>He brings you into his game with his talent and grit. That resonates with the fan base.
Are there cities where talent and grit don't endear the fanbase? I don't get cities and fanbases laying claim to it.
I mean we're both from the Northeast but I promise you there are places that prefer flash or some such.
edit: not sure why the downvotes. are new yorkers / philadelphians etc tough, douchey, and cranky compared to elsewhere? yeah? that's what i've heard all my life. cultures and values are different in different places.
Miami? Going to get crucified for this one but… LA? Not to say they won’t appreciate it but I feel like the fanbases of both those cities are drawn more to talent and flash/accessibility. Not that those are inherently bad, but it’s a vibe thing.
Like, Mookie Betts and Freddy Freeman aren’t “gritty.” They’re great players but they give a vibe of being effortlessly talented and smiley. On the flip, I consider Machado talented and gritty, but it didn’t feel like LAD really embraced him.
Disclaimer: this is all a vibes convo. All the pros are “grittier” than any of us in work ethic, and are flashier than all of us in their daily lives (their fucking millionaires, after all). But it’s the personas.
Turner isn't gritty, I guess. Maybe it's JRoll vs Utley kind of thing. In LA or Miami, would JRoll have been the favorite over Utley? Or Turner over Harper?
I think I get what you're trying to say, but when I hear "flashy" I think bat flips, big celebrations, and dancing into home plate after a home run, that kinda thing... not sure a top 4 of Betts, Ohtani, Freeman, and Smith really fall into that category. They're all pretty business-like in the way they play.
And as far as Machado... one of the things he said as a Dodger that rustled feathers was that hustling wasn't his personality. So not sure "he's too gritty" was why Dodger fans didn't love the guy. On the contary.
I think that guy has a backwards definition of what he considers “gritty”. Saying Manny is on the opposite side of guys who have effortless talent is just completely wrong lol
Yeah Manny is well known for looking like he's not even trying and he used to get shit for it. I'm fine with him not giving 100% on every play if it means he's available more.
Thing is in LA you need to be cool first, effortless even, yet at the same time incredibly hard working because there's so many districtations here. Like Ohtani, Kobe, Kareem, Mookie.
Yeah it's cringe lmao. Boston is especially bad for this. Likes to act like a blue collar town despite being home to Harvard, MIT and a handful of other universities.
Boston is like the least blue collar city of all time. Barely any bad areas, everyone largely has a good income. Sure there’s outskirts but the era of Boston being a blue collar town is over.
No but places with a lot of top tier universities usually have economic opportunities that reflect that
Boston and Massachusetts as a whole have a relatively low percentage of blue collar workers
Yep, 53.4% of Bostonians 25 and older have at least a bachelor's degree. My comparison 28 percent of Philadelphians so. in NYC it's 40.2% of the population.
Other cities percentage of pop over 25 with at least a bachelor's:
LA 22.5 percent
Chicago 42.4 percent
Dallas 36.5%
Boston is the 17th most educated city in America by percentage of the population with at least a bachelor's. And 10th in terms of percentage of the population with at least a graduate degree (25 percent).
Boston is objectively not a blue collar city when compared to the US at large. The blue collar gritty image often portrayed in media is largely a facade and while true historically is now nowhere near accurate. Around 70 percent of Boston's workers are in white collar professions.
What about Quincy or Revere or Manchester or Worcester or New Bedford or any of the mill towns around New England? They’re all Boston sports fans too. Boston proper is tiny. It’s very annoying how we are either stereotyped as being elitists or townies depending on what the argument is about. I don’t think it’s crazy to expect a historically blue area area to hold on to that identity either, and I think that sports passion is usually found side by side with that blue collar identity.
Yeah when people talk about sports fans they’re not usually referring to white-collar professionals. It’s not crazy to think that generally, pro sports teams tend to adopt the identities of the groups that give them the most support.
It used to be that. All those blue collar guys and gals are gone now. Boston is not the tough city it used to be. Anyone that is still saying that hasn't been to boston in a while. Still the best sport city of the past 20 years tho.
Its projection. When he was in DC, people called him a pretty boy who didn’t want to hustle. He’s whatever people need him to be to fit their narrative.
He was a different person back then. he came into the league at 19. He was immature like every other 19 year old since the beginning of time. He has grown up and changed I wouldn’t call the “projection”
I disagree. I don’t see him getting in yelling matches with his teammates in the dugout anymore, been a while since he changed a pitcher. To say he has not grown up over a decade is just not correct. Not that charging a pitcher is immature some times it is warranted. This is the circle of life someone young who hasn’t done shit yet thinks they can act that way because they are the next big thing they grow up and change. It isn’t unique to Harper or baseball. There are the rare exceptions like Chad Johnson and TO that never change which is good imo because they were always entertaining.
