Canadians baseball: Pulling the Mulerider out of obscurity

The smile that jumped to David Harris?s face suggested he had been asked the question a few dozen times before.

?What?s a Mulerider?? the Vancouver Canadians second baseman said, in reference to the moniker of Southern Arkansas University, the NCAA Div. II school where he tore the stitches off the baseball this past collegiate season.

?It?s like a horse/donkey. The logo is a horseshoe, with a mulerider and a cowboy or a cowgirl. It?s unique, it?s different.?

Southern Arkansas, as legend has it, took the name from a high-school football team in the area in the early 1900s that was said to ride mules to games.

The Magnolia, Ark., based squad took on Harris, 21, as a transfer for this past season, after he left an NCAA Div. I team, the Lamar Cardinals, due to a falling out with the coaching staff for the Beaumont, Tex., crew.

He finished up as one of 11 finalists for the Josh Willingham Award, which was presented by College Baseball Lineup to the most valuable player in the Div. II ranks, after leading that level in total bases (148). In 54 games, the senior hit .358, with 12 home runs and 65 runs batted in.

Big-league teams apparently felt his gaudy stats were helped along by the lesser competition level, though, as Harris lasted until the 36th round of the first-year player draft, where he was picked by the C?s parent club, the Toronto Blue Jays. He was the third Mulerider selected.

The C?s have their fill of players from big-ticket NCAA schools, ones with nicknames that common fans can spout off in seconds flat. Harris maintains that doesn?t affect him, that he won?t be phased by someone else?s resume as he tries to rise through the ranks.

?It?s an opportunity,? said the 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-handed hitter from Houston.

?You?ve got a chance, just like everyone else does.?

He?s making the most of his right now. Harris went 2-for-4 with a double in Wednesday afternoon?s 7-6 loss to the Everett AquaSox, upping his season average to .288 for 18 games, to go along with two home runs and 12 RBI.

In his first six games with Vancouver, he was hitting .105 (2-for-19). In his past 10 games, he?s batting .481 (13-for-27).

A little longer jump from the Div. II ranks at play? There?s an argument there.

?From when he first got here to now, he?s in a much better position to hit,? said C?s hitting coach Dave Pano. ?He?s got really good hands. All the hard work ? he?s one of the hardest-working guys we have ? is starting to pay off.

?He?s from a Div. II school, but he?s got tremendous athletic ability, and as a coach, that?s what you like. He?s athletic and he?s a sponge. Anything you tell him, he does it.?

sewen@theprovince.com

twitter.com/steveewen

Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F255/~3/Fk408tYHCPs/story.html

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