Oh,you'll still see the Harperstown shirts around for a few years as they dwindle in number and the Suns would be less than smart if they did not do some sort of Harper related giveaway next season for the collecting crowd,but Bryce Harper is beginning to make the transition from player to memory in Hagerstown.What kind of a legacy will Harper have here?
Well,to the average fan that saw him play a few times,Bryce Harper will be remembered for long homers,a powerful throwing arm and autograph lines that almost could have walked him to Harrisburg.
I do not want to speak for the average Suns regular,but I would wager that most of them are not unhappy to see Harper hit the bricks out of town.
It certainly weakens the team on the field,but the fan experience just improved 100 percent at the Muni.
The fan that came to games to see Bryce Harper will now drive up I-81 and leave us fans here in the Hub City alone to enjoy our little club without the invaders looking to get something signed from the baseball messiah (this coming from an autograph geek) or just wishing to see the projected "next big thing".
I never spoke to Bryce Harper in his three months here in Hagerstown.
Never asked him for an autograph (Full Disclosure,David Sloan did get me one for my collection),never asked for anything from him.
I just sat back and watched the show from the cheap seats and I did not always like what I saw.
Some nights,it was not bad-long homers and his consistent hustling play made one unable to find issues with his efforts.
I think very highly of Harper as a player and a prospect and on those nights,he was usually accommodating to the fans and signed for many fans-those were the good nights.
However,there were the bad nights,that saw the immaturity of temper tantrums,the refusal to even look at fans as Harper trotted onto the field (or sprinted off) as if the residents of this small town were beneath the latest sports hero of exalted status as dubbed by various media.
As Harper's stay lengthened,he began to revert to his behavior when he first hit town acting as if he was above it all.
A recent conversation that I witnessed went like this.
Person-"Hey,Bryce,great game last night,nice shot".
Harper-"sdieif" at a low decibel that only dogs and people as close as I was could hear that much.
I will not miss watching people not just ask for any autograph,but literally beg and lower themselves for Bryce Harper to sign an item.
Some of these people would get their item signed and others would not,but even if you were lucky enough to get the signature,would the memory truly be a good one?
I mean,it was not just asking in many cases,but literally lowering yourself to the begging area for the chance of an eighteen year old "Mr Harper" to scribble his name on your item?
To me,that would not be worth remembering.
I often comment on the weirdness of this hobby that I am involved in.
I got into the hobby as a way of staying close to the game that I love after simply tiring of the politics of youth baseball and it is fun for me even to this day.
As I once said to Battlin' Bob about this blog and about his -"When the day comes that it is not fun,stop doing it",that applies to the autograph hobby as well.
When it is not fun,I'll quit.
Really,when you boil it down,what we do is ask young men to sign their name on pieces of cardboard.
Silly?Yep,but not more silly than women driving to Ohio to spend hundreds of dollars to buy baskets to hold house keys in or dressing up like Chewbacca from Star Wars or blowing animals to kingdom come for sport or any other of the millions of things that we Earth inhabitants use to occupy our downtime.
Bryce Harper may or may not be the player that many fans expect to see patrolling the outfield for the Washington Nationals,but despite some nice stories about the night he slammed a ball over right center in a shot that ranks as the longest shot I have seen in Hagerstown and being possibly the best player to spend a decent amount of time in a Hagerstown Suns uniform,the overall experience was bittersweet at best.
And now,life returns to normal and back to what makes me come to the parks that I visit-the game that I love so much..
Photo Credit:Cherie Heimberger
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