Bryce Harper’s debut
Bryce Harper couldn’t say enough about Matt Kemp, the guy who had just spoiled his major league debut.
Someday, that’s the kind of player the Washington Nationals rookie might become.
Hardly fazed by playing in front of a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium, the 19-year-old Harper showed some of the eye-popping talent that made him the first player picked in the 2010 draft, singling in his third at-bat, hitting a sacrifice fly and nearly nailing a runner at the plate with a perfect throw from left field.
That wasn’t enough to avoid the Nationals’ third consecutive loss, as interim closer Henry Rodriguez blew a two-run lead in the ninth. Kemp led off the 10th with the fifth game-ending home run of his career as the Los Angeles Dodgers roared back for a 4-3 win Saturday night.
“Seeing him hit a bomb, that’s just terrible. But he’s a great player, great hitter” – Harper said before reciting some of Kemp’s gaudy stats. “I know if I had a No. 1 pick, he’d be it. He knows how to play, he knows how to hit. He’s an unbelievable player.”
Much the same has been said about Harper, who three years ago appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated alongside the headline: “Baseball’s Chosen One.”
He did not disappoint in first crack at the big time.
Bryce Harper.
Bryce Harper’s first day in the major leagues came with all the hype one would expect for the player dubbed “Baseball’s Chosen One” when he was only 16 years old.
Talking to a large crowd of reporters in the visitor’s dugout at Dodger Stadium before the Washington Nationals played the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night, Harper expressed how excited he was for his big league debut.
“I think once the lights are turned on and the fans get here, I think that’s when my energy level’s going to go through the roof. So I’m trying to be as mellow as I can right now” – said Harper, now 19. “My dad told me: ‘Just to go out and have fun. It’s the same game you’ve been playing your whole life.”‘ His promotion from Triple-A Syracuse came a little earlier than expected – third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the disabled list because of inflammation in his right shoulder, making room for Harper.
And there he was, listed on the Nationals’ lineup card: the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 started in left field and batted seventh.
Harper grounded out to the pitcher in his first at bat and flew out in the fifth before collecting his first MLB hit, a double to deep center, off Chad Billingsley in the seventh.
“He seemed very relaxed” – Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. “I asked him if he had enough sleep, because he came in very late last night. But as strong and as young as he is, I’m sure he doesn’t need any sleep. Basically, I told him: ‘Glad to have you. Just relax and have fun.”‘ Hype has followed Harper every step of the way. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, heralded as “Baseball’s Chosen One” in June 2009.
He signed a five-year, 9.9 million dollars contract with the Nationals in August 2010, a record for a non-pitcher signed out of the draft who had not become a free agent. The deal included $6.5 million in signing bonuses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liS3kGvQ9Bk
“I really didn’t have butterflies at all. I think that’s one of the first times I’ve never gotten butterflies” – Harper said. “I was sitting in the dugout before the game and I was thinking to myself – ‘Wow, I’m in the big leagues.’ But I was talking to Adam LaRoche before the game and I told him – ‘Hey, I’m really calm right now.’ I was just trying to look for my pitch and got into some good counts. I think in the next week or so, it’ll really sink in.”
Because of the Nationals’ rainout last Sunday at Miami, Stephen Strasburg didn’t get the marquee matchup with NL Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw that many had hoped for. But the Nationals’ ace right-hander still had his hands full keeping up with Chad Billingsley, who matched zeros with him until both teams scored a run in the eighth against the two starters.
“We played a great team tonight” – Harper said. “Billingsley threw a great game and we fought ’til the end. That’s the way you want to start off your career, I think. But I wish we would have gotten the W, of course.”
Kemp drove a 1-2 pitch off Tom Gorzelanny (1-1) to center field for his majors-leading 11th home run, breaking the Dodgers record for long balls in April set by Gary Sheffield in 2000. Kemp tossed his helmet as he galloped from third to home plate, where he was mobbed by teammates.
“We’re having fun right now” – Kemp said. “It took everybody to get this win tonight. I got the pitch I wanted to hit, a fastball over the middle and I hit it hard.”
Jamey Wright (1-0) pitched a perfect inning for the win.
Strasburg allowed one run and five hits over seven innings, struck out nine and walked none in his Dodger Stadium debut before a rollicking crowd of 54,242.
“I knew it was going to be a loud stadium tonight, so I just wanted to go out there and keep my composure, pound the strike zone and do my best and keep the team in the ballgame” – Strasburg said. “This was a tough one for us.”
Rodriguez, trying for his sixth save and first since tag-team partner Brad Lidge went on the disabled list on Friday, gave up a ground-rule double by Juan Uribe – one pitch after a fan ran onto the field and was tackled in left-center by security guards.