Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

BYE-BYE BRYCE
Powerline ^ | 28 Feb 2019 | Paul Mirengoff

Posted on 03/01/2019 12:56:05 PM PST by Rummyfan

1956 was my first season as a baseball fan. That year Mickey Mantle had one of the best seasons ever by a hitter. He won the Triple Crown with a batting average of .353, 52 home runs, and 130 RBIs. His on-base average plus slugging percentage was 1.169.

I resisted the temptation to become a New York Yankees fan, opting instead for the hometown Washington Senators. Their star, Roy Sievers, became my favorite player. But I always wondered what it would be like to root for a team with a star having a season like Mantle’s.

In 2015, I found out. Playing for the Washington Nationals, Bryce Harper batted .330, hit a league-leading 42 home runs, and drove in 99 runs. His on-base average plus slugging percentage was 1.109.

Okay, this wasn’t quite Mantle in 1956, and not in terms of fancier stats either. But it was close enough.

And yes, unlike the 1956 Yankees, the 2015 Nationals were a .500ish team. But Harper’s Nats won four division titles in his seven seasons here. The Nats never had a winning season before he arrived.

Today, Harper signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. The deal is 13 years for $330 million. Months ago, the Nats offered him $300 million for 10 years. Harper made out marginally better by rejecting that offer and testing the market.

(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Sports
KEYWORDS: belongsinchat; bloggers; bryceharper; clickbait; mickeymantle; newyorkskankees; notnews; powerlineblog; roysievers; washingtonnationals
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-98 next last
Harper is very good, but not great. Maybe he will go on a several season tear in Phillie. I hope he does. But recent history has shown these monster long-term contracts do not work out well in the long run. Thirteen years is an eternity in baseball terms and Harper will be 39 by the end of the contract. And the Phillie fans will not be very patient with him....
1 posted on 03/01/2019 12:56:05 PM PST by Rummyfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

And he could have stayed with the Nats for ten years and $300M. Why go to Philly?


2 posted on 03/01/2019 12:57:02 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
Though few mention it, subtracting Harper, while it will cost 34 homers, a .899 career OPS and some amazing hair flips, would help any team improve its attention to fundamentals. When the most famous player on the team can’t go 10 days without failing to run out a groundball or overthrowing a cutoff man by 15 feet or throwing to the wrong base or being caught unprepared in the outfield or on the bases, it’s hard to demand total alertness from the other 24.
3 posted on 03/01/2019 12:57:59 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

Playing and living in DC must be hell.


4 posted on 03/01/2019 12:58:13 PM PST by DainBramage
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

Just drove down i-95 and saw a billboard in Delaware that said Philly welcomes Bryce.


5 posted on 03/01/2019 12:58:20 PM PST by sauropod (Yield to sin, and experience chastening and sorrow; yield to God, and experience joy and blessing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

Who?


6 posted on 03/01/2019 12:58:42 PM PST by humblegunner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

So he’ll be at Phillies with McCutchen?


7 posted on 03/01/2019 1:01:07 PM PST by pnz1 (#IMNOTWITHHER)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

“And he could have stayed with the Nats for ten years and $300M. Why go to Philly?”

Lot of it was deferred money.


8 posted on 03/01/2019 1:01:43 PM PST by romanesq (For George Soros so loved the world, he gave us Obama)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

A move like this might make sense if it boosts Philly’s attendance significantly, but that’s it. This sounds like a business decision, not a baseball decision.


9 posted on 03/01/2019 1:02:17 PM PST by Alberta's Child ("In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

“In my view, Harper was too much about himself and not enough about the team.”

I know someone whose son and Bryce Harper were on the same Travel Ball team. So she knew Bryce and his dad back when.

This is a very easy going, fun loving woman, not some hard nosed baseball mom- and her estimation of Bryce and his dad is exactly the same as the above quote. In fact her opinion of them rhymes with “hole”.


10 posted on 03/01/2019 1:07:57 PM PST by Pelham (Secure Voter ID. Mexico has it, because unlike us they take voting seriously)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
That year Mickey Mantle had one of the best seasons ever by a hitter. He won the Triple Crown with a batting average of .353, 52 home runs, and 130 RBIs.

And was paid around $100,000 for that production back in 1956.

11 posted on 03/01/2019 1:11:09 PM PST by Will88 (The only people opposing voter ID are those benefiting from voter fraud.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
That year Mickey Mantle had one of the best seasons ever by a hitter. He won the Triple Crown with a batting average of .353, 52 home runs, and 130 RBIs.

And was paid around $100,000 for that production back in 1956.

12 posted on 03/01/2019 1:11:21 PM PST by Will88 (The only people opposing voter ID are those benefiting from voter fraud.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan

That outrageous contract is, as has been reported, stupid money spent by the Phillies. I give Harper credit for milking it as much as he could, but you’re right, these long-term contracts, more often than not, end up being bad investments.

I’m a Tiger fan. The deceased owner, Mike Ilitch, wanted a World Series Championship so badly that he signed players to outrageous contracts, most of which have been a waste a money: Prince Fielder was probably the worst but they also wasted money on Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Jordan Zimmerman. Amazingly, they traded JV to the Astros and had to eat a portion of his contract. Meanwhile Verlander is still a perennial Cy Young contender for the Astros, Miggy and Zimmerman have missed a lot of time because of injuries, although both are supposed to back this year.

Can’t blame Harper for getting all he could. It appears that baseball contracts have split into two types: extremely lucrative contracts like Harper, Machado and Arenado have, and relatively piddling $1-5 million/yr contracts for solid, but not spectacular players.

The players don’t like it. They claim that their window of opportunity is short: that is the time they have between when they can first become free agents and when they get into their early 30’s. I’m sure they will try to have the rules changed during the next bargaining session.


13 posted on 03/01/2019 1:11:41 PM PST by be-baw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
And he could have stayed with the Nats for ten years and $300M. Why go to Philly?

The size of the Bank probably figured in his decision. He'll hit more HRs there than he did at Nats Park. I wonder if he'll run out ground balls? Phillies fans won't appreciate his slow trot to first.

14 posted on 03/01/2019 1:17:07 PM PST by pgkdan (The Silent Majority STILL Stands With TRUMP! WWG1WGA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: be-baw
Prince Fielder was probably the worst...

Prince never met a pizza he didn't like.

15 posted on 03/01/2019 1:18:49 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
Wish I had a "shoulder shrug" picture to post...

Now, if the Nats lost their Max Scherzer, I would be pissed...

16 posted on 03/01/2019 1:20:26 PM PST by SuperLuminal (Where is Sam Adams now that we desperately need him)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Will88

Let’s hope Bryce finishes out his life better than poor Mickey Mantle.


17 posted on 03/01/2019 1:21:42 PM PST by Williams (Stop Tolerating The Intolerant.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: be-baw

Some of us can remember when MLB players routinely had to have off season jobs to make ends meet.


18 posted on 03/01/2019 1:22:02 PM PST by Pelham (Secure Voter ID. Mexico has it, because unlike us they take voting seriously)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Rummyfan
Prince never met a pizza he didn't like.

Pepperoni. (he's a vegan)


19 posted on 03/01/2019 1:22:54 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Will88
And was paid around $100,000 for that production back in 1956.

Worse than that. According to baseball-reference.com, Mantle made $32,000 for the 1956 season. He didn't break 6 digits until 1963.

20 posted on 03/01/2019 1:23:20 PM PST by CommerceComet (Hillary: A unique blend of arrogance, incompetence, and corruption.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-98 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson