Harper has won over even the most skeptical fans

Editor’s note: Las Vegas native Bryce Harper won us over during his illustrious career at Las Vegas High School and the College of Southern Nevada. Now an MLB superstar, Harper is winning over fans in Philadelphia. We’re publishing this column in anticipation of Game 6 of the World Series and in celebration of one of Las Vegas’ brightest stars.

When Bryce Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million guaranteed contract with the Phillies in the spring of 2019, fans went crazy with excitement. Since his contract included a complete no-trade clause and no opt-out clause, Harper will be in red pinstripes through 2031, giving a whole new generation of Phillies fans someone to follow. But I was skeptical of his ability to succeed there.

When it comes to professional sports, the City of Brotherly Love is an oxymoron. There is nothing “brotherly” or “loving” about the most vocal minority of blue collars known as the “Boo Birds.” Just ask the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres, who were recently dispatched from the postseason by the Phils with a hostile — and deafening — assist from the stands. Unfortunately, the boo-birds have also been known to turn on a hometown star when he is not performing up to their demanding expectations.

Philly is not an easy place to play. I wasn’t sure if Harper had the emotional makeup to succeed there, though he appears to have lived with high expectations most of his life.

Anointed “Baseball’s Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2009, Harper, a teenage prodigy, was originally a catcher. But he was selected by the Washington Nationals in the first round of the 2010 draft as an outfielder to extend his career and to accelerate his development so that he could debut in the big leagues earlier.

Promoted to the majors in 2012 at the tender age of 19, Harper was a poster boy for Major League Baseball, which marketed him as one of the game’s next superstars to win the fans back after the steroid scandal. And he rose to the challenge.

Harper was an exciting player to watch. Not only could he hit for average and power, but he could steal bases, throw out runners and play the outfield with bravado. His 22 home runs, 98 runs scored, .340 on-base percentage, .477 slugging percentage and .817 on base-plus-slugging were the best regular-season totals for a teenager in the past half-century and earned him Rookie of the Year honors. Injuries hampered him during the next two years. But Harper came back with a vengeance in 2015. He completed the season with a National League-leading 42 homers and finished second to Dee Gordon of the Miami Marlins in the batting race, .333 to .330. Those impressive stats made him a unanimous choice as the NL’s Most Valuable Player.

While Washington advanced to the postseason four times during Harper’s tenure there, the Nationals never made it past the division series. Not until he left the team in 2019 did the organization capture its one and only World Series title. That fact led to widespread speculation that the Nationals were better off without him.

When the Phillies paid Harper that 13-year, $330 million contract, I did not jump on the bandwagon because I questioned not only his ability to fulfill the humanly impossible expectations that come with such an astronomical salary, but whether the “stupid money” owner John Middleton spent on him could have been better used to fill more glaring needs, like the bullpen and starting pitching.

My skepticism grew in each of the past three seasons when the Phillies folded in the wild card race. Harper could not carry the team to the postseason by himself. He needed the help of other established stars. To address that need, Middleton spent more “stupid money” to acquire a supporting cast of Zack Wheeler, a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, and Kyle Schwarber, a slugging lead-off hitter with postseason experience, and to re-sign J.T. Realmuto, the best catcher in the game.

If the high expectations we in Philadelphia have for Harper are a burden, he certainly hasn’t shown it. Instead, he won a second MVP award last year. More important, he’s made the game fun again. He plays hard and with the passion expected from a blue-collar fan base. He is careful to never criticize the hometown fans, no matter how boorish some of them can be. And he has put the Phillles back in the postseason for the first time in a decade.

When Harper’s two-run homer in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series clinched the victory that sent the Phillies to their first World Series appearance since 2009, I became a true believer. Not only is Harper worth every cent the Phillies are paying him, but he is a class act who has restored my faith in the game and its heroes.

Baseball historian William Kashatus is author of Lefty & Tim: How Steve Carlton and Tim McCarver Became Baseball’s Best Battery.