Bryce Harper’s 451-foot home run could bring another red seat to Nats Park

Bryce Harper’s first-inning home run off of Dodgers starter Bud Norris on Wednesday traveled 451 feet and landed in the rarefied air of the third deck at Nationals Park. It was Harper’s longest home run of the season and the third-longest home run of his career, trailing only the 453- and 452-foot home runs he hit last season.

“All of us in the dugout were pretty in awe,” second baseman Trea Turner said. “I’ve never seen a ball land up there.”

According to CSN’s Daniel Shiferaw, Harper’s home run landed in the lap of Rev. Dr. Susan Moore of D.C.’s All Souls Church. The spot — Seat No. 13 in Row J of Section 236 — could one day be marked by a red seat.

The Nationals began marking historic and long (i.e., landing in the third deck or Red Porch) home runs before last season, similar to how the Senators commemorated Frank Howard’s 500-level home runs with white seats at RFK Stadium.

The following six home runs, including two third-deck shots by Harper, were marked before the 2015 season:

No home runs have been marked since, but a Nationals spokesperson said that Harper’s latest home run meets the criteria. No timetable has been set for adding another red seat to Section 236.

Nationals' Bryce Harper: Two hits in Friday's win

Harper went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in Friday's win over the Padres.

It's his second straight two-hit game, and after slumping through the latter part of May, Harper's now hitting .308/.393/.404 through 52 June at-bats. It's only a matter of time before his power re-emerges as well, so the Nats' slugger could be poised for a productive few weeks heading into the All-Star break.

Can 'baseball unicorn' Bryce Harper bring magic back to the game?

q's sports culture panel thinks beyond the play-by-play to weigh in on the societal impact of sports stories. Not a fan? Not a problem. Our panel watches much more than the scoreboard. 

Today the Toronto Star's Morgan Campbell, CBC host and reporter Sonali Karnick and Globe and Mail baseball columnist Stacey May Fowles join Shad to discuss the biggest and strangest stories in sports. Today: 
 

• Baseball's bad boy Bryce Harper was suspended for confronting an umpire. Is he baseball's fun saviour? Or kind of a jerk? Fowles certainly seems pro-Harper: "He's a fabulous baseball unicorn ... he's performing for himself." But Campbell is a bit more skeptical, noting that players of colour get a lot more flak for similarly colourful behaviour. 
   
• It's the 20th anniversary of the WNBA so why does women's basketball seem to be leaving America en masse? Can superstar player Skylar Diggins stem the tide? Campbell argues that every few years, the WNBA presents celebrates its own unicorn, presenting her as someone who will elevate the entire league. "It's a bit too much of a burden to put on one person," says Campbell. 
   
• And forget the hammer and sickle, the steroid seems to be this generation of Russian athletes symbol of choice, the country is once again under fire for doping. Campbell calls it "state sponsored doping". "Something has to be done but we should be very cautious about saying that a boycott is a good idea," adds Fowles.

The story behind Bryce Harper’s ‘Make Baseball Fun Again’ hat

Tom Rauen was positive Bryce Harper’s new hat would cause a stir. He just didn’t know when the reigning MVP would show it to the world.

About two weeks ago — after Harper’s comments to ESPN the Magazine about infusing his sport with joy sparked national headlines — Harper reached out to Rauen with a request: he wanted a “Make Baseball Fun Again” hat.

“Sure thing,” the owner of Envision Tees replied.

The next day, Rauen ordered the hats. Two days later, he sent a pair of models — one red, and one white — to Harper at spring training in Viera, Fla. Then he waited.

“I thought he was going to wear it right away,” Rauen said. “But he knows that if he would have wore it last week after a spring training game, it might have been picked up by a couple people. The fact that he timed it on Opening Day, after he hit a home run and he was already going to make some media headlines, it kind of just put together the perfect media storm.”

That’s why Harper, and his hat, were on every sports website Monday night. It’s why tweets about the hat were shared thousands and thousands of times. It’s why ESPN did a segment on the hat Tuesday morning. It’s why Rauen started receiving a flood of emails, asking why the hats were not for sale.

“I wasn’t planning on selling it,” he said. “I was lying in bed [Monday night], and I was like ‘All right, I’ve got to get this thing up.’ People were bombarding me with emails.”

So now you can buy the original model, from its maker. Envision sold dozens Monday night; during our 11-minute chat Tuesday morning, the company sold two more. But while the demand might have surprised Rauen, the interest didn’t.

