Why I will always boo Bryce Harper at Nationals Park

The pain of growing up as a Nationals fan was unmatched. As a child not having my favorite sports in my hometown stung, but the Expos move to DC perfectly aligned with the emotional rollercoaster of being a young kid. The team stunk, my life was great, but it was easy to cry at another blowout. On the bright side, as my brain began to develop, it was right when the Nationals were getting good.

As a 12-year-old playing Little League baseball in Northern Virginia, every single kid wanted to be 19-year-old Bryce Harper. The play with your hair on fire montra, his violent swing, and his passion for the game, Bryce Harper could do no wrong in the eyes of a Nationals fan.

As a 19-year-old he spearheaded an improbable Nationals run to the playoffs, hitting 22 home runs, 26 doubles, 9 triples, and 18 steals, and remarkably the ability to play all three outfield positions well, even though he was still getting used to the position as he grew up playing catcher. This resulted in him running away with the Rookie of the Year Award, setting expectations sky-high heading into his age 20 season in 2013.

Harper produced another great season, not matching up to his rookie year, before disappointing in 2014. Although his career was off to an amazing start, it is not crazy to say he was a slight disappointment, since he was one of the most hyped prospects of all time. Harper being my favorite player did not stop my belief in him, and it all came to fruition in 2015. The best season I have ever seen in my lifetime.

For another season of high expectations in DC, Harper put it all together in 153 games in 2015. Harper led the league in on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, runs, and home runs, finishing the season with a 198 wRC+ and 9.3 fWAR, batting .330 with 42 home runs. Harper became the 5th youngest Unanimous MVP of All Time as a 23-year-old, with his perfect season allowing Bryce to live up to the hype as one of the greatest prospects of all time. The sky was the limit for Bryce Harper in DC.

Little did we know at the time, that 2016 season became the beginning of the end. After starting off the season hot, Bryce and the Nationals headed into Chicago for a three-game series against Joe Madden and the up-and-coming Cubs. No one could have predicted this series would live in infamy. With a struggling Ryan Zimmerman batting in the cleanup spot between Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy, the Cubs chose to go after Zimmerman, at the expense of reigning MVP Harper. Harper was walked 13 times in 4 games, breaking a record in the final game of the series, with 6 walks. Madden caught a lot of flack for it at the time, especially in the Nationals clubhouse with comments from Tanner Roark and manager Dusty Baker, but it obviously worked, as the Cubs swept the Nats.

What happened after that series is something weird that I still cannot explain. After slashing .286/.406/.714 with 9 home runs over his first 22 games, Harper only hit 15 the rest of the way, being a below average bat in the second half of the season hovering around a .700 OPS, and finishing the season with a 2.0 fWAR.

The guy who never loafed, always leaving everything he could on the ballfield, started to become unrecognizable. Harper seemingly was on his way out over the last few seasons in DC, and the talks of staying in Washington for the rest of his career quickly subsided. Towards the end of 2018, it was all but certain he would not be in a Washington Nationals uniform for Opening Day of 2019.

Now with all that being said, why boo the guy? He gave me moments that I will never forget. His rookie year and MVP seasons may never be seen again from a Washington Nationals prospect. The Nationals allegedly never gave him the offer that he wanted. So, why do I boo him? Because I have some information that most people do not know.

In high school, I was friends with someone that I will not give their name away, but their dad was someone very notable in the DC sports world. As high school aligned with the Bryce Harper free agency discourse, one thing remained constant. From the day I met my good friend, years before Harper entered free agency, I was always told one thing: Bryce Harper was waiting for the day to become a Philadelphia Phillie. The more I denied it, the louder the noise got. Until it finally happened.

After the seed was implanted in me, I had the thought in the back of my mind for years heading into his free agency, and after a dramatic drawn out process (that I am sure Bryce hated getting attention for) what do you know, he ended up in Philadelphia. Bryce always loved playing in Philly, loved the fanbase, and wanted to be a part of an iconic franchise for the rest of his career.

Now another question may arise, what is truly wrong with that? After first hating Bryce for going to the "enemy" the 2019 World Series run, without him, made life a lot better. I would always hate matching up against him over ten times per season, but at least we had the ring to cover for it. But my biggest problem with Bryce is what came in the years after. His media firestorm to save face.

After complaining for years that the Nats never gave him a respectful offer, even with rumors flying of the Nationals offering Bryce a $300 million dollar deal and Bryce talking about how he wanted to play in an outfield with Victor Robles and Juan Soto, he quickly turned the deal down, settling later on a $330 million contract, albeit with less AAV than what Washington offered. After signing in Philly, he was quickly embraced after a down first season, before going on attack vs the Nationals again, saying "I wish I began my career in Philadelphia". Petty or not, that was my final straw.

The young teenager that I felt like I grew up with and came to love as a player, quickly morphed into a loafing, complaining, disappointing hitter that the Nationals could never win in the playoffs. He rejected a good contract offer to stay, after plotting for years to become a Philly, and then continually bases Washington any chance he can get. I have no interest in rooting for Bryce Harper.

Call me petty, or whatever you want, nothing will change the way how I view Bryce Harper. I will never root for a traitor like that for the rest of my life.

And to wrap this up, here is what a true Nationals legend looks like:

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