There are Washington Nationals fans who would love to see 19-year-old phenom Bryce Harper — cut from spring training camp Saturday and assigned to Class A Hagerstown — in uniform at Nationals Park on Opening Day.
To them, I say: What did Bryce Harper ever do to you?
This kid is almost too good to be true — a one-in-a-generation talent filled with confidence and humility, a bundle of positive energy.
And you want to expose him right away to Washington, the elephant graveyard for athletes, the place where careers go to die?
John Wall may prove to be a great player who may someday lead the Washington Wizards out of the abyss. He has had a terrific rookie season. But his future — and the future of the franchise — would have been better served if Wall had somehow been able to develop his game in a different atmosphere than he is surrounded by now in Washington, an atmosphere of hopelessness.
Harper will be better served, too, by experiencing his early days as a professional baseball player far away from Nationals Park which, despite the optimism of spring training, also has been a breeding ground for hopelessness and despair for Washington sports fans.
Harper has performed well so far, from his time in the Arizona Fall League play to spring training. And his exposure to the major league organization appears to have been nothing but positive, because, hey, it’s Florida. It’s sunny, it’s warm and baseball is fun.
“I’ve had a lot of fun out here. I’ve learned a lot being around the veteran guys,” Harper told MLB.com. “There is nothing better than being around those big league guys.”
Yeah, there’s nothing like March in Florida. Try talking that way in early August when the team is in last place, about 14,000 people are at Nationals Park and Washington is on its way to perhaps another 100-loss season.
Better days may be ahead, but why not bring in Harper while the revival of Washington baseball already is underway? He is a big boy at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds but shouldn’t have to carry the weight of the Nationals on his shoulders.
Hagerstown, Md., will be a better location for that burden. That is already is in the making. The Hagerstown Suns Web site had a photo of Harper with the headline “Harpertown.” The Suns organization should be excited about Harper’s arrival because his presence is likely to be a financial boon along every stop of his minor league development.
Like last year’s rookie pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg’s minor league stops, you can be sure there will be Nationals fans — and national media — making the pilgrimage to Hagerstown early in the season. And if things go right, that drive will be much shorter in the second half of the year — to Woodbridge, Va., where the Carolina League Potomac Nationals play.
As tempting as it may have been to have Harper in a Washington uniform on March 31 at Nationals Park, the best thing to do is keep him from this black hole until some light emerges.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
