Brendan Harris

[William Malone]

Brendan Michael Harris was born on August 26, 1980 in Queensburry, New York.

The Chicago Cubs selected him in round five of the 2001 MLB Draft. He played just three games for them in 2004, before getting dealt to the Montreal Expos in a four team deal that helped the Cubs acquire superstar shortstop Nomar Garciaparra from the Boston Red Sox. Harris played just 41 games for the Expos/Washington Nationals between 2004 and 2006. He finished 2006 with the Cincinnati Reds.

Harris finally found regular playing time with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2007. He played in 137 games, hitting .286 with 12 home runs and 59 RBI. Tampa Bay traded him to the Minnesota Twins that off-season.

His first season in Minnesota was highlighted by a pair of home runs against baseball legends on back-to-back nights. Harris hit a tiebreaking home run against Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman of the San Diego Padres on June 24, 2008. This helped the Twins pull out a 3-1 win. He hit a go-ahead two run homer against Greg Maddux, who was in the final year of his legendary career. The damn burst after that, and Minnesota won 9-3. Harris finished the season hitting .265 with seven home runs and 49 RBI. He made 51 starts at shortstop, plus 37 at second base and 28 at third.

Harris continued on in his utility infield role during the 2009 season, hitting .261 with six home runs and 37 RBI. The mid-season acquisition of Orlando Cabrera took playing time away from him and his other utility counterparts, such as Nick Punto and Matt Tolbert. Harris came off the bench in the 2009 AL Central Tiebreaker Game, going 0-for-1 with a walk in their thrilling 12 inning win over the Detroit Tigers. He was 3-for-12 (.250) with a triple during the ALDS.

Minnesota added J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson in 2010, giving them full time players at two of the three spots Harris usually played. The emergence of rookie third baseman Danny Valeinca took even more potential at-bats away. With both Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla having better seasons as infield bench options, Harris was outrighted to Triple-A in late-June.

He spent 2011 and 2012 in the minor league system of various organizations, resurfacing at the Major League level with the Los Angeles Angels in 2013. Harris continued to play professionally through 2015.

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