Lou Marson & Jason Donald Olympic bronze medalists
double bobble head.
Harman enjoys big league appetizer
Tony Zonca
By Tony Zonca
Phillies manager P. J. Forbes remembers the day he was called up to the big leagues as though it were yesterday.
He was with Triple-A Rochester of the Orioles organization, and his manager, Marv Foley, called him aside during batting practice, buried him with a hug, and told the 30-year-old Forbes to pack his bags -- he finally was heading to The Show.
Philadelphia catcher Chris Coste was 33 and a career minor leaguer of 11 years when he got the call from his manager, John Russell, while toiling for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2006 – and toting a .177 batting average at the time.
All Coste did was spark the Phillies down the stretch of an unlikely playoff sprint that ended just short of the prize.
In his book, “The 33-Year-Old Rookie,” Coste writes about calling his wife on the way to Citizens Bank Park and telling her: “You are not going to believe this. I just got traded.”
After getting the frantic reaction he expected, he literally screamed into his cell phone: “To the Phillies! We are going to the big leagues! I am a big leaguer!”
The moment was a little different, though no less exciting, for R-Phils second baseman
Brad Harman, a fifth-year pro and just 22 years old.
When Jimmy Rollins sprained his ankle, Harman, a member of the big club’s 40-man roster, allowed himself to think about a callup, but he quickly dismissed the notion and returned to the business of Double-A baseball.
After about a week, though, it was apparent Rollins was a no-go and the club placed him on the 15-day disabled list.
Forbes had the pleasant assignment of telling Harman he would be Rollins’ replacement.
“We were in Connecticut, and I went up to his room,” Forbes remembered. “There was the deer-in-the-headlights look, kinda like, ‘Are you messing with me or what?’ After that he got a big smile on his face. He’s such a good kid . . . you know, it’s fun (being the bearer of such good news).
“When you’re developing your own ( and watching them come up through the minor leagues it gives you a lot of pride, just to see the look on guys’ faces (when they get the ultimate news).”
Harman started two games for the big club and pinch hit in four others. He went 1-for-10 with an RBI double, struck out once and walked once. He also scored a run.
He faced the likes of Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb and Tim Lincecum, which has to prepare you for anything the
Eastern League throws at you, that’s for sure.
All in all, he had a ball.
“It was everything I thought it would be and more,” Harman said from the Reading dugout. “Basically, from a baseball standpoint and an off-the-field standpoint, it is the way you want to live your life if you’re playing baseball. Everything was taken care of – straight on the tarmac at the airport, straight on the plane. Plane lands, you get straight on a bus. It was easy going, no hassles.”
Harman said he felt like baseball royalty the whole time he was up there. He also recalled his first hit, in Pittsburgh, facing lefty Zach Duke.
He was making his first start after popping up in his only at-bat three days earlier in Colorado as a pinch hitter. It was his second at-bat, and Eric Bruntlettt was the runner at first base.
Looking for a first-pitch fastball, Harman got a fat one, squared it up and lined a shot into the gap in left-center for an RBI double.
“Yes, standing at second my heart was pounding a little bit,” Harman admitted. “It was a great feeling.”
His family was watching back in Australia, so his cell was brimming with messages when he got back in the clubhouse. And, yes, he got the ball that will always signify his first hit in the big leagues.
Harman tried to put the whole experience in perspective: “I have said I wasn’t nervous because it’s just baseball, but at the same time the reason you’re nervous is because you start thinking, ‘I’ve had this dream for so many years and now it’s finally here.’ Then you’ve got to tell yourself, ‘Yeah, I’m finally here, BUT it’s baseball.’ That’s the way I was able to calm my nerves down and go and play baseball.
“You experience every emotion possible. It made me search and recap my whole life – looking back on the training sessions and all that stuff that helped create the player you are, and it’s definitely the same old story; it made everything worthwhile.”
Of all the new experiences he encountered, the most difficult was a distinct assignment for him: pinch hitter.
“I learned how to become a bench player and pinch hitter,” said Harman, who was totally unaccustomed to such a role. “I have a lot more respect for guys who make a living up there pinch-hitting. It’s tough to sit on the bench and not play for four days and come in and pinch hit in the seventh inning. You have to know how to prepare yourself mentally, and that’s something I had never done before. I had no idea what to do. The biggest thing I learned was the mental approach to that sort of thing.”
Forbes came to bat just 17 times for the Orioles and Phillies in the bigs, but he made it there, and that’s something nobody can take away from him.
He once told told me: "I'm very proud, because everybody told me when I was coming up that I would never get out of A-ball. Just to know that I did it and it wasn't handed to me made me proud. I earned everything I got and that makes it much sweeter, regardless of how long it lasted."
Forbes is honored to be a member of a special fraternity of players who overcame daunting odds to play under the brightest of spotlights, guys such as Tommy Barrett, Dave
Doster, Kevin Sefcik, Tommy Marsh, Cliff Politte and Joe Millette – all of them former Phillies -- to name a few.
And, of course, their captain and the new patron saint of all aspiring low-round draft picks – Chris Coste, who went on to bat .328 in 65 games for Philadelphia his rookie year. And began the next season back in the bushes as his reward.
“Chris Coste is a great example.” Forbes said. “There’s almost another type of pride in telling a guy like Coste that he’s finally going to the big leagues, I’m sure. I always pull for those guys. Guys like Joey Hammond. You keep pulling for them.”
He’ll also pull for Brad Harman, because he’s one of his guys.
“Before this happened, your dream is you want to get to the big leagues,” Harman said. “You go up and you come back down and now I want to get there because of so many reasons. I want to get there because it’s everything you’ve been working for, and the dues you’ve paid in the minor leagues. You work your way up to it, and it’s the way you want to be treated; it’s just a whole different lifestyle. It’s what every kid wants, I guess, and now that I’ve been there it definitely makes me want to get back there.”
