Vince Harrison

Vincent E. Harrison

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 225 lb.
• School University of Kentucky
• High School Princeton High School

• Born November 29, 1979 in Lexington, KY USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Minor league infielder Vince Harrison is the older brother of Josh Harrison, nephew of John Shelby and cousin of John Shelby III, Jeremy Shelby and JaVon Shelby.

The Florida Marlins picked him in the 30th round of the 1998 amateur draft out of high school but he opted for college. He hit .326 with 7 homers and 10 steals as a sophomore and .304 with 10 home runs and 10 swipes his junior year. He also played football at Kentucky. After chis junior year, he went in the 13th round of the 2001 amateur draft to the other Floridian team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He began his professional career with the Hudson Valley Renegades. He hit .305/.361/.381 and fielded .972 at 2B. He led New York-Penn League second basemen with 127 putouts. He split 2002 between Hudson Valley (.260/.367/.360 in 15 G), the Bakersfield Blaze (.250/.302/.319 in 32 G) and Charleston RiverDogs (.210/.290/.323 in 19 G). As Charleston's starting third baseman in 2003, he hit .275/.348/.449 with 19 home runs, 75 runs, 79 RBI and 16 steals (in 23 tries). He tied Chris Bass for 5th in the South Atlantic League in RBI and was 4th in dingers behind Jeff Salazar, Brad Eldred and Shaun Larkin. Defensively, his 226 assists paced SAL third basemen. He did not win All-Star honors at 3B, which went to Aarom Baldiris, who had less pop but a better average. Harrison also led Devil Rays minor leaguers in home runs.

In 2004, Vince split time between Bakersfield (.281/.399/.484 in 69 G) and the Montgomery Biscuits (.266/.372/.402 in 57 G), with a combined 16 homers and 69 walks. The Texas Rangers claimed him in the AAA phase of the 2004 Rule 5 draft but he missed all year with a broken hand. The Rangers let him go and the Boston Red Sox signed him in August. He again went in the AAA phase of the 2005 Rule 5 draft, chosen by the St. Louis Cardinals. A torn quadriceps muscle sidelined him for another year. Having lost two years, he went from a marginal prospect to being too old to be a prospect. He put his time off to good use, teaching and coaching at his old high school. One of the players he worked with was his brother Josh, then a senior.

The Kentucky alumnus signed with the Florida Marlins next. He split time between the Jupiter Hammerheads (.297/.329/.392 in 22 G) and Carolina Mudcats (.264/.333/.407 in 40 G) but again battled injuries and was let go. The New York Mets signed him and sent him to the Binghamton Mets; he batted .268/.343/.362 in 38 contests with them.

Going to the independent leagues, Harrison put up a .319/.387/.464 line for the 2008 Schaumburg Flyers with 25 doubles. He tied for 10th in the Northern League in doubles and just missed the top 10 in average. He bounced between three Northern League teams in 2009 - Schaumburg, the Joliet Jackhammers and Winnipeg Goldeyes, hitting a combined .322/.397/.478. He spent 2010 with Winnipeg (.268/.318/.370 in 99 G) and the York Revolution (17 for 47, 12 R in 10 G). With York for all of 2011, he hit .327/.377/.450 with 23 doubles and 61 RBI. He was second in the Atlantic League with 141 hits (behind Tommy Everidge) and was 4th in average (trailing Kraig Binick, Chris Nowak and Matt Esquival). He was named the Atlantic League All-Star third baseman. He then went 18 for 34 (.529) in the postseason as York won its second straight title; Harrison won postseason MVP honors.

In November 2011, he signed with his brother's organization, the Pittsburgh Pirates, as a minor league player-coach. It was expected that he would see little, if any, action as a player in 2012. To begin the season he was assigned as coach for the West Virginia Power.

The Arizona Diamondbacks hired Harrison in 2014 and he worked in their organization through 2022. Harrison was a hitting coach for the Missoula Osprey in 2014, Kane County Cougars in 2015, Visalia Rawhide in 2016-2017, and Jackson Generals in 2018. Harrison was promoted to manager in 2019 with Kane County and was scheduled to return there in 2020 before the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Harrison moved up a level in 2021-2022 as manager of the Hillsboro Hops.

Harrison moved to the Cincinnati Reds' organization as a coach for the Louisville Bats in 2023. The following year he returned to managing as leader of the Dayton Dragons.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2019	Kane County Cougars	Midwest League	81-58	2nd (t)	Arizona Diamondbacks	Lost in 1st Round
2021	Hillsboro Hops	High-A West	52-60	4th	Arizona Diamondbacks
2022	Hillsboro Hops	Northwest League	60-70	4th	Arizona Diamondbacks
2024	Dayton Dragons	Midwest League	74-58	3rd	Cincinnati Reds	Lost in 1st Round

Sources

• York Daily Record
• Another story in the York Daily Record
• Piratesprospects.com
• 2001-2011 Baseball Almanacs