Bryce Harper being a role model

[nicktv08]

There is absolutely no issue here. He did nothing to show up another player, he didn't show out on the field, show up the umpire or disrespect anybody. Would you have made a thread if Skip Schumaker or Martin Prado did the same thing?

Neither of those players have the impact Harper has had on so many young kids. So no I probably wouldn't have made a thread. Harper has all this hype surrounding him. He chose that road in the life and has to realize he can't act like an immature child anymore.

 

[PadresFan86]

Yeah, no kidding. The guy has NO respect for bats whatsoever.

Unless it said something to piss him off, of course.[/

Glad you found it funny. I for one don't. If you're a professional then act like one. How many kids now are going to think its ok to throw bats when they strike out?

He is a kid

Sent from my SPH-M820-BST using Sports Cards by Freedom Card Board.com

 

[Frow]

Ok Hallsgator we get it..none of the examples you provided resulted in the player needing ten stitches and taking himself out of the lineup for the next couple games. The Nationals are already struggling with injuries and Im sure they didn't need Harper being a ******* and getting hurt.

You mean like Kevin Brown punching a wall, or Kyle Farnsworth kicking a fan, Milton Bradly tearing his ACL when trying to go after the umpire, Troy Tulowitzki getting stiches in his hand after pounding his bat against the ground, Larry Anderson hurting his ribs trying to join a brawl, Oliver Perez kicking a laundry cart in the clubhouse and breaking his toe, or Kenny Rogers punching a water cooler.

Yea...I'm sure Bryce Harper is the one that's going to start a mass baseball bat aggression hysteria among our youth.

 

[Brewer Andy]

I don't like the kid, but I too see nothing wrong with this. A desire to excel and high expectations for yourself are good

 

[Card Magnet]

Well seems like everyone is ok with it and I'm standing by myself. I don't think this has anything to do with participation trophies? Idk what tangent you are going off on but ok. And as for this happening every game I don't think I have every seen a player smash a bat of a wall? Yes they throw gloves or tip over Gatorade coolers but that was a bit much. But o well sorry for posting the thread just thought it was extremely immature and a bad way to handle the situation. I've played baseball all throughout high school and one year of college and if you strike out you deal with it like a man, not like a little boy.

I don't think I really went on much of a tangent. It was directly related to what you originally said about being a role model for kids. Kids can learn a great deal about not being happy with just showing up from Harper. You have to demand nothing less than the best from yourself. Don't settle for that participation trophy. "Hooray, I made the team" doesn't fly - you have to demand more from yourself.

Harper doesn't just show up for a paycheck. He's not content with accepting defeat. Every time a batter comes to the plate, it's a whole new match, one on one with the pitcher. To strike out is to be defeated. Harper is a fierce competitor who expects more from himself than to strike out three times. When that happens, he becomes frustrated, and frustration has to be let out. He can't be Andy Griffith and whistle his way back to the dugout. He lets some frustration out, this time breaking a bat, and then uses the rest to motivate himself to do better. Sometimes the conductor has to pull that whistle and let a little steam and pressure out of the fire to keep moving.

As far as "dealing with it like a man, not like a little boy", he handled it like a man - he took it out on a bat and a wall. He didn't, as I said, spit on the ump or throw his bat at the mound. The difference between a man and a successful man is his passion. Give me the guy slamming a bat when he falls below the high bar he sets for himself over the guy who sits quietly on the bench any day of the week, because that guy breaking the bat has an intensity to harvest that the guy on the bench will never know.

I've no doubt that the attitude Harper has is a large part of the reason he has been under a national spotlight since before he could get a drivers license. It motivates him to practice, to do better, to crave to be more than he is. Without that intensity, who knows where he would be today.

Sure, kids need the "nice guy" role models like Jim Thome, but they also need the Bryce Harpers.

 

[Brett Keith]

So, this is a big deal because of the result? It's a fluke, as this type of action happens countless times throughout the season, many we don't see or hear about, but because something negative actually resulted, it's a big deal? This is like the sudden concern about pitchers shagging fly balls pregame. Also, why is this on Harper's head? You talk about impressionable youths, well the guy you're attacking is a teenager! Also, why aren't you attacking the players and culture that maybe "influenced" Harper? He's the youngest player in the league, seems odd to single him out for something that's been going on forever because of a fluke.

 

[MantMaris]

I miss Paul O'Neill going off on a cooler.

 

[sigma_chi]

Yadier Molina threw his mask in the dugout after 2 passed balls tonight, Eric Hinske threw his bat on the field in disgust after striking out and getting ejected. No threads about those Nick?

 

[Mighty Bombjack]

No big deal really, but damn was that close to his eye! Almost a career ender there. Scary.

 

[predatorkj]

This has to be, what, only the second time in MLB history that a player got mad and threw some equipment in the dugout? I think the only other person, ever, was Carlos Zambrano, and he only hit a water jug.

Totally unacceptable to show that kind of negative emotion. No one else does it, and he's CLEARLY doing it to bring attention to himself...

Actually Carlos threw his fist into Michael Barrett's face once too. And Barrett threw his fist into A.j. Pierzynski's. Boy what a small world.

 

[Austin]

No big deal really, but damn was that close to his eye! Almost a career ender there. Scary.

That's the first thing I thought too. A couple of inches over and a wood shard could have gone through his eye. Instant career over.
I admire his passion, but smashing a bat against a wall is idiotic and I'm sure he'll find something else to break next time.

 

[Pine Tar]

Actually Carlos threw his fist into Michael Barrett's face once too. And Barrett threw his fist into A.j. Pierzynski's. Boy what a small world.

And then Carlos tried to throw is fist in Derek lee's face at US Cellular Field.....Oh the irony of it all.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Nolan Ryan bloodied up Robin Ventura.

Jail him.

NOW!

 

[sigma_chi]

No big deal really, but damn was that close to his eye! Almost a career ender there. Scary.

Yea do you remember the big NFL lineman who got hit in the eye with the refs flag after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty? I think he went blind in that eye and never played again.

 

[Sjrmn91]

I'm surprised no one has referenced Kerry Wood's little temper tantrum the other night when he pitched his glove and hat into the stands on his way into the dugout.

I think the moral here should not be "don't throw **** when you're frustrated during a game" but more so "don't throw **** that could harm yourself/other people during a game".

When I played, if I had a bad inning, I'd come back to the dugout and hit the fence or punch my glove a couple of times. And I can tell you that it wasn't because I saw some MLB player do it. It was because that is how I reacted to it. That's expected. Maybe the breaking of the bat was just too dramatic?

All of that aside, had the piece of the bat not cut him, 99% of people would never have even known about this.

 

[Weimer]

I love this thread.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

LOL

Love,
Ty Cobb

 

[Weimer]

That's what Harper should do. Spike someone!

 

[ThoseBackPages]

That's what Harper should do. Spike someone!

YES!!!!!

 

[ThoseBackPages]

i get what Card Magnet is saying. there are a lot of sandy vaginas amongst todays youths