Living Up to the Hype

Bryce Harper set a record with the one year $21.65 million deal he signed for 2018, and deserves it. He came into the league with as much hype as anyone since Griffey. He was perceived as the Lebron James of baseball, after the viral video went around of him at 16 years old hitting 500 foot bombs at Tropicana. I was in high school at the time, and remember being embarrassed for thinking I even played the same sport.

With the emergence of a beast by the name of Mike Trout, our focus on Harper has taken a back seat. Some consider him, not a bust, but also not someone who has necessarily lived up to the hype. If you’re comparing him to Trout, maybe that’s true, but it’s also not fair. Mike Trout has a chance to be a top ten player of all time. He’s that good, he’s a two time MVP that should have at least three. However, some people have mistaken that award for the “best offensive player”. I think most would agree that Trout is maybe a more likable guy. He seems like a universally digestible character, while Harper looks like his hair grew a face. They both play the game with an incredible ferocity, that gives Pete Rose a chub. Let’s be honest if it weren’t for the hype, if Bryce Harper was a late round journey-men pick, then we would applaud him as just a hard-nosed do everything guy with amazing ability. However, he’s the once 16 year old prodigy that was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which adds value to his hate-ability.

There have been hundreds of “busts” or “not quites” throughout the history of sports and the media. Harper is just simply not one of them. He’s a four time all star who won the MVP back in 2015. He’s also someone who has a lot winning ahead of him. He’s the most valuable player on a team that’s going to be good for a long time. He’s off to an amazing start this year, the only guy hotter being his teammate Zimmerman. Almost as if to say, “Don’t forget who the original big swinging dick was around here.” Harper’s going to make a lot of money next year and for the foreseeable future. He’s 24, and when it’s all said and done, will have lead the Nationals to the promise land, making him the most beloved man in Washington DC. However, that doesn’t mean much anymore.