Harris made mark as both player, manager

December 5th, 2021
Design by Tom Forget

Player: Vic Harris

Years: 1922-47 (as a player); 1936-42 and 1945-48 (as a manager)

Career stats (Note: Negro League stats below may be incomplete)

As a player: .307/.376/.432, 40 HR, 504 RBIs, 40 SB in 827 games

As a manager: 562-292 (.658), seven pennants and one World Series title in Negro Leagues

Bio: Born on June 10, 1905, in Alabama, Harris went on to become a dominant force as both a player and a manager for more than two decades in the Negro Leagues. Though he spent the majority of his career with the Homestead Grays, Harris also made appearances for at least six other clubs across various leagues: Pittsburgh Keystones, Cleveland Tate Stars, Cleveland Browns, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Wolves and Pittsburgh Crawfords.

Harris was a seven-time All-Star as a player, hitting .305 according to the limited data available, while also pacing the league in doubles and triples on various occasions. He spent 25 years playing in the Negro National League and Eastern League, including 20 for the Grays.

Harris also became the Grays' skipper in 1936, beginning an incredible run as a player/manager. He spent 12 years at the helm for Homestead, guiding the club to seven pennants and helping it win the final Negro Leagues World Series in 1948.

Best moment: Given he was one of the top hitters in the Negro Leagues, Harris' playing career undoubtedly had its share of highlights -- but it's hard to top the way his career ended. Though he had played his last game one year earlier, Harris capped his remarkable managerial career by leading the Grays past the Birmingham Black Barons -- a team led by 17-year-old Willie Mays -- in the World Series.

Notable number(s): It's hard to peg down Harris' exact numbers from his playing days, but there's little question he was among the league's best hitters. He routinely ranked among the leaders in double and triples en route to finishing with a career average above .300. Harris led the Negro Leagues in doubles in 1937, while pacing his peers in triples in both '38 and '40.

Though the data set is incomplete, Baseball-Reference has Harris with a 113 career OPS+ -- a testament to his hitting abilities compared to others during the same time period.

Of course, his seven pennants and one World Series title as a manager are quite impressive numbers in their own right.