Harper isn’t considered the next Ken Griffey Jr. or Alex Rodriguez. He’s considered better — at least at the same age when they were 17, according to his agent Scott Boras.
I just hope he’s not the next Carl Everett or Milton Bradley.
Harper comes with red flags. The most glaring (besides having Boras as an agent) is his ejection from the Junior College World Series.
Seems Harper was called out on strikes and not liking that backward-K drew a line in the dirt to show the umpire how far outside the ball was.
He was ejected.
Apologists quickly cited his age, saying he needs time to mature. If that’s the case he should have stayed in high school and done exactly that.
Oh, Harper was also accused of spiking the other team’s first baseman a day earlier and, the night of his ejection, glared at the ump for a previous called strike.
Toss in fast money with the prospect of $15 million with that first contract and that should be reason for concern.
Luckily he has a good support group. His college coach — while saying Harper shouldn’t have drawn that line in the dirt — blamed the ump for a quick trigger and praised Harper’s maturity for just walking away.
Hey, at least he didn’t spike the ump.
I truly hope Harper turns out more like Junior than Bradley, and his character trumps his talent.
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