Posted on 06/12/2008 9:32:41 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
A Naval Academy graduate drafted last week by the St. Louis Cardinals was denied a bid to play ball Thursday and ordered to report for duty.
Mitch Harris, a newly commissioned ensign and Naval Academy graduate, must serve a five-year active duty commitment, Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter ruled.
“He will report to his ship as ordered,” Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Navy spokesman, told The Associated Press.
Harris, a native of Ocala, Fla., who played high school ball in North Carolina, was selected in the 13th round with the 395th pick overall. The 22-year-old right-hander went 20-13 with a 2.51 ERA in four years at Navy, averaging 11.78 strikeouts per nine innings. He was the second-highest pick in program history.
Harris is scheduled to report Monday to the amphibious transport ship Ponce, which is homeported in Norfolk. He told The Gaston Gazette in Gastonia, N.C., on Thursday night that he hadn’t heard from Navy officials but was not surprised by the outcome.
“Of course we’re at war, no one can argue we’re not,” Harris said. “But what I’ve said from the beginning is that I’m not trying to get out of anything.
“If I don’t get that chance (to play baseball) right now, I’ll never get it again. And to fulfill a goal of getting to the pros, it’s sad that they would take it away from me.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcsports.msnbc.com ...
Cry me a river.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“If I don’t get that chance (to play baseball) right now, I’ll never get it again. And to fulfill a goal of getting to the pros, it’s sad that they would take it away from me.”
****
The Navy didn;t take ANYTHING away from you kid.
Nobody put a gun to your head when you signed those papers to enlist. It’s called free will.
Now protect my 6.
BTW..see how the lib media tries to make the military look bad. This is an art form they’ve perfected since 9/11.
Oh, it goes back way farther than that!
Tough $hit. You enlisted in the Navy, now go.
David Robinson and Napoleon McCallum really ought to take this young feller aside for a little counseling. With a ballbat.
The Navy did not take this away from him! What a selfish individual! Does the Navy really want crybabies on board their ships? I can only imagine what he will do for morale, always whining about how the Navy cheated him.
Half of me wants to say “tough-turkey” you signed the paper and took the four years free education... the other half of me says I wouldn’t want this idiot as MY division officer.
Or, frankly, in any position of responsibility on a US Navy warship. He doesn’t sound very reliable, patriotic or even intelligent.
Oh well, maybe the wardroom will be able to straithen him out one they are haze gray and underway.
Talk to Roger Staubach. He’ll explain how you can do both.
He’s likely to be a sorry officer. He has already flunked out on duty, obligation, responsibility, and leadership.
This guy is a fricken whiney ass victim of society…somebody better call the WHAmbulance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Suck it up Ted Williams style kid.
“BTW..see how the lib media tries to make the military look bad. This is an art form they’ve perfected since 9/11.”
Obamessiah would let him play. /sarc
[cough, cough, retch!]
from a thread last year -- Founders Quotes - Jefferson's Recommendations on Reading
Good example. Or Ted Williams. How many years did he lose serving his country honorably and still wound up in the HOF. I still wonder what his final stats would have been had he not served, but I'm glad he did.
I agree but want to clarify your terminology. He did not just enlist, he has just completed 4 years of being PAID to attend an entirely free education ranked among the best in the world. He knew GOING IN that if he got beyond his first year, he had a minimum of 3 years enlisted service should he fail to get an Officer's Commission. Upon graduating he has the standard 6 years minimum service before he can try baseball.
He does have a potential out in that if he refuses a Commission and the Navy agrees that they want him gone, he can pay back the US Taxpayers the cost of his education. If the Navy still wants him however, he gets to be a sailor for 3-8 years of active and/or reserve service. My bet is that he will be invited to play Navy Baseball to keep skills up and he MIGHT get dispensation in 4 years to do the rest in a LONGER Reserve term.
David Robinson (USNA 1987) got dispensation from the Navy to go into the Reserves 2 years after graduating and then joined NBA San Antonio. A reason given was that at 7 feet he was just too large for many duty assignments. FYI, he joined the Academy at 6 ft 7 in, which was 1 inch under maximum.
Staubach and David Robinson made careers in the NFL and NBA; didn’t hear any whining from them.
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