Q&A with Braves Outfielder Willie Harris

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Braves outfielder Willie Harris over Memorial Day weekend before a game in the Braves clubhouse. Willie is having a heck of a year, batting almost .400 in the month and a half he's been in the majors. Like most Braves players he is very cordial and laid back and was happy to take some time to talk with me. In my two or three minutes with him I could tell that he has a great sense of humor and seems like he might be quite the jokester.

Q: What do you attribute to your very good success so far this year?

A: I'd have to lean towards the off-season program I was on; hitting twice, sometimes three times a day, breaking my swing down from 2001 all the way to 2006 on film, and really just trying to find something that worked for me from a comfort standpoint. Then when I got to spring training I told Jack Maloof  (roving minor league hitting instructor) and Terry Pendleton what I was trying to do this off-season and they came up with this new batting stance for me, and it worked in spring training. So I was like, "what the heck, I'm going to try it here in Richmond." It worked in Richmond, so I get here and I say, "what the heck, try it," and it's still going pretty good for me so far.

Q: What's different about your new stance from your old stance?

A: I don't want to talk about that. <both laughing> I can't tell that.

Q: Well, we could watch film and find out!

A: Yeah, if you knew what you were looking at, yeah, you could!

Q: Are you having a lot more fun this year with all your success?

A: Yeah, a lot more fun. I'm also closer to home, closer to my family. They can come here whenever they want to, and I can go home whenever I want to; I think that has a lot to do with it - being close to home and in the state of Georgia, I think that helps a lot.

Q: Did you grow up a Braves fan?

A: Oh yeah! If you're in the state of Georgia and you like baseball then you're going to be a Braves fan. I grew up a big time Braves fan; I love the Braves. You know when I was with other organizations I kept an eye on them and I pulled for them.

Q: Who was your favorite player for the Braves, growing up?

A: Dale Murphy. I'm sure he's a lot of people's favorite player.

Q: How is the attitude of this team verses the other teams that you've been on?

A: Same. I've been fortunate enough to have a great group of guys wherever I went. The attitude's no different here than it was in Chicago or Boston. I mean, it's fun everywhere.