Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports activities MLB Analyst
Earlier this month, the Arizona Diamondbacks spoiled Mookie Betts’ thirty first birthday with a shocking 11-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in NLDS Recreation 1. Philadelphia Phillies famous person Bryce Harper wouldn’t stand for such party-pooping from the Snakes on the day he turned 31. Not in his home.
“I’ve all the time wished to play on my birthday,” Harper stated forward of Recreation 1 of the NLCS vs. Arizona, revealing a smart objective for an enormous leaguer with an October birthday.
For the primary decade of his profession, Harper’s groups did not advance far sufficient into baseball’s pinnacle month to satisfy his dream of balling on his birthday, October 16. He nearly received his want final season, although his birthday fell on an off-day main as much as the beginning of the NLCS. This 12 months lined up far more neatly.
Mere minutes after teammate Kyle Schwarber despatched Arizona ace Zac Gallen’s first pitch careening off the second deck for a leadoff homer, Harper performed copycat. He smashed the primary pitch he noticed as a 31-year-old 420 toes to right-center discipline to return the Financial institution again to its default state of bedlam. It appeared to set the tone for a runaway victory. Whereas Arizona battled again to make it a ballgame, Philadelphia prevailed 5-3 to go up 1-0 within the best-of-7.
Taking part in on his birthday was a present in and of itself. But, as solely Harper might, he couldn’t assist however deal with himself to one thing just a little further within the type of yet one more ballpark-rocking blast in October. He mimicked blowing out birthday candles as he crossed residence plate as a result of, in fact, he did.
“This man, he’s in search of the second, and he desires it,” Schwarber stated after Recreation 1. “Then he’s going as much as the plate; you might be simply pondering that he’s going to do one thing particular each single time. Can that be unfair to have an expectation on a participant? Positive. However that is what everyone seems to be pondering if you’re within the dugout. Man, what’s this man going to do subsequent?”
With so many jaw-dropping postseason moments as a Phillie packed into simply two years, Harper’s early-career playoff resume can generally get neglected. It’s not like he hadn’t proven up on this stage earlier than — it had simply been some time.
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos crush residence runs within the Phillies’ 5-3 victory over the Diamondbacks
As a 21-year-old in 2014, Harper smashed three homers in opposition to the eventual champion San Francisco Giants within the NLDS, together with a memorable game-tying blast within the seventh inning of Recreation 4 that landed in McCovey Cove. Three years later, Harper again tied an NLDS game with a two-run shot to the higher deck in proper discipline at Nationals Park.
Harper hit .211/.315/.487 with 5 homers in 19 video games throughout 4 completely different postseason journeys with Washington, an imperfect slash line, albeit one which was fairly rattling good for somebody who performed all these video games earlier than turning 25.
In Philly, although, he’s elevated from an ultra-young playoff star to a licensed postseason icon. In 17 video games final 12 months, he hit .349/.414/.746 with six homers. After his 2-for-3 evening in Recreation 1, his profession line is now .292/.392/.652 in 190 playoff plate appearances throughout 43 video games. Amongst 193 gamers in MLB historical past who’ve come to the plate not less than 150 occasions within the postseason, Harper’s 1.044 OPS ranks third behind solely Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, every of whom recorded a 1.214 OPS throughout their almost-annual journeys to the World Collection with New York almost a century in the past.
Harper’s fifteenth playoff HR on Monday tied Ruth and former teammate Jayson Werth for sixteenth on the all-time October leaderboard. He would’ve additionally been tied along with his present teammate Schwarber had he not led off the sport with profession postseason homer No. 16.
Schwarber’s seismic swings have develop into symbolic of October baseball over time as properly, making this Phillies lineup particularly formidable to cope with presently of 12 months. However Schwarber was merely a sophomore in faculty when Harper’s prolonged postseason monitor document started.
Within the 2012 NLDS, days earlier than his twentieth birthday, Harper turned the youngest participant in postseason historical past to hit a triple and the second youngest to hit a homer, older than solely Andruw Jones in 1996. He did it in consecutive at-bats in Recreation 5 — a sensational efficiency somewhat lost to history due to an epic ninth-inning collapse on the hand of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Such October heroics have but to go unrewarded in his time with the Phillies. Philadelphia is now 9-0 within the postseason over the past two years when Harper homers. Add within the final postseason homer he hit with Washington in a victory within the 2017 NLDS, and Harper’s 10 straight playoff victories in video games he’s homered in has tied Bernie Williams and Carlos Correa for the MLB document.
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He might break this document with one other homer in a Phillies victory quickly, however everyone knows particular person accomplishments are merely aspect quests on his final mission. After coming so shut a 12 months in the past, that World Collection title — one thing each Correa and Williams achieved throughout their respective homer-hitting win streaks — feels inside attain as soon as once more, and his staff seems to be as sturdy as ever.
Perhaps that is the 12 months. Perhaps not. Nothing is for certain in baseball, and each alternative to play within the postseason should be cherished. However because the fifth season of his 13-year-deal winds down, Harper’s long-term dedication to the Phillies — and the group’s $330M funding in him — is trying higher than ever. They’ve constructed a bona-fide winner round him. Harper himself has delivered regular-season excellence and postseason dominance. His profession could not have begun in Philadelphia, nevertheless it’s undeniably develop into one of many strongest player-team connections in sports activities — an ideal match.
At simply 31, Harper has already offered a lifetime’s value of reminiscences to a era of baseball followers. And at simply 31, there’s nonetheless a lot extra to come back.
Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball author for FOX Sports activities. He has lined baseball for his total grownup life, most notably for MLB.com, DAZN and The Ringer. He is a Mariners fan dwelling within the Jap Time Zone, which suggests he loves an excellent 10 p.m. first pitch. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.
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