Author Topic: The Bryce Harper Watch  (Read 186679 times)

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Offline cmdterps44

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #100: February 14, 2010, 03:16:35 AM »
Bryce Harper is perfect for this team. The longer his pre-at bats are, the longer people are in the park. = MORE SALES!!!!!


:lol: but for real, I was thinking of Nomar too

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #101: February 14, 2010, 11:00:34 AM »
Mike Hargrove.  The human rain delay.  But Nomar is the worst of this century.  There is a poster on SoSH who goes by "OCD Shortstop" as a tribute.

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #102: March 05, 2010, 09:25:07 AM »
http://www.lvrj.com/sports/harper-stays-focused-86149592.html

Quote
Catcher Bryce Harper Stays Focused


Before the sun rises, Bryce Harper's day has started. As a college freshman, he has five classes to attend and a long list of things to do.

His days begin and end at his parents' house on the east side of Las Vegas. That outline for his life is relatively ordinary. Between those lines, everything about Harper is extraordinary.

He's 17 years old and is touted as the nation's best baseball player at that age. While his former classmates are picking prom dates, he is auditioning to be the No. 1 pick in the major league draft.

There is a huge upside to being promoted by the national media as a phenom. But Harper has seen the downside, too, and he momentarily doubted it all at one point during the fall.

He wondered whether his jump from Las Vegas High School, where he would be a junior now, to the College of Southern Nevada was premature.

"I had a transition from high school to college, and it was pretty hard at the beginning. I was second-guessing myself and thinking maybe I shouldn't have done this," Harper said Tuesday.

"There were times when I was in my room or with my family or something, and it was pretty hard because everybody was out there saying stuff. I can't live up to all the hype and everything like that."

Harper, an honor student in high school, earned his GED test credentials and was excelling at CSN while recording a 4.0 grade-point average. But he was failing for the first time in baseball, compiling too many 0-for-4 days at practice and striking out when he was accustomed to hitting home runs.

"It really hurt me, and I was thinking maybe this isn't for me," he said, pausing. "But I put that aside."

Harper talked to his father, Ron, and Coyotes coach Tim Chambers, and made adjustments in his swing and attitude that helped erase the doubts.

Just more than a month into the junior-college season, Harper is batting .356 with a team-high four home runs and 18 RBIs for CSN, which is 13-3 and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Last summer, before making the unprecedented leap from high school sophomore to college freshman, Harper appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as "Baseball's Chosen One." He was the subject of an ESPN feature and received a crush of national media attention.

During that whirlwind, he said, it got increasingly difficult to focus on baseball. So his family cut him off from the media, allowing him time to mature in a cocoon of seclusion at CSN, where he has been guided and protected by Chambers, a longtime family friend.

"I think Bryce has handled everything unbelievably," Chambers said. "It's hard to comment on something like this when it's never been done before. Ask yourself what you were like as a junior in high school. None of us know what it's like to be him, so you can't speculate. All you can do is watch.

"He's had his ups and downs. His dealings with failure and showing body language has gotten way better. It only has been about six months, but he's matured a ton. He's grounded, and he doesn't do anything wrong off the field."

The Harper family rejected invitations for Bryce to appear on several TV shows, including CBS's "60 Minutes," ABC's "Good Morning America" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

But he's easing back into the media spotlight, doing his first interview since August on Tuesday before the Coyotes' practice.

"It has been awesome not having cameras in your face all the time," Harper said. "I just really wanted to focus on school and baseball.

"If you don't say it's fun to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, you're crazy. That's everybody's dream. When you're actually on it, it's like, 'Wow, is this really real?' Everybody's dream is to play pro baseball. It has been my dream since I was 5 years old."

Harper, being advised by agent Scott Boras, said it's not a foregone conclusion that he will enter June's major league draft, which could net him a signing bonus in the neighborhood of $10 million.

"I'm not focused on the draft right now. I'm worried about winning the national championship at CSN. If I come back next year and play here again, that would be great. I'm still looking at Division-I colleges.

"There's a lot of good guys in this draft this year, and just to be in it would be a privilege. I wasn't focused on getting out of high school and going into the draft. That wasn't my big thing. I came out of high school so that I could further my education and get into college ball, where people will challenge me."

The 6-foot-3-inch Harper is a catcher who also plays third base and outfield. As a high school sophomore, he hit .626 with 14 home runs and 55 RBIs. Those numbers were compiled with aluminum bats. Now swinging wood bats and facing better pitchers, his offensive production at the college level is more realistic.

"I'm not getting walked all the time or hitting .700. Everybody was thinking, 'He's going to go 5-for-5 every day and hit four bombs and hit a 500-foot home run.' That's not baseball, and that's not me. It's not going to happen every day."

He hears his alarm clock at 5 a.m. every day, drives his black Toyota Tacoma truck to Gold's Gym for a workout, returns home to eat and shower, then makes the 30-minute trip for classes at the Henderson campus.

After baseball practice, he might see his girlfriend , Alyssa Rodriguez, a junior and a soccer player at Green Valley High School, and return home to do school work.

The days of briefly second-guessing his decision to leave high school early are in the rearview mirror.

"I've still got to work hard. I'm not anywhere near where I want to be at all," he said. "This is a great start."

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #103: March 05, 2010, 09:34:04 AM »
Wait, he's not pitching right now?

Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #104: March 05, 2010, 10:18:48 AM »
That would have been the most boring hour of television in history.

Oprah talking to a baseball player that hasn't even sniffed the Majors.

