationals]] [[High-A (baseball)|High-A]] affiliate, the [[Wilmington Blue Rocks]].

==Death==
Gail Harris died on November 14, 2012, in [[Gainesville, Virginia]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal |Biography|Baseball}}
{{Baseballstats | br=h/harriga01 | fangraphs=1005413 |brm=harris001boy}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Gail}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Prince William County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Detroit Tigers players]]
[[Category:Knoxville Smokies players]]
[[Category:Lenoir Red Sox players]]
[[Category:Leones del Caracas players]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball first basemen]]
[[Category:Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Nashville Vols players]]
[[Category:New York Giants (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Omaha Dodgers players]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Manassas, Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Washington County, Virginia]]
[[Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players]]
[[Category:Sioux City Soos players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]