It was quite a day yesterday for Pittsburgh athletes named Harrison.
First, the bad news. Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison
was placed on the disabled list after suffering a broken bone in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch on Sunday. This is the same bone that was broken last August in the same manner and that ended Harrison's season. He is expected to be out from four to six weeks.
As I postulated in the space two days ago, the Pirates are a team that can ill afford to lose any of their starters for any length of time, but Harrison might - might - be the one guy whose loss would be felt the least. A combination of Adam Frazier and Sean Rodriguez will be the tandem that will be expected to pick up the slack in Harrison's absence.
To replace him on the roster, the Pirates recalled infielder Max Moroff from Indianapolis. Moroff spent time in Pittsburgh last season and accumulated 120 at bats. Overall, the numbers on the back of his baseball card (to use a Neal Huntington-ism) were not impressive, but as I wrote on The Grandstander last winter, his 2017 progressed in such a fashion that he at least becomes an intriguing guy to look at.
Of course, at this point, we have no idea who will get most of the playing time while Jay-Hey recovers. Frazier is no doubt first among equals here, but I'm okay if Moroff gets a legitimate shot at it.
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Meanwhile, down at the other end of General Robinson Street, former Steeler James Harrison announced his retirement from football.
A former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Harrison will go down as one of the all-time greatest Steelers, but his last year here didn't end well. He was released by the Steelers in December, and after that there was talk that he was disruptive, lackadaisical, and a bad teammate in his final season here. Plus, he incurred the wrath of irate Yinzer Steelers fans by signing with the Patriots after his release. I mean, who did he think he was, signing with the hated forces of Kraft-Belichick-Brady? Like he had a right to try to keep earning a living? (Some Steelers fans need to get over themselves.) As Art Rooney II said in his annual post season presser, sometimes the final acts of even the greatest players' careers don't often end well.
Be that as it may, as great a player as Harrison was, and he was great, he was not an easy guy to like. He had a penchant for borderline and, shall we say, questionable hits, that made you cringe sometimes (and cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines by the League). He was one of the guys that you like him when he plays for YOUR team, and you hate him when he plays for the Other Guys. There was also a domestic violence incident back in 2008 that the Steelers looked the other way on (not one of Dan Rooney's finest hours) that cast a shadow over Harrison in the minds of many.
Still, he will be remembered for perhaps the second greatest play in Steelers history, and probably the greatest single defensive play in Super Bowl history. His 100 yard interception return for a touchdown that was crucial in the Steelers Super Bowl XLIII win over the Cardinals. If you are a Steelers fan, you never get tired of watching it.
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