Comments on: Bryce Harper plays the game the right way

By: joewilliesshnoz

joewilliesshnoz — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:10:57 +0000

He plays clean and hard , a Phillies beater for years to come .

By: marshmallowsnake

marshmallowsnake — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:03:41 +0000

If he continues to progress as a hitter, he will be a beast by 23.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:22:23 +0000

As much as we focus on his hustle, which is refreshing, his approach at the plate has been a pleasant surprise. He takes more pitches, swings at fewer bad pitches, and goes the other way more often than I expected. This bodes very well for a continued high level of offensive production.

By: El Bravo

El Bravo — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:49:35 +0000

There’s way too many factors other than NL to AL switch to attribute that factor as the main reason….new SPs, new parks, new everything. Give those two time and I bet their numbers are similar in both leagues. We shall see! I just love the NL b/c my teams are there. Usually how it goes…

By: 18thstreet

18thstreet — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:52:02 +0000

Well, we’re about to have some interleague match-ups between the Eastern division teams, which will help support or kill your argument.

I’m guessing the AL East will win 60 percent or more, and I don’t understand how anyone could argue that the NL is the superior league. I’m as confused as anyone about how far Albert Pujols has fallen going from the NL to the AL, but it’s pretty much typically, isn’t it? Prince Fielder’s lost 50 points on his slugging percentage. Gio Gonzales and Edwin Jackson are suddenly all-stars.

I’m sure that someone has calculated the difference, but it’s pretty clear that the AL is vastly superior.

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:38:59 +0000

Something makes me think Kenny’s gonna get an earful from Timmy the next time they’re on FOX….

By: humanexcrement

humanexcrement — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:15:35 +0000

I think Harper tends to come off the wrong way to some people the same way Paul O’Neill did. O’Neill pushed himself hard and expected his every at-bat to be a success. I remember hearing stories about him being the first one in the batting cages HOURS before a game, cursing every time he didn’t hit the ball as well as he thought he should have. Sometimes that drive led to a blowup–hell, often it did, but there was a man who got every ounce of talent out of his body that he had to give. Harper will almost certainly be a better player than O’Neill (barring injury), but he looks like he has that kind of fire in his heart. he also looks like he realized he was starting to get a bad reputation and decided to turn things around. And he isn’t anywhere near his prime yet. This guy is going to be fun to watch for years to come. So are the Nationals.

By: nolanwiffle

nolanwiffle — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:55:21 +0000

Do you remember Carlton Fisk chasing and barking at Deion Sanders to run hard to first on a flyball. Fisk was on the opposing team…..Deion played baseball the wrong way.

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:39:19 +0000

How do you play baseball the wrong way? Hold the wrong end of the bat? Run away from the ball? Pitch using your mouth instead of your hand?

By: heyblueyoustink

heyblueyoustink — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:25:27 +0000

” Bryce Haper!!!???!!! Squuuueeeeaaaaalllllllll!!!!!!!”

( THUD ! )

Groupie passes out on the floor.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:17:17 +0000

When I was 17, I thought I was king ding-a-ling because I had a letterman’s jacket, a vehicle, and a pretty girlfriend. I can’t imagine how much more cocky I would have been if I had a baseball card, my autograph on Ebay, and 5 million in the bank (plus lots of pretty girlfriends undoubtedly)

By: marshmallowsnake

marshmallowsnake — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:13:54 +0000

I have watched all of his hits this season on MLB.TV, and I am surprised at some, as he kills the ball, and others he floats it. Being only 19, it will be interesting to see how he hits at 22, 25, 28, etc.

I am just glad that he ditched the mohawk.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:13:10 +0000

Great point. Our exposure to him last year was when he tweeted something stupid, or blew a kiss. Our exposure to him this year makes his hustle and passion visible. I saw him take a purpose pitch to the back, take his base, then steal home. Gamer! If he had the same coverage this year, as he did last year, all I’d know of him is that he slammed his bat into the wall and had to get 10 stitches because of it, when in reality, that is a minor blurp on his year.

After his first at bat, when he made a routine 1-3 groundout the most exciting 1-3 groundout I’ve ever seen, I knew my perception of him was wrong.

By: El Bravo

El Bravo — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:56:36 +0000

NL East is a friggin’ powerhouse. Step aside AL East, we have some serious competition over here and the pitchers take the plate, so it’s better than your designatedhitterball(1) competition.

(1) “Designatedhitterball” courtesy of Old Gator.

By: dcistoodamnhot

dcistoodamnhot — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:55:54 +0000

I live just a few blocks from Nationals Park, and can see it from my balcony. Even in the cheap seats, the “just here for the hot dogs and beer” crowd is on the edge of their seats for his ABs. In the bars, you get an awed hush. No one but Strasburg has ever had this effect in Washington. The kid is electric. He plays as hard as anyone I’ve seen. A year ago, he was a talented kid with a bad reputation. But these days, he’s the guy I’d want to play like. He runs like Pete Rose, and seems genuinely dissatisfied whenever he gets stuck at first on a bloop single. I’m excited to watch the next 20 years of him.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:55:06 +0000

So Rosenthal acknowledges that he’s a chimpanzee? Interersting.

By: bobulated

bobulated — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:53:06 +0000

We all did incredibly selfish, dickish things when we were 17 and during our college years, it’s just that we didn’t have thousands of people waiting for us to make a misstep so they could use it as content in their blog, twitter feed, etc. I expect a stud athlete to be hyper-competitive at that age, the maturity will come and his case has come pretty quickly. You still see the edge occasionally like when he got cut down trying to extend a double into a triple vs. the Braves (throw beat him but looked like he got under the tag) and was very demonstrative about it although I wasn’t sure if was mad about the missed call or making the out at third.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:52:07 +0000

Excellent point. Harper’s behavior as a Major Leaguer has defied the prevailing narrative of him as an immature jerk.

Though, let Harper do one immature, 19-yearoldish thing. The haters and the narrative will be back in full force.

By: poreef

poreef — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:50:12 +0000

I dunno, is he still a Duke fan?

By: stex52

stex52 — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:47:20 +0000

What you say makes sense. But that’s not required for this site.

By: davidpom50

davidpom50 — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:42:41 +0000

I think the perception turn around probably has more to do with visibility. We can watch him play every day now, whereas before we’d only see him when he was being a douche and there was an uproar about it. Those episodes might have been rare, but they were 100% of what most of us saw. I feel like I’m rambling… am I making any sense at all?

By: stex52

stex52 — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:40:24 +0000

My gut feel is that we were always overreacting to what we heard. He was and is a kid. Probably a few others of us on this blog were pains in the butt at 18. But we didn’t have people shoving microphones in our faces.

I hope he is a hall of famer before he is through.

By: nolanwiffle

nolanwiffle — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:40:07 +0000

He has quickly become one of those guys whose at-bats are must-see.