Philly Front Office

Nationals fans hate Bryce Harper, plain and simple. Despite 7 years going by, the same amount of time he spent in Washington, they hate him with a passion and it is their own fault. Wait, it has been 7 years already? Crazy as it seems, yes. He has now spent just as much time in Philadelphia as he has Washington. I still vividly remember the moment it happened, standing up and screaming in an almost empty Miami coffee shop.

Since his career is now almost perfectly divided between the two destinations, which team do you think got the best of Harper? Was he better as a National or as a Phillie? Surprisingly, it has been almost exactly the same. Look at these totals (keep in mind there are still 42 games left this season and 102 games were missed in the Covid season):

	Games	Hits	2Bs	HRs	RBI	Walks	SBs	Avg	OBP	OPS	WAR	MVPs
WAS	927	922	183	184	521	585	75	.279	.388	.900	27.7	1
PHI	818	837	213	170	505	500	75	.281	.387	.907	25.6	1

Did anyone think it was going to be that close? He walked a little more in Washington and has hit a few more doubles in Philly. That’s the only difference statistically.

Thursday, August 14 at 6:45p – Jesus Luzardo vs Brad Lord (R)
Friday, August 15 a 6:45p – Zack Wheeler vs Mackenzie Gore (L)
Saturday, August 16 at 4:05p – Taijuan Walker vs Cade Cavalli (R)
Sunday, August 17 at 11:35a (WTF?) – Aaron Nola vs Mitchell Parker (L)

4 game series in Washington D.C. at Nationals Park

While Harper came in as a brash youth at 19, he still plays pretty much the same way. Even just last week he was thrown out at the plate rather easily on a shallow flyball to right, but he thought he could make it. Maybe 19 year old Bryce can make it, but the audacity to even try is completely fitting with our guy. That kind of thing happens all the time. I don’t mean the being a step slow, but the trying so damn hard to make things happen. Regularly he will take a lazy routine single to the gap and try to stretch it into a double. Is he always successful? Not at all! Him trying to do it though is still exhilarating.

With Harper, that chispa is why he has always captivated everyone watching him. He might not be as good as his contemporaries in Mookie Betts and Mike Trout, but the way he goes about his business with a total sense of urgency is the kind of thing we don’t see anymore. Any time he is up in a big situation, you feel like he is going to will something special into existence. It comes through the screen that he wants it just as much as the fans do. Harper is above suspicion in Philadelphia for this reason. He is the ultimate Philly guy, even if it comes off as extreme pandering.¹

Again, Nationals fans despise Bryce Harper. I know Mets fans who tell their kids to play the game like Bryce, but his former home hates him? How is that possible? Sure, some of it is him playing for the Phillies, but it seems much more personal. In fact, the well was poisoned even before he signed with the Phillies. They did it to themselves.

Harper always says that he never thought he would leave Washington. He is the kind of player who is very aware of history and the legend that comes with being on the same team for an entire career. However, he also knew he should be one of the highest paid players in the game. The Nationals never really wanted to do that. For years, Harper had been destined to sign a huge contract but the Nationals never came to the table with a realistic offer until the eve of his free agency. Even that though wasn’t a realistic offer.

Shortly after the 2018 World Series, the Nationals approached Scott Boras with an offer for Bryce Harper that looked really good as a headline: 10 years, $300 million. Honestly, if that was the real offer, he probably would still be in Washington. And that was the offer that made the headlines. BRYCE HARPER REJECTS $300m FROM NATIONALS! What a greedy player! How could he do that to the fans! TRAITOR! Everyone in the Capital was enraged. Good riddance, and they haven’t looked back.

That wasn’t the deal though. The Nationals real offer was 10/$200m with $100m more coming apparently 40 years later. Now I am not sure if this meant it started in 40 years or it ended in 40 years, but either way, that is a whole lot different than a straight $300m. Hell, there has been almost 29% inflation since that offer already. $100m in 2018 is only worth $77m now.

The Phillies stepped in and battled the Giants and Dodgers for his services, winning with a 13/$330m contract. This just barely exceeded the previous total value record signed by Giancarlo Stanton a few years before. The best part though was that there were no opt-outs in the contract. Despite all that Nationals fans want to say about Harper being a traitor, just by the look of the Phillies deal, he never wanted to leave. Why else would he sign a deal that leaves him in one place for the rest of his career virtually guaranteed? He didn’t even leave the region! Seeing the same ownership trade away Trea Turner and Juan Soto under similar circumstances should be all the fans need to know to realize Harper was never the bad guy in this.

Continue to boo him Nationals. I know you won a World Series without him and good for you, but you don’t get to have the joy of watching him try as hard as he possibly can every single time he plays. He is the same person he always was, just not with you.

1. Not that it isn’t extreme pandering, because it totally is. That helps, but for an outsider going into a formerly hostile market as a proven star, that type of flattery was necessary to win over this fanbase. Had he started his career here and just played his ass off, we would have loved him without all the pageantry. ↩︎