USD Magazine, Summer 2001

ALCALA ALMANAC

Hitting It Big T orero shortstop Josh Harris' recent 29-game hitting streak tied a West Coast Conference record, but it wasn't his first experience with hits. A former child actor, Harris co-starred for seven years on the hit TV show "Dallas" as Christopher Ewing, son of the ever earnest Bobby Ewing. In 1984, a 6-year-old Harris beat out 500 other hopefuls for the role of evil J.R. Ewing's nephew, and also had roles in the television series "St. Elsewhere," "Star Trek:The Next Generation," and "The Commish." Although he has fond memories of his experience, Harris says as his roles grew, he found it difficult to be a kid. "I was tutored on the set, so I didn't have the typical school experience," he says."I worked pretty regularly until I was about 15. It was a lot of responsibility and I wanted time to do normal things - like play baseball."

Between acting jobs, Harris

found time to play Little League. After wearying of the demands of a weekly series and of show business in gen– eral, he put acting aside and became a standout baseball

player at Calabasas (Calif.) High School, hitting .487 and winning first-team All-League honors his senior year. Harris played for two years at Los Angeles Pierce Community College before t ransferring to USD. Midway through this season, Harris began the hitting streak that smashed out– fielder John Mullen's 18-year-old Torero record of 19 consecutive games. Harris hit safely in 29 games before his streak ended in a game against Long Beach State. "After 14 or 15 games, I began to think I could get the school record," he says."It got pretty nerve-racking. It's not like a home run record, where you can have a couple off days and still chase it. You have to be on every day." Harris, signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs after he graduated in May with a degree in business administration.

In Good Company: Josh Harris got cozy with TV mom Victoria Principal on "Dallas" and went out of this world with "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" Brent Spiner. But he says he still has some interest in returning to acting. "It's been in the back of my mind," he says. "I needed a break, but I have nothing but great memories. It was a lot of fun ."

ON THIS DATE

By a 2-1 margin, students defeated a "war strike proposal" that called for flags on campus to be lowered to half-mast until the United States with– drew troops from Southeast Asia. The largest graduating class in USD history, 350 students, received their degrees in a ceremony at the Civic Theater in downtown San Diego. Four USO divers defeated teams from SDSU, UCSD and USIU in an underwater Monopoly game that last– ed more than three hours.Their prize - $500 in real money.