Al Lopez Ghost (old) Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 This is from Sunday's Southtown: Willie Harris feels trapped in a vicious cycle right now, and no matter how he has tried to get out of it, he can't. To get back into the everyday lineup, Harris needs to hit. When he gets a chance to play, he finds himself pressing to hit. When he presses, the hits don't come ahd he finds himself back on the bench. "I don't think they've given up on me" he said Saturday. "It's just that when I get in there it's hard on you, because when you do finally get in there, you've got all this pressure on you to get 3 hits to be in there that next day. "You can't really just concentrate on what you've got to do, and that's get on base. You're up there at the plate all tight, 'I've got to get a hit here, I've got to get a hit. I've got to have a great day just to play tomorrow.' I shouldn't have to feel like that. Nobody should," he added. "But it ain't about me, it's about us." A hot streak in April ensured Harris more playing time in May. He moved back and forth between 2nd base and cneter field - ahead of Opening Day starter Aaron Rowand - as long as he was swinging the bat well. Harris responded with a .384 average in May, as well as a career high 13 game hitting streak that carried into June. After that hitting streak ended, he began to struggle. Following Hariis' 0-for-4 performance against Florida on June 16, Guillen went back to Rowand in Center and Perez in the leadoff spot. Saturday's start for Harris was just his fifth in the last 16 games. "It's hard for me too" Guillen said of sitting Harris. "It's hard for me when I don't play these kids. He was my everyday player, but right now, with the way Perez is swing the bat and the way Perez is playing in the leadoff spot.... Right now it's a big thing to win. When you're in that position, it's hard for me to play everybody every day. I know it's not easy for (Harris) when you play once a week, "Guillen added. "He played pretty good for us. I think he played better than we thought." Inconsistency, Guillen said, was the determining factor in Harris' decline. "Willie was his own worst enemy," Guillen said. "He played well one day and then all of a sudden he doesn't have any confidence when he goes 0-for-4. When you play in the big leagues, you're going to have 0-for-4 a lot. He has to think about that." He is. That's part of the problem. "I don't know how you get out of it without being in there on a regular basis," said Harris, who went 1-for-3 on Saturday and is 4-for-40 over his last 14 games. "You just got to keep working, man. I don't know how you keep fresh. Take your flips, get extra bp, I don't know. You just got to roll with it. It's been rough as hell, but you still got to be a team player, still got to sit there and cheer on your teammates. At the same time, we're still winning and as a competitor you want to be a part of it. It's hard. But we're winning and everything is going well." "I'm not trying to figure it out anymore," Harris added. "Everybody is going to hit a wall, everybody is going to struggle. You just have to fight through that wall. You can't just give up on a guy because everybody is going to struggle." Despite his recent struggles, Harris is still batting .276 - a positive he holds on to. "It would be one thing if I had terrible numbers and I wasn't playing," Harris said. "Yeah, I'm going through a tough time right now, but my numbers aren't terrible. I know they can be a lot better, and now it's just time to figure out how to get that done." I think that when your average drops a hundred points in a month, you do have terrible numbers. I also think that guys like Rowand, Perez, and yes even Gload, stayed sharp at the plate with little playing time. I think Willie could spend his free time learning how to be a top flight bunter, which is currently nowhere near being. And a guy in the bigs because he can run, has to run when he gets on base. And those are the things that stand between Harris and a regular job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beck72 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 One thing I was worried about was Harris not lasting the entire season, tiring and fading late in the year. [kind of what Uribe is doing now with the everyday work that he's not accustomed to getting] With the time on the bench, he'll be fresh and ready for the the 2nd half. I think Willie will bounce back and play a huge role in the final months of the season. With his speed, and LH bat he can give the Sox what no other guy can offer them at the top of the lineup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxman352000 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Willie will bounce back soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beck72 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 I think that when your average drops a hundred points in a month, you do have terrible numbers. I also think that guys like Rowand, Perez, and yes even Gload, stayed sharp at the plate with little playing time. I think Willie could spend his free time learning how to be a top flight bunter, which is currently nowhere near being. And a guy in the bigs because he can run, has to run when he gets on base. And those are the things that stand between Harris and a regular job. One thing overlooked is the fact that Willie was playing out of position in CF. I give him a lot of props for hitting as well as he did for as long as he did while playing in CF. With Rowand hitting well, and Uribe coming back down to earth, don't write off Willie just yet. I think Willie will see a lot of playing time at 2B in the coming months. Uribe's avg. may drop even further. With the time off he's had to rest, Willie may provide the spark the Sox need come Aug, Sept. and into Oct. These summer months will take a toll on all players [young guys who haven't played this much before, and veterans who are getting up in age] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Good point about bunting. A guy with no power like Willie and a guy with his wheels sure could use some great bunting ability. Is he an acceptible bunter or horrid? He is so fast if he could plop bunts toward third he'd be in good shape. Those bunts lefties make toward second base usually suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 the problem with harris to me is possess all this speed but everytime he gets on first base he doesnt try and steal...with his speed he has to go everytime he gets on first...he shopuld have 25 sb's minumum right now...if he doesnt develop into a great base stealler..he's luis rivas at best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Willie looks totally overmatched right now. I don't know if it's a confidence thing or a rhythm thing. Everytime he comes up I expect him to strike out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Willie looks totally overmatched right now. I don't know if it's a confidence thing or a rhythm thing. Everytime he comes up I expect him to strike out. That last time Willie K'd was a ridiculous call. I don't know how acurate that "K Zone" is, but damn, that thing was 6 inches off the plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 That last time Willie K'd was a ridiculous call. I don't know how acurate that "K Zone" is, but damn, that thing was 6 inches off the plate. I don't even pay attention to that stupid K zone. Willie just looks awful right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confederate_48 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 I swear to god ive never seen anyone look go up there and watch more strikes go by him without swinging Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWSGuy406 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 I wonder what the correlation is between how our 1 and 2 hitters do in a game, and how many runs we score. That would really be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierSox Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Willie needs to learn how to bunt so he can get on base when hes in a slump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Lopez Ghost (old) Posted July 5, 2004 Author Share Posted July 5, 2004 4 for 44 and counting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 4 for 44. Wow. I thought Willie might start the season like this, but he was a pleasant surprise early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggio202 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 and uribe is in a 6 for 49 slump....so when buehrle harris and uribe came up 1 -2 -3 in the 6th i think it was , it was a pretty safe bet you were looking at a 3 up 3 down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 This is a legitimate concern, not Loaiza for gosh sake. I can't belive we have a thread on getting rid of Esteban when he's just been named an all star. If these two keep hitting like this, we got problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSoxShuf Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Teach him the swinging bunt, he should use his speed more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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