Harrison Back In The Game

In 2005, it was his wrist. Last year, his quad. This season, Vince Harrison’s bat is getting the long-awaited workout it deserves. After a long hiatus from baseball the past two seasons due to injury, Harrison is enjoying his time back in the professional baseball world.

His time at the plate shows exactly that. It was like old times when he whacked a pair of doubles in the Mudcats’ 5-2 win in the series finale against Birmingham on Saturday. The mid-season call up to Carolina has been a welcome sight for the 27-year-old, hitting .311 in his first 17 games with the club.

“I knew he was going to come back in the zone, so I was aggressive,” Vince Harrison said of his second double of the game.

His main focus, however, is getting back to the basic benefit of playing baseball.

”I wanted to get back to having fun,” said Harrison, who spent part of 2006 in a leg brace that impaired his mobility and prevented him from driving a car. Despite his adversity, Harrison’s attitude is as healthy as ever.

“It was one of the hardest times of my life,” he said. “It’s humbled me and I have a greater appreciation for the game.”

He still feels some lingering effects from the injuries he’s obtained the past two seasons. After breaking his wrist during Spring Training in both years previous, some pain stays to serve as a reminder to Harrison, even though he won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.

“There’s still some arthritis in my wrist, but it’s strong enough for me to swing and throw,” said Harrison. “My quad is still swelling some.”

However, as his play shows, he still hasn’t surrendered his dream of making the big leagues one day.

“I just need to do what I’m doing now consistently,” he said. “I believe I can hit. I just need to do it at a consistent level.”

After being drafted by Florida in the 30th round of the 1998 entry draft, the two-sport-star opted to go to Kentucky on a football scholarship where he butted heads on the gridiron as a Wildcat for two seasons before to fully concentrating on baseball.

In 2001, he was drafted by Tampa Bay in the 13th round and 379th overall. His best year came in 2003 in single-A Charleston in the Texas Rangers system when he was a regular at third base and hit .275 with 19 home runs and 79 RBI.

After going two years without playing in a regular season game, he started out this year in Jupiter and hit .297 while driving in 13 runs in 22 games. Now in Carolina, he jumps between the field and being a designated hitter.

“I didn’t want to sell myself short this year,” said Harrison. “As for goals, I just wanted to have a good season.”

(Photos exclusively Copyright © 2007 Nikolaus Johnson Controlled Images)

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