Harrison finally rides the wave, hits first homer with A's

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Josh Harrison’s trade to the Athletics came during a frenzy of moves ahead of the MLB trade deadline on July 30. One of the first things on his to-do list was to ensure his walk-up song was taken care of.

The A’s took care of that quickly.

Now Harrison finds himself in the midst of a pennant race and he collected his first homer and first two RBI with the A’s in a 12-3 win over the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum on Saturday.

“It’s been a good group to be around,” Harrison said following the win. “When I got here, I could tell the energy around here was authentic. Be yourself, have fun, play hard. All things that I’ve seen, highlights, watching them, so I feel like it’s been a good fit for me coming in, just trying to blend in with the team.”

Harrison, who went 3-for-5 in the win, blended in quickly on energy alone. He has been part of walk-off wins and looked as if he had been a member of the team since Opening Day. On Saturday, he finally got to use the A’s “Ride the Wave” mantra when he got on base.

“It’s been cool,” Harrison said. “From day one, me and Yan [Gomes] and it was funny because I was talking to them, I flew out with second and third, and nobody out and I told them, I was like, ‘I’m going to get an RBI one of these days,’ I want to be part of the team.”

Harrison actually joked with his new teammates that his first RBI in green and gold would be a home run to center field. 

He made that a reality when he crushed a two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the fifth.

“As soon as I hit it, I just looked in the dugout because I think I told Sean Manaea and Chad Pinder, there were a few guys in there, and when I hit it, they said ‘You could do the ride the wave whenever.' So when I was rounding, I kind of did the ride the wave.”

Harrison’s versatility is what made him an exciting addition to the team. The A’s like guys who can play anywhere. The two-time All-Star fits that description to a tee, and while he said he has the most experience playing second base, he has never played catcher in the big leagues … and he would like to keep it that way.

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With outfielder Ramón Laureano out for the rest of the season after being suspended for 80 games for violating MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, Harrison said his future role with the team doesn’t look too different. 

“We haven’t really had a chance to talk about it,” Harrison said. “It happened kind of quick. Within that locker room, just pulling together. If that situation arises, I’m always ready for whatever. Even before I got here, in D.C. I was bouncing around due to injuries and guys being out so it’s not something that’s foreign to me.”

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