FANS FALL FOR HARPER
Though 0-for-3, outfielder earns standing ovations
PHILADELPHIA – Bryce Harper arrived to work Thursday morning at Citizens Bank Park wearing his cap backward, a black T-shirt with Philadelphia team mascots impersonating a scene out of “Pulp Fiction,” blue jeans and gray tennis shoes.
He changed, dressed for work in his new job as the Phillies’ right fielder and wore outrageous fluorescent green cleats with the Phillie Phantic painted on the side.
“Why not,” he said. “I thought it would be cool.”
Harper walked out of the dugout, sprinted to right field, took an exaggerated bow in front of the fans in right field, threw his hands high into the air and twice pumped his fist.
He wound up getting three standing ovations from the sellout crowd of 44,469, twice was lightly booed after striking out and cheered again after his introductory new dance with his fellow co-workers in the outfield.
He departed out of the Phillies clubhouse driving his new motorized scooter, flashing the lights, honking the bell, saying it was his first time driving it, planning to avoid the city streets.
Hello, Philadelphia, you have a new Hollywood star in town.
The Philadelphia fans took turns loving him, had fleeting moments of riding him, but not once in the Phillies’ 10-4 opening-day victory over the Braves did they ignore him.
Harper contributed nothing more to the offense than a walk — actually an intentional walk — but no matter, he still
was the star attraction.
“The energy, the atmosphere was unbelievable,” he said. “The place was rocking throughout the game.”
It was the moment the Phillies fans have been waiting for all winter, watching Harper, the most expensive free agent in history, donning a Phillies uniform for the first time and seeing what his presence could do for a team.
Well, for those keeping score, the Phillies scored 10 runs with Harper in the lineup.
His former team, the Nationals, scored zero runs without him.
“You get anxious, nervous,” Harper said. “I felt like a little kid at Christmas.”
Harper had already received two standing ovations before he stepped onto the field in front of the sellout crowd, ran out to right field with those size-13 shoes so bright that it could light up the Vegas Strip. He used to do something similar in Washington out of respect to the boys in the bullpen but decided that this day would be for the fans.
The crowd loved it, knowing Harper is all of theirs for the next 13 years, believing he will be the one responsible for playing baseball in this city deep into October.
The way Harper was feeling, why wait until the playoffs to start celebrating?
The moment the game ended, he corralled center fielder Odubel Herrera and Andrew McCutchen, who led off the game with a homer, and they performed an impromptu skit that Harper said he found on a video game.
“It was like the player of the game got the rock, trying to juke the guys,” Harper said, “and then score.”
Really, was that it?
“I don’t know what it was,” McCutchen said, “but we got to work on it. He just said, ‘Do it.’
“I said, ‘All right.’
“It was just like kids playing.” Harper, the richest free agent in baseball history at $330 million, didn’t do a thing to invoke any applause but simply show up and wave, but it marked a glorious beginning.
Harper, who has the hottest-selling jersey in all of baseball and is responsible for at least a half million in ticket sales since his arrival, created a scene just by his presence.
You know you got some serious swag when you can ground out to first base in your first at-bat, run hard to first base, and still get a standing O.
He struck out with Jean Segura on third base with no out in the third inning, and a smattering of boos greeted him. He struck out again in the fifth inning off Julio Teheran — a pitcher who had given up 18 hits and eight homers in 40 at-bats to Harper in his career — and those boos came just a little louder.
Still, considering the booing barely was audible in front of the most hardened fans in the game, perhaps it was the ultimate sign of respect.
“The atmosphere felt very much like October out there,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “It rocked out there. The story for me was the atmosphere.”
Well, and the fact that the Phillies’ newly revamped lineup scored 10 runs and Harper’s only contribution was the seventh-inning walk that set up Rhys Hoskins’ first career grand slam.
“That’s the presence of Bryce Harper, right?” Kapler said. “You walk Bryce to get to one of the best hitters in baseball, one of the best RBI men in baseball, and he comes through in a big way. That was a huge moment in the game for us.
“The middle of the lineup is ferocious.”
There will be plenty of times when Harper will be that guy, too. You’re not paying him $330 million to set up Hoskins. He is the centerpiece of that lineup and embraces the pressure of being the main man.
“He’s well-equipped for this moment,” Kapler said. “The biggest stage. The brightest lights. He’s been that stage since he was 15 years old.”
On this day, even with an oh-for-3 at the plate, he certainly played the role of the lead actor. Who else would show up wearing a T-shirt with the Phillie Phanatic and Gritty, the Flyers’ mascot, depicting Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield from “Pulp Fiction”?
A star was born in Philadelphia, showing the hype surrounding him is real.
He has 2,105 regular-season games remaining in his Phillies contract to live up to it.