Harry Nelson, a graduate of Massapequa HS, will be inducted into the Cape Cod League Hall of Fame later this month. The ceremony will be at the beautiful Wequasset Resort on November 21. The class includes eight other individuals, including current Pirates SS Kevin Newman and former A’s SS Cliff Pennington. The event was scheduled to occur last year, but was postponed due to covid.
Nelson had an incredible year for Bourne in 1964 – he led the league in batting at .390 – a record that still stands. He went 39-for-100, meaning he was 1 hit away from a .400 average. Additionally, he smacked 7 HRs, 7 doubles and drove in 27 runs. Most impressively, he was also a pitcher so he has the distinction of being the only pitcher to lead the league in batting average. Nelson noted that his home run total was a “deceptive stat” because of Bourne’s home field having a short porch in right center field.
Nevertheless, it was a season to remember while playing for head coach Lou Lamoriello – who is the president of hockey operations for the New York Islanders.
Nelson was playing at Wagner College at the time, but was being looked at by Major League ballclubs. This was the year before the draft was implemented, meaning he could simply sign with the highest bidder.
The Wagner coach at the time, Herb White, had Nelson’s best interests in mind, according to Nelson, and encouraged him to pursue a professional career despite being his most impactful pitcher on the team. In fact, Nelson recorded a record of 3-5 on a team that was 3-15.
Nelson wound up trying out for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park prior to a game. He recalls the day being noteworthy because he was given No. 37 for the workout – which was the uniform number worn by Jimmy Piersall. Naturally, fans flocked to him thinking the longtime Red Sox outfielder had returned. Aside from that confusion, Nelson said he performed okay but he did not sign with Boston.
In an interesting twist, he wound up signing with their chief rival, New York Yankees and they even picked up the tab for his senior year of college in addition to a hefty signing bonus.
He played two full seasons in the minors leagues with solid results. He went 11-8 with a 2.50 ERA his first season and 7-8 the next season. His team had the unenviable record for being the only team to get no-hit in both ends of a double header. In the second game, the manager was thrown out early in the game and asked Nelson to take over managing duties. He recalls doing a good job in the emergency duty.
The next year, he suffered a serious arm injury. Nelson noted that in those days, there was no Tommy John surgery so his career simply ended. He does have some fond memories such as playing against Satchel Paige, who was pitching for the opposing team and went three innings. He also faced Johnny Bench and Al Oliver in the minors, while also meeting Joe DiMaggio in the locker room in Hollywood, FL.
Another interesting note on Harry is that he is the older brother of Rob Nelson, the creator of Big League Chew.