“I knew for sure [it would cause a splash], just because of the timing, with the elections coming up and everything that’s going on,” Rauen said. “I knew as soon as he wore it that it would be a hit.”

Rauen’s Iowa apparel company — Envision Tees — has been making shirts for Nats giveaways for a decade, after submitting a bid from afar. He started traveling to Washington and forging relationships with players and agents, so that “if there was anything they wanted on a personal level, we could be their go-to guy.” The company made those wristbands Harper wore last season, featuring a caricature of his face. Envision once made Teenage Mutant Ninja Hurlers T-shirts for the Nats pitchers. Toward the end of the 2013 season, at Harper’s request, Envision made red-and-black camo T-shirts reading “To the last minute. To the last second. To the last man: We FIGHT!”

Of course, there’s a separate history to these Harper hats. Because after the ESPN the Magazine attention in early March, Brady Phelps was touched by inspiration:

Then it hit me. Trump’s stupid MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN hats were everywhere. What if I made a hat for Bryce Harper that said MAKE BASEBALL FUN AGAIN? It was perfect. I’m not so hot at photoshop (super-hot at MS Paint though), so I hit up my buddy @nick_pants with the idea. Within hours, Nick came through like a champ with this.

I fired out the tweet, tagged Bryce, and said to myself, “This hat is awesome. I should actually make these. They’d sell like hotcakes. You could even change the colors around for your team. I should even send one to Bryce! How funny would that be?” Did I do any of that? No, of course not. I did nothing.

Phelps saw history pass him by. Others, though, spotted an opportunity more quickly. Barstool Sports, for example, is also selling the “Make Baseball Fun Again” hats.

So I like to think of this as a giant baseball collaboration: of an idea from Brady Phelps, and a Photoshop from @nick_pants that the outfielder might or might not have seen, and marketing savvy from Bryce Harper, and an apparel company from Dubuque, and a dramatic win from the Nats (thanks to several bungled plays by the Braves), and then all of us social-media-obsessed hat-and-slogan-loving weirdos agreeing that this was something the world needed to see.

“I was kind of sitting back and waiting, waiting, waiting. And I think he timed it perfectly,” Rauen said. “It was pretty cool to see the media just go crazy on it.”

Washington Nationals Editorial: Revisiting the Bryce Harper vs. Mike Trout Debate

After Bryce Harper’s historic 2015 season, let’s revisit the Bryce Harper vs. Mike Trout debate

In the 2012 season, Major League Baseball began its transformation from a veteran-dominated sport to a league headlined by young talent. The National League stepped back in awe as Washington Nationals 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick broke on to the MLB scene, leading his team to their first playoff series in team history while taking home Rookie of the Year honors.

Meanwhile, over in the American League the Los Angeles Angels were busy watching a young stud of their own take his first full season in the majors by storm, finishing second in MVP voting while receiving the AL Rookie of the Year Award.Bryce Harper and Mike Trout, both selected in the first round of their respective drafts, may just be the best two players in all of baseball, but who will be better in 2016?

Combined, the two phenoms have hit 236 homers, drove in 645 runs, and accumulated two MVP awards. In 2016, Trout will be entering his age-24 season while Harper, a year younger, will be looking defend his MVP title after his historic age-22 year. While the Angels’ center fielder has accumulated more accolades and accomplishments over the past four years, Harper has put together the more dominant single season.

In their careers, Trout leads the way in nearly every offensive statistic, from games played to home runs. No one in their reasonable minds will doubt that Trout has been the better player. In the field, Harper has more outfield assists (in less opportunities), but Trout avoids errors much more often.

Looking at single season totals, however, changes the game completely. In their best single-season efforts of their careers, Harper beats Trout in home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, and OPS, while Trout has the edge in hits, doubles, runs scored, RBIs, and stolen bases.

Heading into 2016, which player will have the better offensive season? Trout figures to be hitting third in the lineup, placed between Kole Calhoun (.308 OBP in 2015) and Albert Pujols(.480 SLG). Harper will most likely slot in at the number three spot as well, sandwiched between Anthony Rendon (.344 OBP) and Ryan Zimmerman(.465 SLG). Both players have teammates in front of them that can get on base and power hitters behind them that are capable of driving them in. So the question boils down to, who will be a better hitter?

If both players remain healthy, one could easily see either of them taking home their respective MVP honors in 2016. They have the chance to become the first duo to ever win Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards together. Harper is the flashier player, always playing with a high level of intensity unparalleled by the rest of the league. Trout, on the other hand, has been the most consistent player in all of baseball. The scary part? They’re both only getting better.

