Watch out Wieters. We might have another 'Chuck Norris' of baseball.(theghostofmoonlightgraham.files.wordpress.com)
Six days after personally witnessing the debut of super-prospect Mr. Matt Wieters in Baltimore, and five days after writing an entry on new Sox reliever Danny Bard, I encountered a story that got absolutely every bit of my attention. And this is all after I was getting good laughs from a website that compared Wieters to a certain bearded martial arts star of 'Walker, Texas Ranger'. On the cover of Sports Illustrated was a photo of a high-school slugger that was positioned next to the title, "Baseball's Chosen One". Immediately, I had to rush online to find the article that has created this LeBron type buzz. The story, written by the esteemed SI writer Tom Verducci, detailed the prodigious accomplishments of Las Vegas High student named Bryce Harper. What I found in this article was astonishing. A kid clocking 570-ft bombs? Quicker bat speed than McGwire at his prime? Scoring on multiple wild pitches from second base? Throwing a 96 MPH fastball when he pitches? All of this at the age of SIXTEEN! Sixteen? At an age where my main goals in life were to pass AP Biology and to try not to be awkward with the opposite sex, Harper is just dismantling opposing pitchers while being to compared to fellow prodigies A-Rod* and Griffey Jr. in their senior years......as a sophomore! If that doesn't get your attention as a sports fan, you might need a doctor's appointment soon. But the same story that provoked so much excitement also produces a wee bit of worry for me, and it goes far beyond the SI cover jinx. It brought me to how many times I have heard this story before. Remembering Craig Hansen, Delmon Young, Brien Taylor, and Jeff Allison, the lights of caution always blink as soon as I hear about these prodigious athletes emerging. All of these guys were sure to be the best thing since the Internet, but succumbed due to lack of confidence, injury, drugs, or just being the talented victims of the humbling nature of the sport. It is stories like this that are created to promote awe and celebration amongst those in the sports community. But it is these same stories that can become extremely detrimental to everyone involved, most importantly the athlete that is literally front and center.
You can do that LBJ, but can you hit a 500-footer at the Trop?
(media.photobucket.com)
You can do that LBJ, but can you hit a 500-footer at the Trop?(media.photobucket.com)
The one thing that you can't deny is this Harper kid's raw ability. I mean, imagine if Jason Bay could rip 500-plus foot homers and strike out guys with high 90's heat. Being in a crazy media market, he would be a superhero in Beantown. And from reading the article, you get a sense that Harper is not done, that he has the confidence and determination of a player 15 years older than him. Makes you wonder why some baseball executives have predicted him to be a top two pick,......RIGHT NOW! But what you can't convince me is that his swagger and ability alone is gonna carry him to a Major League ballpark in a couple years with no issues. Harper isn't the first confident kid that was raking on the high-school diamond, nor will be the last. I get a sense he has felt the extra-added responsibility of living up to his cover appearance, because it's natural. When I had a couple of poems from my creative writing class published in a minor publication when I was 16, I felt a sense of confidence and entitlement approaching a professional level, even though I definitely wasn't no Poe. That feeling is probably magnified a million times over when you are placed on the front of a nationally-famous sports publication with millions of eyes on it. At a young age, it is easy to buy into your own hype, especially when you have no challengers around you. Many times, the confidence (which apparently this kid has plenty of) combined with the heightened attention, ends up in a self-creation of a persona that is more grandiose than what many of these whiz kids can live up to. That brings me to the nature of baseball and its destructive Darwinism of weeding out the young talent that can't physically and mentally adjust. The talent showcased in the MLB is so unique, which makes it an accomplishment just to arrive, and a triumph when you survive. Harper's parents, Ron and Sheri, are extremely aware of this as they see their son crushing the 80 MPH fastballs of his high-school competitors. So they are doing the right thing for his talent at least, by possibly having him pursue a GED in the summer and go the junior college route to set him up for the draft in 2010. But is this truly the right thing? Is this a roulette-type gamble for the kid from Vegas (Had to make a gambling reference. Just had to.)? Harper's ability is undeniable, but the unforgiving reality is that he could be one bad tweak of the knee or shoulder away from having his dreams crash down on him and his GED, and not much else to base his life upon. A huge possibility considering the average career of a MLB player is only 5.6 years for the guys that even make it, which I'm sure includes many guys who were predicted to be in the Hall of Fame in their high-school days. Imagine being a 25 year old retired ballplayer with limited options because you saw the glory of you dream, with a sharp tunnel vision, crash in a fiery ball of failure. It is something that unfortunately happens all too often, and I'm just too scared that it could be happening with this Harper kid in a Truman Show-type environment. The worst thing is that the young victims of these tales become enslaved by the weight of everybody's expectations, which makes it more suffocating when their dreams come crashing down on them.
Harper: Tearing the cover off on the cover.
(sincityxtreme.files.wordpress.com)
So am I saying this kid is going to fail? I hope he doesn't. In fact, I hope he doesn't now more than ever, now that he has attained this sudden rush of national exposure. We've seen this before fairly recently with megastar LeBron James, who has been able to obtain instant success with his superb play along with his amiable personality (sans the walking off the court incident in Orlando a few days ago). It's hard to predict who will attain successful longevity in any sport, but it felt like destiny when James was performing like a freak in high school. The skill set in basketball is much more basic then it is in baseball, where guys who hit the ball thirty percent of the time are considered elite, and five-tool players are all the rage because of their rarity. What Bryce Harper is going to attempt is something possibly more difficult than what LBJ attempted when he got out of high school and entered the 2003 NBA draft. Harper is attempting to become a generational player in a sport where the top draft picks rarely succeed and that the best players aren't necessarily the ones who have the most ability, but the ones who can make the most adjustments at the right time (waaaaay easier said than done). Added with all that is the pressure of being an icon in a sport where virtually every hero of the past era has been caught up in some sort of steroid controversy, while being a 6'3'', 205 lb. powerhouse himself. Whatever Harper does, I hope that he and his parents do what is truly right for him (whatever it is) rather than simply act, blinded in the glory that his sudden media coronation has given him. I'm pulling for the kid, because my sport doesn't need any more sob stories.
Harper: Tearing the cover off on the cover.(sincityxtreme.files.wordpress.com)
So am I saying this kid is going to fail? I hope he doesn't. In fact, I hope he doesn't now more than ever, now that he has attained this sudden rush of national exposure. We've seen this before fairly recently with megastar LeBron James, who has been able to obtain instant success with his superb play along with his amiable personality (sans the walking off the court incident in Orlando a few days ago). It's hard to predict who will attain successful longevity in any sport, but it felt like destiny when James was performing like a freak in high school. The skill set in basketball is much more basic then it is in baseball, where guys who hit the ball thirty percent of the time are considered elite, and five-tool players are all the rage because of their rarity. What Bryce Harper is going to attempt is something possibly more difficult than what LBJ attempted when he got out of high school and entered the 2003 NBA draft. Harper is attempting to become a generational player in a sport where the top draft picks rarely succeed and that the best players aren't necessarily the ones who have the most ability, but the ones who can make the most adjustments at the right time (waaaaay easier said than done). Added with all that is the pressure of being an icon in a sport where virtually every hero of the past era has been caught up in some sort of steroid controversy, while being a 6'3'', 205 lb. powerhouse himself. Whatever Harper does, I hope that he and his parents do what is truly right for him (whatever it is) rather than simply act, blinded in the glory that his sudden media coronation has given him. I'm pulling for the kid, because my sport doesn't need any more sob stories.
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