Imagine yourself as a baseball player who could blast 570ft. home runs. Imagine being a catcher who can pick off any runner from his knees. And what would you do if you could throw 96mph when clocked from the mound? Well, while the vast majority of us are thinking this over right now there is one young man who is not. 16 year old Bryce Harper.
At age 16 Harper has just completed his sophomore year at a Las Vegas High School in the dry state of Nevada. Harper is not your ordinary high school ballplayer. Bryce Harper mainly plays behind the plate but he also pitches and picks up third base and shortstop when needed. This 16 year old stands in a frame of 6'3 205lbs. I'd sure like to see him and Lebron go one on one. As a 12 year old Harper stood at 5'10. He was the 2009 High School Player of the Year. As a freshman Harper hit .590 with 11 home runs and 67 RBIs in 38 games. In his sophmore year he hit a whopping .626 with 55 RBIs and 14 home runs. Bryce Harper is the first sophomore to be named as a first team All-American by Baseball America. Not sold on Harper yet? Well listen to this; in a high school game he hit a 570-foot home run over the "right field fence, two trees, another fence, a sidewalk, five lanes of traffic on elevated South Hollywood Boulevard and yet another sidewalk, until it finally landed in the brown, undeveloped desert." (from Sports Illustrated, June 8, 2009.) Oh, and might I add that he hit that monster shot when he was 15.
At the International Power Showcase, a home run derby for top high school prospects held at Tropicana Field, Harper hit a 502-foot home run. It hit over the right field scoreboard. Harper's home run was measured as the farthest long ball ever hit at Tropicana field. Let me throw in that he hit the catwalk at Tropicana Field a few times. Here is a link to a video of Harper at the showcase in Tropicana Field: Harper at International Power Showcase
As if hitting moonshots and popping the jugs gun in the 90s isn't enough attention for one young man; he made national headlines on June 14th. His father announced that Bryce would leave high school two years early, take classes at the College of Southern Nevada, and receive his GED in the fall. Anybody else know what that means? It means that Bryce Harper will be eligible for the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft which would virtually make him the consensus number one pick.
Now here is what intrigues me more than ever about this whole scenario. As it stands now, the Nationals are in the Major League cellar ,but not far behind are none other than the Pittsburgh Pirates. So as GM Neal Huntington continues to trade away the old Bucs and bring in the new, I am wondering how this kid would look in black and gold. Sure its a risk leaving high school ,but in my opinion I say why not. I'm sure major league coaches can teach and develop him more than his high school coaches are doing. He is more than likely going to sign on with Scott Boras so if I was his family I would not even concern myself with the possibility of an injury. The signing bonus he would receive with Boras as an agent would last him a lifetime even if he didn't suit up for one Major League ballgame.
He hits the ball a mile, has an NFL ready frame, can top 96 on the gun, and he is only 16. I thinks it's safe to call him "The Natural." If I was a major league general manager I take Harper without hesitation if he fell into my lap come next June.
Cousin Eddy,
ReplyDeleteYou're doing GREAT work, but one thing you have to do is carefully proofread your writing and correct any misspellings, sentence fragments, etc. This can be tedious, but it's what separates the men from the boys.
For not having had any formal journalism training, you're doing a really nice job. Your own baseball insight and use of baseball jargon is an asset to your blog. It takes a long time to build up a following. The only way that you can do that is by writing often, writing intelligently and proofreading your work. I also like to use a lot of graphics to give the eye a breather and break up the type.
As an initial effort, my grade is "O" as in "OUTSTANDING POTENTIAL AS A WRITER". You need some polish, but holy cow, that will come. Keep writing, you could have a career at it someday.
I'm proud of your effort!
Your Uncle and "P.B. & G." publisher, "Raul's Dad"