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 ...
And he could have stayed with the Nats for ten years and $300M. Why go to Philly?
Playing and living in DC must be hell.
Just drove down i-95 and saw a billboard in Delaware that said Philly welcomes Bryce.
Who?
So he’ll be at Phillies with McCutchen?
“And he could have stayed with the Nats for ten years and $300M. Why go to Philly?”
Lot of it was deferred money.
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.
“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”.
And was paid around $100,000 for that production back in 1956.
And was paid around $100,000 for that production back in 1956.
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.
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.
Prince never met a pizza he didn't like.
Now, if the Nats lost their Max Scherzer, I would be pissed...
Let’s hope Bryce finishes out his life better than poor Mickey Mantle.
Some of us can remember when MLB players routinely had to have off season jobs to make ends meet.
Worse than that. According to baseball-reference.com, Mantle made $32,000 for the 1956 season. He didn't break 6 digits until 1963.
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