It's Harris, by a hair! ... or is it? Braves-A's rivalry, legend grow

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Braves center fielder Michael Harris II heard A¡¯s outfielder Lawrence Butler's rebuttal and supplied video showing what he believes is proof that he is the faster of the two Atlanta-raised big leaguers.

¡°I slowed the video down,¡± Harris said. ¡°I was actually in front of him when I got to the final cone or whatever.¡±

Before racing too far into this story, this "Who is faster?¡± debate is the extension of a friendly rivalry that began nearly 20 years ago, when Harris and Butler began playing baseball in the Atlanta area. They spent their teenage years as teammates on Marquis Grissom¡¯s travel teams and since joining the professional ranks, they have continued to work out together in the winter.

Harris, Butler and Rays speedy prospect Chandler Simpson finished neck-and-neck when they raced against each other at Grissom¡¯s house during the offseason. This led the Braves outfielder to quickly say ¡°of course¡± when asked if he was faster than the A¡¯s outfielder.

Butler saw things differently.

¡°If you slow it down and pause it, my head is in front of [Harris] and Chandler,¡± Butler said. ¡°I slipped and still won. ¡­ I¡¯m not going to be the one to put the video out there, because I don¡¯t want to embarrass [anybody]. But if the people ask for it, they will see.¡±

Well, we asked, and Harris let us see:

Harris is located third from the right, wearing a black hoodie. Butler is wearing a white shirt and winter hat. Simpson is wearing the baby blue shirt.

¡°Butler had a long beanie on that really gave him an advantage,¡± Harris said.

It¡¯s hard to determine a clear-cut winner when watching the race video at normal speed. So, here¡¯s the slo-mo look that Harris thinks shows him winning:

¡°He¡¯s just saying that because the camera was in his face and he didn¡¯t want to make himself look bad,¡± Butler said. ¡°I¡¯m faster than him.¡±

Along with the hat providing an advantage, Harris pointed out that Butler also started in a straighter sprint position, while the others were in more of a ¡°stolen-base¡± stance.

¡°[Butler] knows he¡¯s not faster,¡± Harris said. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see this year who gets more stolen bases.¡±

This race¡¯s most impressive development might be that Harris and Butler were right there with Simpson, who is one of the game¡¯s fastest players. Butler says the Reds¡¯ Elly De La Cruz might be the only player who can compete with Simpson¡¯s speed.

But ...

¡°[Simpson] is supposed to be the fastest, but if he lost to me, he can¡¯t say he¡¯s the fastest, right?¡± Harris said.

Their respective teams aren¡¯t going to allow Harris and Butler to risk a hamstring strain or some other injury while racing each other when the Braves visit the A's from July 8-10. But the two friends have already created a competition for that three-game series.

¡°I already told him he¡¯s not getting a hit when we come there,¡± Harris said.