The first win is always special for a pitcher, but for Mitch Harris the victory is also historic as he becomes the first ever Naval graduate to win a Major League game.
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“They can’t take this one away from me, I’ve already got it in the locker,” smiled Harris. “I’ll probably put it away somewhere nice in the home. Always cherish the first one.”
Nemo Gaines, the only other Naval graduate to pitch in the big leagues, made four relief appearances in 1921 but did not earn a victory.
“Being that this is the dream that I’ve always wanted and the goal of this is to win, that means a lot–yeah,” said Harris, who did not have any extra celebration afterwards. “Just go about it normal for me. I don’t want this–because it is a little different, I know that my story’s a little different but I don’t want it to be anymore different than anybody else. To me, it’s just like anybody else–first win for me, I’m excited and we’ll celebrate later on when we do bigger things.”
The St. Louis Cardinals reliever threw a scoreless 6th inning against the Chicago Cubs as his team rallied with a pair of runs en route to a 7-4 victory.
It was the sixth consecutive scoreless appearance (6.2 innings) for Harris.
“For me, that’s how I’ve looked at it from the beginning,” said Harris. “What I wanted to be was a pitcher, everybody else looks at the story. I look at it on the field, that’s how I want to be remembered. But obviously, people are starting to realize now what I’ve realized is that I want to be a really good pitcher, a good teammate, and then the story will come later.”
photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