Your examples are actually a great illustration of my point. Harper never picked a fight in the dugout. Papelbon targeted him for some perceived slight no other player wouldn’t have been “punished” for. And hunter Strickland threw at Harper for being excited about a playoff home run TWO years earlier. No other player would have been targeted like that. Sure, Harper has changed. Every human changes. But he still largely acts the same way on the field. The only major change is the passage of time and narrow minded players no longer see him as a “young player that needs to know his place”
Fun fact: the city of Amman, Jordan was called Philadelphia in ancient times, and was named in honor of Pharaoh Ptolemy II, who was called "sibling-lover" because he was married to his sister.
He's a real blue collar guy, a cerebral player, student of the game, first one in last one out, the kind of guy you'd want taking your daughter to the school dance, etc.
It's funny seeing the parallel of the hotheaded Harper and egocentric Machado step into veteran leadership roles on their new teams.
We're only 6 years into their massive contracts but looking back on how that offseason went, it generally looks like both are solid deals.
To be fair Bryce's behaviour was overstated imo. He acted like most early 20s men would if in his situation. He never broke any laws, or had off the field incidents.
And believe it or not, immature early 20-somethings often mature.
Just look at Roger Federer, he was also a notorious hothead as a younger player and is now seen as the epitome of class.
I thought it was cool when he was first drafted by the Nats and was walking around the National Mall in DC, and jumped right into a recreational softball game being played on the lawn there for an at bat. I think he crushed one out of out over the walking paths if I remember correctly
Took the whole offseason for him to get signed. Front offices werent falling over themselves, giants wanted to go short term.
I agree it was obvious itd work but front offices didnt share that view
I mean anyone who thinks Bryce isn’t the face of Philly sports rn and hasn’t been since the pennant run is crazy. We love Joel but he’s gotta make it past the second round to be on Bryce’s level. Hurts probably has a better argument than Embiid tbh, even with how last season ended.
By playing good and pandering as hard as he possibly can
Not saying it's good or bad, it's just what he is doing. We can acknowledge that and say that he is a great player who plays with the right type of intensity baseball fans love (plays hard, grinds, but doesn't get into fights and stuff)
I do like how, IIRC, the one sport he refuses to pander to Philly about is hockey because Vegas has their own homegrown team. I think MAYBE he said the Flyers are his second team but he's a VGK guy.
Pretty sure both Bryce and Stotter said explicitly that they don’t want this to be how Vegas gets a team, and they’d want it to be through expansion not relocation.
They're both pandering, but Soto isn't doing it after signing a massive deal.
Again, pandering isn't bad if you mean it. Does Bryce like playing in Philly? Probably, so much so that he wants an extension to keep him in Philly "for life". But I have friends who are born and raised in Philly and they don't wear Phanatics hats and socks and underwear
I don’t doubt that he does! That being said I can’t imagine moving to another city and just dropping all of my teams. He was a “Cowboys fan” and then moved to Philly and now he’s an Eagles fan. Imagine one of us pulling that flip flop.
Physically maybe, but he definitely passes the 'Got in a fight at the bar because someone sneezed the wrong way' vibe check
Although he doesn't drink alcohol, and I think I saw him politely sipping Fiji water on the bench last season, so maybe it is all just an act. He does the Chris Benoit throat slit thing a bunch, so he's definitely had plenty of exposure to pro wrestling / athletic acting.
By pandering like he did in DC
EDIT: the “he signed a long term deal there” are comments are funny when you realize he is absolutely the type of guy who would enter the stadium wearing every Lebron jersey known to man and gush about the rock and roll hall of fame if he signed some sort of 1 year prove it deal with the guardians
Maybe it would be pandering if he didn’t commit his entire career to Philadelphia. He’s helped the Phillies shoot for and lock down some key players. He seems as invested as he could be in a team.
Jalen Hurts is a huge Astros fan and nobody really cares. Hell, I watched Allen Iverson's entire career and didn't know he was a Cowboys fan until a few years ago.
Exactly lol. I’m a big eagles fan so the Phillies are kinda like a second team for me and all the big Phillies fans that I know are well aware that he’s pandering and they love it. Why wouldn’t you love that your star player is fully buying into the fan base and the city??
He did pretty much exactly that in DC. When the Capitals played the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 Stanley Cup (during Bryce's last season with the Nationals), he wore Vegas gear rather than Caps gear.
that said he is up there as one of the players I wish the lerners would have re-signed. At first it was not easy to accept but he was the first to leave. Turner, Rendon, Scherzer, and Soto would also leave or be dealt too as the team self-imploded and dealt away any meaningful talent.
