Not the best public-relations moment for the Nationals on Tuesday afternoon when Doug Harris, the organization’s director of player development, gave this quote to Sports Illustrated in a feature story on star prospect Bryce Harper:
“This is really unfair and it’s totally different, but if I can make a comparison to one guy that has been scrutinized like this, it would be Jackie Robinson. And it’s unfair because it was a different standard. He was under a microscope in an era when we didn’t have Internet, didn’t have cellphones. Now, Jackie Robinson had his life threatened. I’m not comparing Bryce to that. But as far as nonstop scrutiny? Absolutely. Day to day.”
Okay then. Didn’t help that Tony Tarasco, Washington’s minor-league coordinator, also made a comparison to Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947 despite intense opposition and often vicious treatment from fans, media, opponents and even some of his own teammates. Check out the full Sports Illustrated story here by veteran reporter Tom Verducci.
No question Harper has dealt with a lot for an 18-year-old kid who should have just graduated high school. But no good comes from invoking Robinson’s name. There’s a reason no one in the majors wears No. 42. I’m sure Harris would point out his qualifier – “I’m not comparing Bryce to that” – but it rings hollow when three sentences before you just did compare them. Harris is a legitmately good guy so chalk it up to a poor choice of words and some obvious hyperbole from both Harris and Tarasco. Harris clarified his remarks in a statement issued by the team later Tuesday. Only fair to let him have his say and give the quotes some context.
“I’d like to clarify my remarks as they appear in Tom Verducci’s recent Sports Illustrated feature story on Bryce Harper,” Harris said. “In talking to Tom, my sole intent was to speak to the scrutiny that Harper faces on a daily basis. That said, the hardships that Mr. Robinson endured in/around 1947 were unique and historical in context. While Harper’s current situation is extraordinary by most measures, it pales in comparison to the life of Mr. Robinson, nor will it approach the lasting impact. I regret making this ill-fated correlation.”
Harper is in Double- A Harrisburg now after a promotion earlier this month. But I was out in Hagerstown, Md. in May for a story on Harper and saw what he puts up with. There were indeed hecklers – allegedly his own fans – from the beer garden on the third-base side at Hagerstown’s Municipal Stadium. And the other team did make Harper a target – at least inside the lines, where pitchers would yell out after a strikeout early in the game. That’s to be expected for a kid who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 16. Verducci covers that territory well in his story. It says more about our society than it does about Harper, who has had a few admitted missteps on the field, but done nothing to generate criticism off it. But still – throwing Jackie Robinson’s name around isn’t the best way for team officials to prove that point and they get that.
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