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Harper homecoming Former player/coach rejoins Red Sox staff
Posted: Wednesday January 26, 2000 06:58 PM
BOSTON (AP) -- Tommy Harper, the former Boston player and coach who complained about a racial incident during the team's 1985 spring training and was fired after the season, was hired Wednesday for a second stint on the Red Sox coaching staff. Harper, 59, will join the major league staff, working primarily on the outfielders and baserunning. General manager Dan Duquette said Harper's role will be determined by manager Jimy Williams. "Tommy Harper has been one of the most effective coaches in the major leagues," Duquette said, noting that during Harper's tenure with Montreal the Expos set franchise records in several offensive categories and produced budding stars Vladimir Guerrero, Rondell White, and Larry Walker. Harper played for the Red Sox from 1972-74 and was the team's MVP in 1973 after leading the AL with a club-record 54 stolen bases and scoring 92 runs with 17 homers. After his playing career ended in 1977, he had several coaching jobs, working for the Red Sox from 1980-85 as an instructor, first base coach and special assistant to the general manager. But during spring training in 1985, Harper, who is black, complained about a whites-only outing sponsored by the Winter Haven Elks Club. He was fired at the end of the season, and he filed a wrongful termination lawsuit that was settled out of court. Although the split was bitter, both sides seemed to put it behind them when Harper appeared in an old-timer's game at Fenway Park in 1989. "It's always nice to come home," he said on a conference call Wednesday. "And that's the way I've always felt about Boston and the Boston Red Sox. Because I've never ceased to care about the Boston Red Sox and their fans." Harper had a .237 average with 146 homers, 567 RBIs and 408 stolen bases in 15 major league seasons. In 1970, with Milwaukee, Harper became the first infielder and fifth player overall to hit at least 30 homers and steal at least 30 bases in the same season. Harper is the second public fence-mending for the Red Sox this month. On Jan. 14 they announced that they will retire Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk's number even though they had to bend their rules to do it. Fisk, whose foul-pole homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series is one of baseball's greatest moments, became a free agent after a contract squabble with the team in 1980. He played the last 13 years of his career with the Chicago White Sox but joined the Red Sox as a special assistant to the general manger last spring. Harper said that the hard feelings are behind him and noted that the current Red Sox management was not with the team in 1985. "I have always felt welcome around the Red Sox," he said. "This job today is a beautiful opportunity for me. But this reconciliation with the Red Sox did not start today. It started many years ago. It is not an issue today."
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