And, if that's the case, they made the right call.
(Personally, I feel there's no way he doesn't become a Dodger, Red Sox, or Yankee player by age 26. All three of those teams would shell out massive amounts of cash for a player of that caliber. Historically, that's how it's done.)
My new favorite non-Red. Hustle, hustle.
Also, this throw: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21004035
One way it could be avoided I think would be if the Nationals are willing to offer a 10 year, $225 million deal when Harper is 22 or 23, years before he hits free agency. Thats how Washington can keep him from ever hitting the FA market. Shift the risk from the player to the organization. Otherwise you're right, the huge markets will prey on him.
2009 Attendance Record: 3-5 2010 Attendance Record: 2-9 2015 Attendance Record: 2-0
2011 Attendance Record: 3-4 2012 Attendance Record: 3-4
2013 Attendance Record: 5-2 2014 Attendance Record: 3-1
I'm guessing he goes all A-Rod, focusing on getting a record breaking, precident setting contract, and doesn't care who gives it to him.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
The 2 can definitely go hand in hand.
From everything I've seen, and it's somewhat limited, Harper does seem a bit arrogant and immature. I think we typically expect more out of baseball players because the culture is different. It seems like Harper could use some humbling.
Homer Bailey was once immature as well (albeit for different reasons) and he's come around rather nicely, so I think there's time for Harper to mature.
Harper just needs to make sure no lefty specialists sit on him at home plate.
“I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”
You're right. Top-10 media market. It's no New York, LA or Chicago, but it's plenty big.
From a baseball standpoint, you do have the Orioles right up the road and a lot of DC fans grew up rooting for the O's. So, that does reduce the volume of their fan base. However, yes, still a very big market.
Jayson Stark twitter:
There are a number of factors involved in a game's attendance other than just the players involved, but the Nats have to be pretty disappointed in the attendance for Harper's debut.Attendance for Bryce Harper's home debut: 22,675. Attendance for Stephen Strasburg's home debut on 6/8/10: 40,315
I seem to recall the Nationals building up Strasburg's debut for a couple of weeks, yes? Harper got called up somewhat abruptly and the Nationals didn't have time to market his arrival.
I don't think it's possible to truly compare the two for that reason as much as any.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Reds Fan Since 1971
Cole Hamels made his MLB debut in Cincinnati. HE dominated us for 5 innings. I almost wish they would have started him at home than here..... but I did pick up about 5 extra ticket stubs from the game from other fans and sold them for $15-20 a pop on ebay that week....
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