I meant to make this thread earlier in the season as Harris was sent down today. He was drafted in 2008 from the US Naval Academy. He did his five years of service and then became a Cardinals minor leaguer. He has spent most of this season in the bigs, and has done pretty well. He was sent down because he has options and they wanted to add a bat to the bench.

Here's a nice story on him:

Academy grad makes history in MLB debut
http://www.navytimes.com/story/sports/2015/05/02/navy-naval-academy-st-louis-cardinals-baseball-mitch-harris/26636619/

quote:

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It had been nearly a century since a Naval Academy grad had pitched in a Major League Baseball game when Lt. Mitch Harris, a reserve surface warfare officer, took the mound April 25 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

There's usually only one answer when a 21 year-old baseball player is selected in the MLB draft: Yes, yes and yes.

Things were a bit more complicated for Harris, who had agreed to pay back his academy education with five years of fleet service. So he had to bide his time, trying to keep in shape on deployment with the amphibious transport dock Ponce and then the frigate Carr, while waiting for the Navy to decide if he could leave active duty early. He got his wish in 2012, just in time to join the Cardinals at spring training. Now a reservist assigned to Navy Reserve Southern Command in Miami, he got the call up April 20, and the rest is history.

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EDIT to add 2015 stats:

Bumping my own thread. Harris was called back up today... the 4th of July. Very appropriate! I've heard a few interviews with this guy, and he is a class act.