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #105: March 05, 2010, 11:44:48 AM »
i just keep drooling over this:

Quote
Just more than a month into the junior-college season, Harper is batting .356 with a team-high four home runs and 18 RBIs for CSN, which is 13-3 and ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Looks like we'll all be watching the negotiations until midnight on MLB again this year.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #106: March 05, 2010, 11:46:24 AM »
Wait, he's not pitching right now?

I thought he was for sure a major league pitcher. Or did his JUCO games show him to be a stronger hitter?

Offline epic_phalanx

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #107: March 05, 2010, 03:10:50 PM »
I thought he was for sure a major league pitcher. Or did his JUCO games show him to be a stronger hitter?

He's got a mid-90's fastball, but projects much better as a position player, and I have to assume that is his preference.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #108: March 05, 2010, 04:43:40 PM »
He's got a mid-90's fastball, but projects much better as a position player, and I have to assume that is his preference.

Thanks. I haven't kept track of his 2010 season at all.

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Offline DPMOmaha

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #110: March 06, 2010, 09:26:34 PM »
He just said there are doubts but doesn't tell us who the doubters are.  Everyone had doubters.  Even imaginary doubters and nothing's guaranteed.  Both are essentially high school kids (Harper and Tallion) and it's nearly unanimous that those are the two best players in the draft.  Pick which one you (Rizzo and co.) think is best and go with it.  Don't over think it.

Offline NatsDad14

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #111: March 07, 2010, 01:05:44 PM »
After crushing the ball yesterday, a combined 7-8, 2 2B, 2 HR in a doubleheader, Harper is hitting .408/.500/.831

Offline Kevrock

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #112: March 07, 2010, 02:16:09 PM »
LOL at Buster Olney for comparing him to Tebow in this year's draft.

Offline PatsNats28

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #113: March 07, 2010, 04:29:50 PM »
LOL at Buster Olney for comparing him to Tebow in this year's draft.


fail

Online imref

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #114: March 07, 2010, 08:50:12 PM »
After crushing the ball yesterday, a combined 7-8, 2 2B, 2 HR in a doubleheader, Harper is hitting .408/.500/.831

I know having Strasburg pitch to Harper on opening day 2012 is out of the question, but we can dream can't we?

Offline UnkleWheez

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #115: March 08, 2010, 08:41:07 AM »
If that happens, well when that happens I will be happy. Probally not opening day 2012 though.

Offline Skinz72

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #116: March 08, 2010, 11:17:15 AM »
<<I know having Strasburg pitch to Harper on opening day 2012 is out of the question, but we can dream can't we?>>

No way Harper makes it to the bigs in two years.  If he's not ready, then I wouldn't want him there.  2013 is not out of the question, but he'd still be only 20 y.o.  He'll probably not play at all this year after the draft, save for the AFL, but I hesitate even with that - he'd get his butt handed to him there.  That kid needs major pro experience before he's sent anywhere.  The best place for him to start (after a spring training invite) would be Low A at best (Hagerstown), but certainly see some time at Short Season A ball (Vermont) in 2011 and see how he grows from there.  If he's dominant, then we'll know quickly and he can move up from there.

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #117: March 12, 2010, 04:06:58 PM »
Sheinen notes - through 20 games: .408 ave., 6 HR, 20 RBI, .500 OBP, .831 SLG.

And that's with a wooden bat.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #118: March 12, 2010, 04:10:49 PM »
fail

Why does he have a derogatory sub-title? :lol:

15,000 posts. Jeez. I should celebrate by going outside or talking to a female or something.

PPS I just edited a work email like a message board quote to prove a point. With sportsfan encountering a real-live female, I need to slow down :lol:

Online Smithian

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #119: March 13, 2010, 01:58:48 AM »
If he comes out early and the Nationals can draft him, I really hope we slow track him somewhere. I don't know it would be in Low A/High A ball or even maybe in AA or AAA, but somewhere I hope we'd let him just catch his breath. Even if it meant maybe having him spend a couple seasons setting Minor League batting records in Harrisburg, I think it would be flat out huge for his career in the long run. Let him spend some time in one place with limited access to media for no other reason than to help help his age and maturity as a person and human being make up some ground on his ability as a baseball player. I can just see this kid hitting a wall around 22 or 23 if he is fast tracked with no relief at any point. Let some of the weight of the world slip off his shoulders while he enjoys dominating one level instead of being nervous how fast he can make it to the next level.

Am I the only person who kind of feel bad for him? I'm a freshman. I can't imagine a year or two ago having this much scrutiny on my life.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #120: March 13, 2010, 12:01:42 PM »

Am I the only person who kind of feel bad for him? I'm a freshman. I can't imagine a year or two ago having this much scrutiny on my life.

He didn't have to agree to the SI interviews, but his parents failed on that one. Also, money solves a lot of problems.

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #121: March 19, 2010, 11:07:42 PM »
Harper tonight: 2-3, 1R, 4RBI

Prior to tonight:
.422
83 AB
29 R
8 HR
26 RBI
6-8 SB/SBA
.510 OBP
.867 SP
16 BB
19 K
.993 FP

Leads the team in every offensive stat except SB, and is 5 HR short of the single season school record.  He appears to be transitioning nicely to wooden bats.

Offline PatsNats28

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #122: March 20, 2010, 05:24:57 AM »
PA - it's in the other thread.

Offline houston-nat

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #123: March 20, 2010, 11:07:37 AM »
Well ... he strikes out 23% of the time. He must be a bum.

;)

Offline KyleScha

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #124: March 20, 2010, 02:33:31 PM »
29 runs in about 100 PA...