Harper Harps On Olympics

Bryce Harper, you know the guy who was on Sports Illustrated at 16 for hitting a 570 foot home run. The guy that left the Nats to get paid and immediately watched them win a World Series the first year after he left. The guy who now has the title of “Overrated” and a “bad teammate.” Yea, that guy. Well, he went on the Starting 9 podcast with Jarred Carrabis and Dallas Braden earlier this week, and all I can say is WOW!

Before sitting down to listen to this podcast, I was never a fan of Harper. It is not because of his playing ability, and it’s not because he fought with Papelbon in the dugout when they were teammates in Washington. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure where my hatred for him comes from. It could be that he and Mike Trout came up at similar times, and the whole Trout vs. Harper debate started. To be clear, Trout all day, but that is a different article.

Harper sat down for over 2 hours talking about everything from his childhood, leaving high school early, the pressure of being “that guy” at such a young age, the fight with Hunter Strictland, the free agency process, and finally the Olympics.

Olympics in Tokyo

Bryce made many good points in this interview. One of the biggest and one of the things that I completely forgot about till hearing it was that baseball is back in the Olympics. That’s a big deal in its self, but once Again, Major League Baseball shoots itself in the foot. Why you might ask? Oh, just because they finally have a GLOBAL STAGE, and they decide it’s a fantastic idea to send minor leaguers over instead of MLB players.

LETS SHOCK THE WORLD…bring major leaguers to Tokyo 2021.

FULL video on @bryceharper3's ideas to grow the game of baseball: https://t.co/TPsVDpsdGR pic.twitter.com/AbiZgSW0A1

— Starting 9 (@Starting9) May 7, 2020

Harper is so spot on with this. Forget that 570-foot homer; he just hit this point to the damn moon! It is truly unbelievable that MLB guys are not going. Major League Baseball needs to fix it and fix it NOW!

What About the World Baseball Classic (WBC)?

What about the WBC is a great question, and its a fair one. In 2017 when the WBC was last on, it was electric! I remember watching it while on Spring Break my senior year in college and just thinking this is some of the best baseball I’ve ever seen. The passion and energy on every play from guys on every single team. It was unbelievable! Now times that by 1,000 when you talk about the Olympics. The WBC took place in America, and guess what? In 2021 when it happens again, it is also in America. When talking about the Olympics, we are talking about putting the best players in the WORLD—putting these players in Tokyo to play for and represent their countries. By doing so, is taking a huge step forward in growing the sport of baseball back to what it once was.

Conclusion

Having the Olympics happening right after the world starts opening back up is a fantastic way to get the countries back again and rallying around each other. It is an even better opportunity to grab the world’s attention by the balls and show it just how great the sport of baseball is once again. Get the MLB players back in the Olympics. Stop worrying about how much money the owners will lose. It happens twice in 10 years. TWICE! Those billionaires will be more than ok financially with playing 141 games every four years. Relax!

My opinion on Bryce Harper has done a complete 180. The guy is a great dude that just loves playing the game of baseball. This whole interview is fantastic. One of my college friends and I went to Philly last season to watch the Mets play the Phillies. He convinced me to buy a Bryce Harper Phillies jersey. I now own him more than a thank you! If you are a baseball fan, do yourself a favor and listen to it. I mean, it’s not like you have anything else to do today. Well done, Mr. Haper, well done!

-Kevin Perdios (@Perdios95)