Bryce Harper has had a miraculous season. With six games left in the regular season, he leads the National League with a .336 average and 41 home runs, and is 5th in the league with 96 RBI. He has recorded a 10.2 WAR, which is tied for 44th ALL-TIME. At 22 years old, he’s not only a a potential NL MVP and face of the Washington Nationals franchise, but is also one the faces of Major League Baseball now and many years to come.
Recent conversations, though, haven’t been about Harper’s abilities on the diamond, but more about the problems with his attitude and lack of leadership qualities. With all the scrutiny he has endured ever since he first put on the Nationals uniform when he was first called up 2012, it’s time for everyone to leave Bryce Harper alone and let him do what he does best: play ball.
The most recent debacle concerning Harper was his confrontation with Nationals closer Johnathan Papelbon. In Washington’s game against the Baltimore Orioles on September 23, Manny Machado hit a go-ahead two-run homer run off Max Scherzer in the 7th inning. Machado’s next at-bat resulted in him getting plunked by Papelbon in the shoulder, resulting in Papelbon getting ejected. Harper, who wasn’t exactly happy with the situation, voiced displeasure to the media after the game about Machado getting hit.
Bryce Harper: "Manny freakin hit a homer, walked it off and somebody drilled him. It’s pretty tired…I’ll probably get drilled tomorrow"
— Chris Johnson (@ceejjohnson18) September 24, 2015
Papelbon, who likely didn’t appreciate the comments, yelled at Harper in the eighth inning of their next game after Harper lightly jogged out a popup that was a sure out. The yelling eventually turned into Papelbon choking Harper in the dugout. The fight resulted in Papelbon being suspended for the rest of the season and Harper receiving a one day suspension without pay.
Papelbon has been known to have a flair for the dramatic, and so can Harper at times, but many in the professional sports media were quick to put blame on Harper for the whole situation. Harper, who has been criticized by many since the beginning of career for his arrogant confidence, and despite Papelbon being the instigator of the confrontation, was still unable to catch a break in criticism.
Former pitcher C. J. Nitkowski, who now works in the professional sports media, wrote an article for FOX Sports stating that Papelbon was in the right for choking Harper, going as far to say that former and current players fully backed Papelbon’s reaction to Harper not running the play out. “It needed to be done to show Harper he’s not above the game.” Nitkowski also tweeted that he would “kick his son’s ass” if he was ever caught not running out a play. Nitkowski eventually deleted the tweet.
The Kansas City Star’s Lee Judge also wrote an article backing support for Papelbon, using this as this original lede for the article:
“I don’t know Bryce Harper from Adam, but he certainly seems like someone who needs choking. Unfortunately he was choked by the wrong guy in the wrong place.”
Judge changed the article to say Harper seemed like someone who “needs an attitude adjustment.”
How can a highly-regarded media member and a former players say these things? It’s understandable to a degree to say that Harper is immature, but isn’t saying choking is an OK way to handle the situation counter-intuitive to the argument?
Let us say one thing for the record: NOBODY runs out every single fly ball or ground ball. The only person who possibly runs out 100% of plays is Roy Hobbs, and folks, he’s a fictional character.
The fact of the matter is that this had nothing to do with Harper running the play out. It was Papelbon releasing frustration for what Harper said the day before. Should Harper have called Papelbon out to the media? Maybe not, but his point was understandable. He knows that every time one of his teammates hits an opposing player, he is the one who is going to be hit next. His statement should have been taken as a team leader speaking the truth, especially when his closer threw at a player in a meaningless game.
Harper being blamed for Washington’s collapse in the 2nd half of the season, is ridiculous. The Nationals lineup has accrued 19.5 WAR for the season, with more that half of that total coming from Harper’s 10.2 WAR. The next closest competitor is Yunel Escobar at 2.3 WAR.
Despite what transpired between Harper and Papelbon, and the fact that the Nationals have fallen miles short of expectations that were laid out for the team in the offseason, the Nationals will likely be World Series contenders for years to come. Harper, who talks as much as his numbers do, is a major reason why the Nationals expectations were and will be high. Consequently, whenever things go bad in the capital city, Harper will be an easy target and will be the first to blame, and people will still refer to him as a cocky punk who speaks his mind when reserved people want him to keep his mouth shut.
At some point fans, players, retired players, and the sports media need to realize that Bryce Harper is still a 22-year old with a lifelong dream of playing baseball, just like every other player that puts on a major league or once did. Additionally, the amount of success and hype that Harper has had in his career affords a high amount of confidence, and confidence doesn’t always translate into cockiness.
Does that mean Johnathan Papelbon has the right to school Harper in unwritten rules by choking him? Does that also mean he should be blamed for the downfall the Washington Nationals had in 2015? That’s a clown question, bro.
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