Lum Harris
| Lum Harris | |
|---|---|
 Harris with the Baltimore Orioles in 1955 | |
| Pitcher / Manager | |
| Born: January 17, 1915 New Castle, Alabama, U.S. | |
| Died: November 11, 1996 (aged 81) Pell City, Alabama, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 19, 1941, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 11, 1947, for the Washington Senators | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 35–63 |
| Earned run average | 4.16 |
| Strikeouts | 232 |
| Managerial record | 466–488 |
| Winning % | .488 |
| Teams | |
| |
Chalmer Luman Harris (January 17, 1915 – November 11, 1996) was an American right-handed pitcher, coach, manager, and scout in Major League Baseball.
Born in New Castle, Alabama, Harris began his playing career with the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association in 1937. His catcher that season was Paul Richards, who in 1938 became Atlanta's player-manager. Richards and Harris would form a decades-long association in baseball at the minor and Major League levels.
Playing career
The 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 185 lb (84 kg) Harris compiled a 35–63 record with a 4.16
The remainder of Harris' Major League career would be spent working in tandem with Richards, initially as a coach with the
Manager of Astros and Braves
Harris' first managerial experience came late in the 1961 season. On August 30, Richards stepped down as skipper of the Orioles to become the general manager of the expansion Colt .45s, and Harris took command as interim pilot on September 1. He led them to 17 wins in 27 games (.630), as Baltimore finished third in the American League. After the season, however, Harris rejoined Richards in Houston as a coach, while Billy Hitchcock took over as Baltimore's permanent skipper for 1962.
Harris served for almost three full seasons as a Colt .45 coach under Harry Craft, until September 19, 1964, when Richards promoted him to manager.[2] In 1965, Harris helmed the re-christened Houston Astros, serving for the team's debut season in the Astrodome. But the 1965 Astros went only 65–97 to finish ninth in the ten-team National League and, at the end of the year, Richards was fired, and Harris was replaced by Grady Hatton as the Astros' pilot. Harris then served as a Houston scout in 1966.
In August 1966, Richards returned to the major leagues as the vice president for baseball operations (in effect, general manager) of the
season, Harris managed the big-league Braves (ironically, succeeding Hitchcock).Harris led Atlanta to 93 victories and the first
Harris died due to ill effects of diabetes at age 81 in Pell City, Alabama.[4] He is buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery.
Managerial record
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| BAL | 1961 | 27 | 17 | 10 | .630 | 3rd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| BAL total | 27 | 17 | 10 | .630 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| HOU | 1964 | 13 | 5 | 8 | .385 | 9th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| HOU | 1965 | 162 | 65 | 97 | .401 | 9th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| HOU total | 175 | 70 | 105 | .400 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| ATL | 1968 | 162 | 81 | 81 | .500 | 5th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| ATL | 1969 | 162 | 93 | 69 | .574 | 1st in NL West | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost NLCS (NYM) |
| ATL | 1970 | 162 | 76 | 86 | .469 | 5th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| ATL | 1971 | 162 | 82 | 80 | .506 | 3rd in NL West | – | – | – | – |
| ATL | 1972 | 104 | 47 | 57 | .452 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| ATL total | 752 | 379 | 373 | .504 | 0 | 3 | .000 | |||
| Total | 954 | 466 | 488 | .488 | 0 | 3 | .000 | |||
References
External links
- Baseball-Reference.com – career managing record and playing statistics
- Lum Harris at Find a Grave
