Philadelphia Phillies water torture ends with Bryce Harper deal
It’s over. The water torture for Philadelphia Phillies fans is finally over.
Before this winter, the last time Philadelphia was thrown into a major tizzy over signing an athlete for one of our professional teams was about four years ago when Eagles Coach Chip Kelly coveted Marcus Mariota. The Carson Wentz thing wasn’t an extended matter because it was a bit of a surprise the Eagles jumped up in the draft late to get him. Neither jock chase, however, was anything in comparison to the water-torture winter suffered by Philadelphia Phillies fans waiting for Bryce Harper. And That Other Guy.
Back in 2015, when your correspondent put together a short, satirical fantasy about the Eagles trading for Mariota, some of the steps involved were bizarre, but when “Coach Machiakelly” got Mariota, the final judgement was: “And the world was new.”
When the Phillies got Harper on Feb. 28, they didn’t have to convert a player into Euros as Machiakelly did. They just had to cough up $330 million over 13 years, but without any opt-out clause. That Other Guy signing with San Diego surely triggered the Phillies moving to the figure agreed to. For weeks it had seemed about to happen, perhaps no day more so than Feb. 22 when Phillies principal owner John Middleton flew to meet Harper and his wife in Las Vegas, their hometown.
But the world being transformed after Feb. 28 seemed a definite thing.
One thing that now has to disappear is the cynical attitude of many observers about reports of Harper signing. There will be no more articles about the “110th day” of a “free agency nightmare” or articles about the Phillies as possibly the only team really in the Harper Sweepstakes.
No more will writers strain, as Todd Zolecki did, to explain why Middleton flew to Vegas: “Perhaps Harper and his wife want to see if they can have a similar relationship [to their ‘incredibly close’ ties to Nationals owner Mark Lerner] with Philadelphia Phillies ownership, too.”
A New National League
Beyond the press shift in focus – expect a slew of articles on the revised Philadelphia Phillies chances of winning everything including a nuclear war with North Korea – the predicted standings for the NL just re-shuffled all kinds of ways.
Not only do the Fightin’s now have a wildly threatening offensive lineup, they have to be instant favorites to sign Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel. That potential bearing fruit remains to be seen.
With Harper’s signing, the Phillies become not only a threat to all current MLB competition, but also, arguably, a top five candidate for the most improved team ever in a single off-season, if not the all-time leader.
That’s on paper.
However, it’s worth noting what this team now looks like on that paper. The Phillies starting lineup will now include the 2013 NL MVP, an All-Star shortstop and .300 hitter from the AL, the consensus best catcher in baseball, a first baseman who recently hit 18 home runs in 34 games, and now, of course, the 2015 NL MVP, Harper, who has posted a .900 OPS over seven seasons. Their best starting pitcher, Aaron Nola, was at worst the third best in the NL last season and is easily in the top ten in MLB.
Yes, the Phillies starters beyond Nola, if not augmented – preferably by a left-hander – need to seriously step up, but Philadelphia faithful clearly recall the last World Champion batch of starters in red pinstripes were not all that impressive, seemingly.
The Reaction
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, however. Remember when the Philadelphia Phillies had Four Aces? Right, it wasn’t the year of their most recent World Championship or their most recent league championship.
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But as February turned to March, everyone in the Delaware Valley forgot about losing their only Super Bowl-winning quarterback. They also forgot, and some will deny later, their angry texts to friends about how they couldn’t care less if Harper brought his precious self to Philadelphia.
The world was new. By 5:18 p.m., sports talk radio station WIP reported there was already a billboard up on Route 322 welcoming Harper to the city. (That took about two hours on the nose.) Shortly thereafter, an excited woman calling the same station began her call with a simple, happy shriek. By 9:30 p.m. the station was already repeating a faux home run call for Harper’s first bomb at the Phillies home opener, exactly a month away.
That was a bit weird (and perhaps a jinx), but Philadelphia isn’t Boston. Hope for a championship doesn’t circle South Philly 27 times in a decade.
Next. Harper shows commitment for Phillies. dark
Early Mar. 1, the print edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer relayed the story of a Girl Scout selling cookies at a Center City train station. She was proud of the $6000 she’s made doing that, but happily assessed the addition of Harper for so much more: “I respect the hustle.”