Brian David Harper (born October 16, 1959) is an American former catcher in Major League Baseball who played for teams in both the American and National Leagues during his 16-year career (-). He most recently served as the hitting coach of the Double-A Erie SeaWolves. Playing career Minor leagues Harper was drafted by the California Angels in the fourth round of the amateur draft before being assigned to the rookie-league Idaho Falls Angels. He would then progress rapidly through the Angels' system, displaying the skills that he became known for in his major league career: an above-.300 average, good plate discipline, but an only average catcher's arm. After stops at Idaho Falls, Quad Cities, El Paso, he reached AAA Salt Lake City in 1981. However his career would soon stall. Despite his first seeing action for the Angels in 1979 and his hitting .350 with 28 home runs and 122 RBI for Salt Lake City in 1981, the Angels were not interested in giving Harper time behind the plate, at first base, or DH over established stars such as Rod Carew, Bob Boone, Don Baylor, and Reggie Jackson. On 11 December, , Harper was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 31-year-old utility infielder Tim Foli. However, his prospects would not improve with the Pirates as they had a star catcher of their own in the 25-year-old Tony Peña. Tried in the outfield, it was decided that he was too slow to be an adequate defender, and he again languished between Pittsburgh and AAA Portland. After three lackluster seasons where he spent much of the time on the Pirates bench, he would be traded to the St. Louis Cardinals after the season along with future all-star pitcher John Tudor, for minor league infielder Steve Barnard and outfielder George Hendrick. After seeing time in only 43 games with the Cardinals in , Harper would be released by the team following the season. Harper did, however, provide a memorable moment as a Cardinal in the 1985 World Series, appearing as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning of Game 6 and batting in Terry Pendleton with a single to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals would go on to lose the game in the ninth 2-1 on the Royals' Dane Iorg's pinch-hit 2-run single following the infamous Don Denkinger non-out call on Jorge Orta. Harper's career appeared to have neared the