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Do yourself a favor and find a way to watch an entire Washington Nationals' game just to see this Harper kid in the context of team and game
Rarely does a combination of his talent and disposition arrive the way he has, and to do it at 19 is just incredible. Some have speculated that he is actually too young to be a jerk, and that playing with people older than him has schooled him for the Big Leagues far better than anticipated.
The parts of his game that you don't see in the box score are worth the price of admission alone. He has won at least one game on sheer hustle alone. They move him all around the outfield. He is team-first, all the time; and plays harder than anyone, to the point where he flaunts some of the old-boy rules (he took second on a routine single after the right fielder nonchalanted the throw back into the infield). The reaction of his older teammates is telling in what kind of a guy they think he is. He gets booed every place he goes, and he seems to just flow with it. He gets hit by a guy who purposely threw at him, took his base without protest, and homered off the guy (the Phillies' thug, Hamels), the very next time up. Can you imagine having that poise at 19?
And oh, by the way, he hit a homer in Toronto last night that they are still talking about on the radio. A line drive that hit a sign 450 feet out, and you could hear the smack on the broadcast. This is Wonderboy territory, folks.
The other night in Toronto, the right field fans were on him the whole game. When Davey Johnson moved him to center in the late innings, he false lamented to Johnson that he would have to leave the "friends" he was just getting to know.
Priceless. Once-in-a-generation talent, and the Nats look like the real deal with him.
Rarely does a combination of his talent and disposition arrive the way he has, and to do it at 19 is just incredible. Some have speculated that he is actually too young to be a jerk, and that playing with people older than him has schooled him for the Big Leagues far better than anticipated.
The parts of his game that you don't see in the box score are worth the price of admission alone. He has won at least one game on sheer hustle alone. They move him all around the outfield. He is team-first, all the time; and plays harder than anyone, to the point where he flaunts some of the old-boy rules (he took second on a routine single after the right fielder nonchalanted the throw back into the infield). The reaction of his older teammates is telling in what kind of a guy they think he is. He gets booed every place he goes, and he seems to just flow with it. He gets hit by a guy who purposely threw at him, took his base without protest, and homered off the guy (the Phillies' thug, Hamels), the very next time up. Can you imagine having that poise at 19?
And oh, by the way, he hit a homer in Toronto last night that they are still talking about on the radio. A line drive that hit a sign 450 feet out, and you could hear the smack on the broadcast. This is Wonderboy territory, folks.
The other night in Toronto, the right field fans were on him the whole game. When Davey Johnson moved him to center in the late innings, he false lamented to Johnson that he would have to leave the "friends" he was just getting to know.
Priceless. Once-in-a-generation talent, and the Nats look like the real deal with him.
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