Harrison: 'I’m excited for a fresh start'

LAKELAND, Fla. – Josh Harrison calls his deal with the Tigers a "fresh start," but he has a pretty good memory. So when asked if he wanted to apologize for breaking up Justin Verlander’s no-hit bid at Comerica Park seven years ago, he laughed and said he can’t change the past. But he recalled thinking he had a hit earlier in that game.

“You probably don’t remember, but I think it was my first at-bat, Don Kelly ran a ball down in center field that I hit decent,” Harrison said Sunday morning. “I had some good at-bats against [Verlander] all night, and I remember watching him in the seventh inning as I’m hitting in the cage. And I’m like, ‘Alright, his 94 [mph fastball] is turning into 98-99, like he saved it.’

“So I go up in the ninth inning like, ‘Get ready for the 98-99.’ And I think he threw me six straight sliders. I think I swung at the first two like – I don’t even want to say 58-footers, they were like 38-footers – and I was like, ‘Alright, he’s going to throw that fastball.’ And after a while, I just battled and slowed him down. I don’t even want to say the pitch he threw me was a strike, but it was close enough I was able to get a bat on it, and the rest was history.”

It’ll feel more distant than seven years if he steps to the plate against Verlander in the Old English D when the Astros visit Detroit in May. But rest assured that Harrison has an appreciation for the history of the Tigers franchise. His uncle, John Shelby, finished his Major League career with the Tigers in 1991. Harrison picked No. 1 for his jersey partly out of respect for former Detroit great Lou Whitaker.

“Sweet Lou -- a nickname like that says enough,” Harrison said, “but I knew what he meant to the organization. I grew up wearing No. 1, not specifically for Lou Whitaker. And my uncle played here, so I knew about Detroit. I remember playing a game on Sega called Sports Talk Baseball, and Detroit was actually one of my favorite teams: Mickey Tettleton, Cecil Fielder, Lou Whitaker, Tram [Alan Trammell]. I remember [Whitaker] being a second baseman who wore No. 1, and just being here, I thought it would be cool.”

It wasn’t necessarily where Harrison thought he’d end up when the offseason began. Though Tigers general manager Al Avila said they had interest since baseball’s Winter Meetings in December, Harrison wasn’t sure what to expect from the market. He did not think he would be working out at home in Cincinnati when Spring Training began earlier this month.

“I don’t want to say aggravating, just unexplainable,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sitting there thinking, ‘Oh man, Spring Training started.’ But I knew it was only a matter of time."

In the end, Harrison's knowledge of the Tigers from playing them every season, the relative proximity to Cincinnati, and the recruiting pitch from his longtime double-play partner Jordy Mercer helped push him toward the Tigers’ offer.

“We both have family in Detroit,” Harrison said, referring to himself and his wife. “It’s close to Cincinnati. And just weighing everything, it felt like the right fit. I knew they needed a second baseman. Me and Jordy work well up the middle. We were talking throughout the process.

“I just wanted to be somewhere that felt good to me, and I’d have an opportunity to help in any way that I can. The family and stuff is just a bonus. I had no idea where I was going to end up, but when this opportunity came it actually helped having two younger kids. Gotta experience something new, but I’m excited for a fresh start.”