Quote:
Originally Posted by TribeFanInNC
Wow, a catcher with 3000 hits! I missed that the first time through. Was he always a catcher?
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Henry Harris was the Portland Beavers' second-round pick in this association's inaugural draft in 1920, the 37th player chosen overall. His primary position has always been catcher; however, he's occasionally played first base in an attempt to keep his bat in the lineup.
In the mid-1920s, the Beavers had
Melvin McFetridge, a tremendous defensive catcher with a strong arm and some pop in his bat. Harris played about 50 games a year at first for a couple of seasons; in fact, the Beavers would probably have been better off making him their full-time first baseman. They traded McFetridge to the Pirates in 1927, so Henry went back to catching 120-130 games a year.
McFetridge, incidentally, hit 227 homers during his career, and drove in over 100 runs four times for the Pirates. The player the Beavers got for him, pitcher
Kenny Woolley, went 34-42 for Portland and never posted an ERA lower than 5.00.
The Beavers also shifted Harris to first base to make room for a young catcher named
Josh Gibson. You might remember when Harris was traded to the Reds, in 1934. The Beavers got
Mike Christensen, a .300-hitting first baseman, in return.
Harris is one of a group of four or five catchers who have been truly outstanding hitters.
Tim Stephens hit .332 over a 14-year career, mostly with the Oaks.
Mickey Cochrane of the Cardinals is still going strong at age 35. Gibson, of course, is perhaps the most dangerous hitter in baseball. And young
Bob McBryde of the Senators has hit well over .300 in each of his first four big league seasons.