Mets "Catch" A Break By Signing Willie Harris

Willie Harris. The name alone is enough to make Mets fans sick to their stomachs. For years, he has been a constant thorn in the Mets' collective sides. Whether making a highlight reel catch in a late inning pressure situation or delivering a key base hit, Harris has been directly responsible for a number of Met losses since 2007.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we announce that Willie Harris will not be making any rally-killing catches or producing timely hits against the Mets in 2011. No, he did not retire from baseball to walk the Earth (you know, like Caine in Kung Fu). Willie Harris is now property of the New York Mets.

According to ESPNNewYork.com, the man who played the outfield against the Mets like a modern-day Garry Maddox, will now be doing so for his former enemies. Willie Harris has signed a minor league deal with the Mets and will be invited to Spring Training. He is a clear favorite to become the club's fourth outfielder, providing excellent defense and versatility not seen in the Mets' outfield since the days of Endy Chavez at Shea Stadium.

Harris first became a nemesis to the Mets in 2007, when as a member of the Atlanta Braves, he robbed Carlos Delgado of a potential game-tying home run in the ninth inning. The catch allowed the Braves to hold on to the lead in a game they eventually won 7-6. It was one of many "what might have been" games for the Mets in their infamous 2007 season.

The following season, Harris was a member of the Washington Nationals when he arrived at Shea Stadium for an afternoon tilt against the Mets. Mike Pelfrey carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but the Mets were putting up zeroes on the board as well.

Washington scored a run in the eighth inning to go up 1-0, which was the score when the Mets came up to bat in the ninth inning. After Carlos Beltran led off the inning with a single, Ryan Church sliced a ball down the left field line that had extra-base hit written all over it. Of course, left field is Willie Harris territory, and he made the spectacular diving catch to preserve the Nats' victory.


The fielding trifecta was made complete this past season, as Willie Harris brought his defensive skills over from Shea Stadium to Citi Field. On April 10, the Mets were rallying against the Nationals. They were down 4-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and had the bases loaded for April übermensch Rod Barajas. The Mets' catcher lined a ball to left field that looked like a game-winning base hit.

Um, no. I'll let the photo below describe what happened.


Despite the fact that Willie Harris is a career .159 batter against the Mets, he doesn't just put on his Mets-killer shoes on defense. On July 3, 2010, he helped defeat the Mets with the bat as well.

The Mets were ahead 5-3 going to the bottom of the ninth inning at Nationals Park. Francisco Rodriguez (in his pre-Frankie Knuckles days) was on the mound with one out and a runner on second base. Willie Harris came up to bat as the tying run.

No, he didn't hit a homer (D'oh!), but he did smoke a line drive single to right. He later came around to score the tying run in a game the Mets eventually lost 6-5.


So now Willie Harris is a Met, and stands a good chance to win the fourth outfielder's job out of Spring Training. The staff at Studious Metsimus is torn about how to react to this news. We'll now have to cheer Harris when he takes the field for the Mets after years of hating the ground he walked on.

Harris is hated even more in the Studious Metsimus offices because of one particular fact. We were present for all four games mentioned above, including the game in Washington where his bat did the talking.

Will we attend any games at Citi Field this year when Harris makes a spectacular play? We sure hope so. After all, he owes us for four years of dashed hopes. Of course, with our luck he'll probably do something like this (see photos below) when we see him in person.



Willie Harris is now property of the New York Mets. Maybe he'll be Citi Field's version of Endy Chavez. At the very least, he won't be breaking our hearts (hopefully) in the ninth inning of ballgames.

Mr. Harris, we hope you brought your "Catch-22" glove with you to Flushing. If not, the same fans that booed you when you wore the uniforms of the Braves and Nationals will do the same when you're in orange and blue.