In the early 1900s, it was not unusual for
Major League Baseball teams to casually retain one or more
urchins to act as mascots or
batboys. Their employment might only last as long as a team's winning streak, and often their only wages were food and shelter. On July 4, 1908, the
Detroit Free Press reported that the Tigers had begun traveling with a new mascot, "
Rastus," who had been "picked up by Germany Schaefer|[Germany] Schaefer" during the team's recent road trip to Chicago. "He will have a home as long as the present streak lasts," the report added. Harrison served as a mascot for the next three months for the pennant-winning Tigers, who would rub the youth's head for good luck. He traveled with team and even warmed up Tigers pitchers from time to time. Harrison was dismissed as the Tigers' mascot near the end of the 1908 season, shortly before the Detroiters captured the
American League pennant. "Rastus, the negro mascot, has been chased again," wrote the
Detroit Free Press. "Hughie Jennings|[Manager Hughie] Jennings let him out today and they got a world's series decision. It looks as if Rastus is gone for good." Harrison's services were quickly enlisted by the
National League champion
Chicago Cubs, the Tigers'
World Series opponent, who went on to win the series four game to one. Despite his firing, the Tigers brought Harrison back for another pennant-winning season in 1909. By the start of the
World Series, Harrison numbered among a half dozen Tigers mascots, including two other boys, one white and one black, who acted as chief mascots. At season's end, Harrison collected $64 in donations () at a post-World Series banquet at the Pontchartrain Hotel, and he returned home to
St. Louis. Before the start of the 1910 season, the
Detroit Free Press commented on his itinerant life: Harrison was relieved of his duties as mascot for the second and final time in June 1910. After his "unconditional release," he worked briefly as a driver for an ash hauling company. ==Relationship with Ty Cobb==