The Nationals already have one player causing drama and hype whenever he plays. Next month they might add a second in catcher Bryce Harper.
And his presence in the Junior College World Series May 29-June 5 in Grand Junction, Col., is causing the same sort of furor that Stephen Strasburg is creating at every place he pitches. In fact, the tournament anticipates a sellout at 12,000-seat Suplizio Field in any game Harper plays. Saturday, Harper had six hits, four homers and 10 RBI as the College of Southern Nevada clinched a spot in the JUCO World Series.
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“There is no question that Harper is the talk of the town and the talk of the tournament and he isn’t even here yet,” Patti Arnold, sports editor of The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, told The Washington Examiner‘s Jim Williams. “How often do you get to see a player Sports Illustrated calls the LeBron James of baseball?”
Apparently, there already is debate about whether or not Harper will homer onto a fairway of a golf course that sits behind the left field fence. The green on that hole is 550 feet from home plate. In right field, there’s a tennis court and swimming pool and is 500 feet away (his longest homer is 502 feet).
Considering it will be hot (90 degrees) and with the town’s elevation — and the fact that Harper will be using an aluminum bat — perhaps he could hit one of those targets. And if he does, the hype will only grow for him. Just like it has for Strasburg.