All right, all right, who do I think will be better in 2016? Call me biased, but here’s the case for Bryce Harper. The 23-year old is coming off one of the greatest single-season efforts in the history of the game, regardless of age. Staying healthy has been a problem for Harper in the past, but I expect that getting a full season under his belt will do wonders for the rest of his career.

Since August 1st of 2014, Harper has posted a 1.082 OPS, far and away the highest mark in all of baseball. That is eight months of regular season baseball in which he averaged a higher OPS than Hall of Famer Tris Speaker ever achieved in a single season. Trout has a pretty high ceiling, but it remains to be seen if he ever achieves numbers that historic.

With both players seemingly having their paths to Cooperstown cut out for them, all that’s left to do is sit back and watch the two studs compete at the highest level. They aren’t even 25 yet folks, so let’s sit back and enjoy the ride.

2016 Outlook: Bryce Harper

You know how a year ago it seemed unthinkable that Bryce Harper could have ever ranked higher than Mike Trout, even if just on some silly prospects list? When a player of Harper's caliber has his light bulb moment, it rocks the foundation of the baseball world. Now, probably most of us would rank Harper ahead of Trout for Fantasy purposes. It's nothing against Trout. It's just that Harper is coming off one of the all-time great seasons, delivering the sixth-highest OPS+ -- a number that's adjusted for era -- since 1970. It's fair to say he has as much home run and on-base potential as anyone, and since Trout doesn't run much anymore, it's at least a coin flip between the two for the first overall pick. Some Fantasy owners may opt for Trout since he has done it longer, but at least last year, Harper did it better.

Washington Nationals 2015 Player Review: Bryce Harper

Our roster review series continues with the player who got the highest grade of the season, Bryce Harper. 

As we continue our player reviews for the 2015 Washington Nationals’ season, we get to the player that continues to dominate the national headlines this week. Earlier this month, Bryce Harper was awarded the National League MVP, the first one in the history of the Nats. At age-22, Harper had a fantastic season for the Nats, even though the team failed to reach its goal of the postseason.

Yes, Harper didn’t get his ring, but he got a bunch of hardware this offseason. Whether it was a MVP, a silver slugger, the Hank Aaron Award, Most Outstanding Player in the NL (Players’ Association), or the two E-Surance MLB awards he won (best Major Leaguer and best everday player), Harper deserved each one of those accolades.

In 153 games this season, Harper had a slash line of .330/.460/.649 with 42 home runs, 99 RBI’s, 118 runs scored, 124 walks, a 1.109 .OPS, and a 9.9 WAR. He led the National League in runs, home runs, slugging, and .OPS, and was second in batting average and walks.

When I joined District On Deck in January, one of the players I was excited to write about on a daily basis was Harper. Even though injuries prevented him from reaching his potential in the past, he showed this season that his at-bats are something you have to stop what you are doing and watch what might happen next.

Back in spring training, I had a conversation with my fellow co-editor, Pablo Roa, about Harper and the plate discipline he was showing when he was one of the leaders in walks at the time. Back when I saw that, I knew it would be a special season for Harper if he stayed healthy, but I never imagined he would have this type of season in an All-Star year.

As you examine the right fielder’s numbers more closely, he did not hit lower than .286 in any given month (April). He drove in double digit runs in every month except August (nine RBI’s in 98 at-bats). Plus, he was an excellent hitter at Nats Park this year. He had a slash line of .345/.448/.682 with 23 home runs and 53 RBI’s.

There are so many memories to look back on about Harper’s year, but if I had to pick one moment, it would be that torrid stretch he had in the month of May. In a month where Harper hit .360 with 13 home runs and 28 RBI’s, it was a three-day stretch from May 6-May 8 that stole the show. He hit six home runs over that span, which included a three home run game against the Marlins and a walk-off home run against the Braves (one of his two walk-off hits in 2015).

While Harper did get thrown out a few times, including late in some games, and being involved in the Jonathan Papelbon incident in September, he did show a lot of maturity in his fourth year in the league. For me, he has come a long way from a player that was once voted the most overrated player in the game.

The main question for Harper going into the 2016 season is can he duplicate what he did in 2015? If you listen to what will soon be his former teammate, Ian Desmond, there might be more greatness to come from Harper in the future, especially if he gets aggressive on the bases: