[ifspuds]

(If Harold Perry's descendant is reading this, I'd love feedback and suggestions on how to portray him!)

Pirates Outfielder Making a Name For Himself
by Jack McKinley
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

One of the few bright spots in this ever-worsening season for the Pirates has been the steady play of rookie right fielder Harold Perry. Drafted with the 2nd overall pick in the 1947 draft, Perry demanded and received a signing bonus that some deemed exorbitant. Maybe he knew something the rest of us didn't. After just a single season at AAA, where he popped 23 homers and hit .310 with 103 walks and 16 stolen bases, it was clear Perry was on the fast track to the bigs.

After making a splash in his first two weeks, Perry cooled off through the rest of the early summer, hitting only 1 home run through May and June. But as the days heat up, so is Perry's bat. In the month of July, he put up numbers very similar to his AAA days, hitting .333 with 2 homers and drawing 14 walks to just 4 strikeouts. I sat down with Harold earlier this month after a series against St. Louis where he went 8-17 including player of the game honors in game 3 of the set and asked him about the things he's learned this season.

Perry and his fellow rookie Herm Vardaman came up to a team dominated by longtime veterans, but it hasn't seemed to bother either one of them. When asked about it, Perry said, "If you don't have confidence in yourself, that you belong here, you're never going to make it. If you don't make yourself comfortable around guys 10, 15 years older than you, it's going to be tough. I respect these guys a lot, but I know I belong here. I know I can play with them." He flashed a grin that is bound to become a trademark, and talked about his hot play in the month of July. "That's a part of what I mean when I say that you have to have confidence. I know May was a tough month. Pitchers stopped throwing me stuff to hit, and started trying to get me out. I had to adjust, and my teammates were a huge help. Rudy (Young, Pirates center fielder) came to me after an 0-fer streak and told me that he knew I could play, because I wasn't striking out a lot. I was watching the pitches, learning how to recognize them, until I had the confidence to put a good swing on them. I think that's what I'm doing now."

Perry stopped to autograph a ball for a fan, scribing his name with the smooth, looping script of a man that's been signing items for much longer than a fresh-faced 22-year old would have. He'd just given a young boy a great gift, and yet he hardly looked five years older than his fan. "Me and Herm, we're going to be here for a while, as long as the team and the fans will have us. This city's been through some tough years, and the fans haven't had a whole lot of reason to cheer, but more than anything I want to make this a winning organization again."

With that sort of attitude, Pirates fans should have a lot to look forward to from the young Mr. Perry and the rest of his teammates.