Philadelphia Phillies star first baseman Bryce Harper has cherished his ability to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Besides the All-Star Game, the WBC is one of the few times Harper can truly feel overwhelming star power around him on a roster. It's a tournament that has been long awaited, given Harper's pride in playing for his home country. The moment has also given Harper an opportunity to talk about baseball on an even more global stage. The excitement of the WBC has not stopped Harper from advocating for baseball's brightest stars to be showcased in the Olympics in 2028 (subscription required) as well.
“Yeah, I've been fighting for LA '28 for a long time,” Harper said. “I think my whole career, I've been trying to get, you know, something started or something coming up. Obviously, the WBC's been great, but it's not the Olympics, right? Um, there's no disrespect to the WBC or anything, but everybody knows that when the Olympics are on, everybody's watching.”
Some fans have purposely overlooked the "no disrespect," and yes, Harper could've phrased it more gracefully. But all he's really saying is that the Olympics are the age-old gold standard, and being able to build on this WBC run with an Olympic Games to remember would be the next-level cherry on top.
Harper has always been an advocate for growing the game of baseball. Like many Phillies fans have come to know, Harper loves playing on the biggest stage possible and growing the sport to new heights. The Olympics in just two years time would be a massive step forward for the players and the sport as a whole. Some fans took Harper's comments as a jab at the WBC that he's currently competing in, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Bryce Harper's comments on the World Baseball Classic were truly meant to grow MLB, not downplay the tournament
Harper has loved playing for Team USA, especially hitting in front of Yankees' slugger Aaron Judge. The pushback he's received from this quote, with some thinking he would rather not be a part of the WBC, is nonsense. He's looked forward to playing in the tournament for years, but had to wait until 2026 to finally break through. His desire to play baseball in the Olympics is just Harper's way of explaining what the meaningful next step would be for MLB, knowing how big of a success the tournament has been already.
“You know, it'd be great for baseball,” Harper said. “You talk about growing the game, and, uh, you know, being able to grow it at that, at the highest level, um, would help out tremendously.”
Baseball is already a global sport, but MLB star participation in the Olympics would take the game to another level. The eyeballs on the sport would be on an even bigger stage than what is being shown now. It may feel massive now with the amount of attention the WBC is getting, but fans could only imagine how big it could be if Harper's idea came to life and Team USA could match what Jack Hughes and his hockey cohorts accomplished this past February.