The year was 2056. Bryan Harris had not played in the BBA since the 2048 season. "You know that minor league age limit thing they have now?", asked Harris. "It's a good thing for a dude like me. Heck, I was stuck playing for the frickin' Toledo Liberty for most of four seasons there. In Class A ball at the age of thirty-five, I tell you what."
Harris signed with the Las Vegas organization in 2056 with a promise to get regular playing time for their Triple-A club in MIlwaukee. "They told me I'd be just a call away," Harris recalled. "I knew I wasn't like first on the list, but if you're telling me there's a chance, then I'm down for it."
His chance came late in September, after his Milwaukee Choppers were eliminated from the playoffs. He'd won the Clayton Chancey Glove Award that year, and the Hustlers wanted to bring him up for defense. "I was stoked," Harris said. "I was twenty-nine the last time I was in the BBA. Never did I think that at age thirty-seven I'd be back again."
Yet there he was. He even got into nine games, batting twenty-six times. Here's the amazing thing about it. In those twenty-six at-bats, Harris posted a 0.9 WAR- the highest of any BBA season he's had before or since.
"It was pretty amazing, I just was hitting like I'd never hit before," recalls Harris. "I really have to thank the Hustlers for giving me that chance. I've made over four million dollars since then. I've never hit like that again, though."
Vancouver's Aaron Wharram, the wunderkind General Manager, reached out to Hustlers' GM Matt Rectenwald after Rectenwald had made comments about looking for a backup catcher. The talks were brisk and fruitful. It went like this:
Off Topic
Wharram: You want Harris? For a dollar?
Rectenwald: Yes, please.
Wharram: Ok, you post!
Rectenwald: Thanks!
Rectenwald: Yes, please.
Wharram: Ok, you post!
Rectenwald: Thanks!