At 31, Rookie Gets 1st Win

Jeff Harris pitched in minor and independent leagues from China to Mexico to Canada. He spent off-seasons doing construction jobs, just biding time until it was baseball season again.

Eleven years after being drafted, the 31-year-old Seattle Mariner right-hander has his first major league win.

Harris, recalled from triple-A Tacoma to make his second career start, limited the Texas Rangers to four singles and an unearned run over seven innings in the Mariners’ 8-2 victory on Thursday.

“This is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do,” Harris said. “I was just going to ride it out as long as I could. I always told myself I had the rest of my life to get a real job.”

Harris was drafted by Minnesota in 1995 and stayed there until he was released after the 2000 season. Next he played in Chico, Calif., before failing to make a team in Taiwan and trying international leagues.

“It was definitely worth every bit of it,” Harris said. “I wouldn’t change what it took to get here for anything.”

He had pitched in three games for Seattle in his first major league stint earlier this month, losing, 3-1, to the Chicago White Sox in a start Aug. 7. He then went back to Tacoma but returned to the majors when Seattle starter Gil Meche went on the disabled list last weekend.

“I think Jeff might get another start,” Manager Mike Hargrove said.