Now you might be thinking to yourself "But Bryce Harper is already a Phillies legend" and you are wrong so keep scrolling to the next TV show with Minecraft parkour in the background. He is right on the cusps of becoming one with Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, and hell, even Robin Roberts and Richie Ashburn.
Lets talk about what Bryce Harper has already done to get a sense of how good he really is, and also relive some awesome memories.
Signed the Biggest Contract in Baseball History
13 years, 330 million dollars and its already almost halfway over. At the time it was the biggest contract in baseball history, out doing Giancarlo Stanton by 5 million dollars (lol Marlins) and now he is not even the highest paid player per year on the Phillies (Trea Turner gets 1.7 million more per year). But before Bryce Harpers contract, the Phillies never really got all-star worthy players in their prime, it always seemed like it was 5 years post prime is when the Phillies signed big names. Take 38 year old Jose Bautista batting 3rd and playing right field in 2018 as an example. But now, we got guys frothing at the mouth to be apart of the Phillies. Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Zack Wheeler, Trea Turner, and more.
MV3
Bryce went on a historic run in the second half in 2021. I remember when I was watching the games in my college dorm room, he hit at least a double every at bat. Reminded me of me when I played kickball at recess (I was a lot of girls first guy they called big daddy). He easily won it with 17 of 30 first place votes beating out youngsters Juan Soto, who would’ve been a Philadelphia Philly if Shohei Ohtani didn’t inflate the market with a 700 Million dollar deal, and Fernando Tatis Jr.. Bryce had 28 doubles in the second half, 20 bombs, and he slashed .338/.476/.713. Those are some early 2000's Bonds Stats right there.
He "Found" Jeff Hoffman
When Bryce Harper was in Rehab after getting Tommy John Surgery, which he came back from in record time. He took some live at bats off of a career AAAA relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman. After Hoffman diced Harper up, Harper immediately went to the front office and insisted that Hoffman gets promoted to the big league right away. So what did the Phillies do? Whatever the hell your franchise player tells you to do. Jeff Hoffman is now an All-Star reliever and one of the best relievers in the league boasting back to back sub 2.5 ERA seasons. And if the Phillies don't resign Hoffdaddy, then they will hear it from my twitter account with 10 followers.
Epic Homeruns
It all started with this 2019 walk off grand slam against the Cubs when the Phillies were down 5-1 going to the bottom of the 9th in front of a very deflated Philadelphia crowd. I remember listening to this on the radio while on vacation and it was awesome to hear the call from the great Scott Franzke. Lets watch and observe together.
What about that time he literally picked the Phillies up, and put them in the World Series in 2022 with the swing of his life.
I think I have seen this home run no less than 1,000 times since it was hit. When it was hit I shed a tear, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. I was not in attendance for that home run, but I was for the one where he stared down Orlando Arcia... twice.
I remember watching this live from section 420 all the way up in the heavens and I felt like I was right there staring Arcia down with Bryce. Let me tell you how awesome this home run was at the Bank. After both dongs, I didn’t care that the 300 pound behemoth of a lady next to me was hugging and high-fiving me, I was just happy to be there for a moment in history.
Ok so thats what he's done so far in Philadelphia. Pretty good right. But I think he can do more, and he needs to do more. Here is what he needs to do.
Win a God Damn Championship
Bryce has calmed down a lot in his older years. He is no longer the fire ball player that is fighting teammates ( Jonathon Papelbon is such a douche ) and slapping his helmet off when he legs out a triple. But if he were to sit down in the clubhouse and light a fire under the teams ass after that 2024 NLDS Game 1 blunder, there is no way that the Phillies go out with such a whimper. The Phillies desperately needed a wake up call and it was right there for Bryce to act upon. Without a Championship, Bryce Harper will just be a better version of Joel Embiid.
Some Hardware
In the 6 years that Bryce has been a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, he has been an All-Star only twice. Now granted, he wasn’t even an All-Star when he won MVP in 2021, but he is on the back end of his career and his contract with the Phillies, the time to strike is now. I am thinking that he will win some gold gloves here at first base. He was a finalist this previous year and it was his first year playing first base full time. Im thinking 3-4 gold gloves would cement his fielding. Also, I know this is a big ask, bigger than a ring, he needs another MVP. He might have 2 on his career, but only 1 as a Philly. Do you know who else won only 1 MVP as a Philly? Thats right, Jim Konstanty in 1950. A mediocre middle reliever who somehow was the first relief pitcher to win the MVP in baseball. Konstanty's most notable stats are his 22 saves and 16 wins. So yeah, I would like the best player on my team to have more MVP awards than Jim Konstanty for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Somehow this guy beat out Stan Musial who led the league in average and slugging.
Bryce Harper is a Philadelphia icon and I would donate a kidney for him to have played his entire career with the Phillies, but he just needs to finish. Don't drift into the sunset like Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard.
Shoutout Baseball reference for all the stats.
Thats the Tea, with T
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