Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper thrives on your hate.
He hears your boos, and responds with a bomb.
He did it to Mets fans in June, Cubs fans in July, and in August, to the Nationals fans who once loved him in Washington DC.
After one of these hate-fueled bombs, Harper will often blow kisses to the spectators, kind of like the cherry on top of a you-hate-to-see-it sundae.
Bryce Harper telling Mets fans how much he loves them pic.twitter.com/GjRRTmHq5X
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 26, 2021
In Chicago, Cubs fans were chanting “F*** Bryce Harper” as he came up to bat in the seventh inning. (Link warning: obviously profanity)
He demolished the first pitch he saw to hit his first multi-run homer of the season.
https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1412605963706634241?s=20
Including his first multi-run bomb of the season, Harper went 5-for-6 in the game with two runs scored, a double, and four RBI. Baseball-Reference noted that no Phillies batter had gone 5-for-6 or better since Juan Pierre in 2012. Cue “Deja Vu” by Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
On Tuesday night, Harper stepped up to bat in the ballpark he used to call home and hit one out. He has 17 home runs on the season now; five of them have come against his former team. This no-doubter brought his total to 10 against the Nationals since leaving them for the Phillies.
https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1422725132179673089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1422725132179673089%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcsports.com%2Fwashington%2Fnationals%2Fbryce-harper-blows-kiss-nationals-fans-after-hitting-home-run
Over 29 games since the beginning of July, Harper is now hitting an absurd .360/.472/.640 with a 1.112 OPS, 16 doubles, four home runs, 18 RBI, and five stolen bases in six attempts. He’s walked more times (22) than he’s struck out (19).
If the All-Star Game was this month, Harper would be starting. He’s now being discussed as an NL MVP candidate. He’s transformed his season from quietly mediocre to quietly epic.
Will Nationals fans ever get over Bryce Harper choosing the Phillies?
Harper left the Nationals to go to their division rivals in Philadelphia, and fans hated him for it. They watched their former NL Rookie of the Year and NL MVP take a 13-year deal with a team they hate. But they also watched their team win its first World Series that same year. Without him.
At the same time, Nationals fans just watched their team go into full rebuild mode and trade away Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Yan Gomes, Josh Harrison, Daniel Hudson, Brad Hand, and Jon Lester, less than two years after that same championship.
While some players can’t take the heat, it seems that Harper thrives on it. It’s pretty impressive; do you think you could do your job on national television while thousands of people were hurling expletives at you?
This team keeps trying to recapture 2008 Phillies magic
Cole Hamels is the latest (and last) member of the 2008 Phillies World Series championship team to go to the Los Angeles Dodgers.