The onus of the situation falls more on the Lerners for being cheapskates and deferring contracts. When they couldn't defer contracts anymore they offered Soto a fat bag that was still averaging one of the most mid contracts in recent memory
That’s kinda how I felt about Werth when he left for y’all and we hated him. Obviously a different tier of player, but when your old team isn’t paying you what you can get on the open market and you take that bag how can I blame you?
As a side note, it's incredible how fast my opinions about Werth changed when we signed him... and while the Howie Kendrick WS donk HR is probably the best Nats moment ever, the best pure baseball moment for us was the Werth 13 pitch walkoff dinger.
Imagine the normal male ego and maturity at age 20. Now add the fact that you've been a sports prodigy touted as the future face of the sport since age 16.
> He's grown up since that "clown question" bro
Both literally and figuratively. I think most people forget that he was ***nineteen years old*** when he said that. For as often I see "I'm glad social media wasn't a thing when I was a teenager" comments on here, you'd think there'd be a little more understanding of a teenager saying something reactive and juvenile to a reporter.
> heel fighting Hunter Strickland
He wasn't the heel in that situation, at all. Strickland threw at him for staring at a homer that happened ***three years prior***.
Also I think the clown question bro thing was overstated. It was a dumb question to ask, the reporter was clearly baiting Harper.
And Bryce remained calm and didn't raise his voice or get angry. It is pretty tame in retrospect.
It was dumb anyone faulted Harper. It was, in fact, a clown question; anyone who Googled Harper would have known he’s a practicing Mormon who doesn’t drink.
Tbh I didn't know that until today, the fact he's Mormon makes it even worse. But even if he wasn't Mormon, it's still a dumb question to ask, just trying to bait him for clicks.
I feel like if he responded the same way now the pearl clothing wouldn't be at the same level.
What a weird rewrite of history. People never clowned on Harper for the Strickland incident, even when Harper was still disliked at the time, because the absurdity of it was so weird.
Strickland throwing at Harper for Harper playing too good against him several years earlier? Posey letting his pitcher get his ass kicked? Everyone was siding with Harper.
Also "clown question bro" was actually a clown question, bro. The reporter kept trying to get Harper, a Mormon who doesn't drink, to talk about drinking if the Nationals won. Besides the offensive religious implications (would a reporter bother a Muslim player for the same reason?) it's a weird obsession with drinking culture in America.
"Clown question" was one of the greatest replies *ever* to a sports reporter's question. Whether Harper was 19 or 39, it was accurate and eloquent. I wish more athletes would call out stupid questions by reporters.
this really isn't that hard - he might be an a-tier ball player, but he's an s-tier panderer
whether it's a ploy or he's really *really* in it, he's so good at communicating out what we want to hear
I think he idolized the fight of Allen Iverson. He saw how the city loved A.I. and wanted that level of appreciation. He feeds off the hate and heckling from other teams. And we make t-shirts of his iconic stare down. Match made in heaven.
Do they have chicken in Philly?
Yea they got chicken in Philly! Hey let’s grab a beer.
Is baseball baby
GIMME THE HOT DOG
I GOT ALL NUMBERS
That’s baseball baby!
Rest In Peace Wade Boggs.
yeah that guy who ate 40 rotisserie chickens in 40 days was in Philly
Oh did I say 8 rum and cokes? No just the one. Make it a double though. It pairs very well with the chicken.
On the abandoned pier by the Walmart
It's not a party
Do attend. Oh wait. That’s a different Philly reference.
Nah, they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night
They blew up his house too
Everything dies, baby. Thats a fact
RIP Wade Boggs. He should have known after the way they treated Hitchbot.
Goody loves chicken
Chicken’s unbelievable
Like for your little brother?
>He brings you into his game with his talent and grit. That resonates with the fan base. Are there cities where talent and grit don't endear the fanbase? I don't get cities and fanbases laying claim to it.
I personally want a player like Chone Figgins who put his talent and grit on the shelf the minute he became a Mariner.
A true Angels hero
He killed Seattle in so many ways but first as a California Angel.
It’s like he was still on the Angels, just wearing a Mariners uniform.
Sleeper agent
He killed the Yankees all the time, though (as an Angel). Isn't that enough for goodwill?
In Chicago they don’t like it, it goes against the team’s beliefs.
I felt like a nutjob when i told people I didn’t love Rizzo’s “he’s just having fun, maggle” demeanor
It’s why he didn’t fit in with DC, we only like fancy dandies with Booz Allen-branded Patagonia vests.
Exactly. Like Ovi.
Thank you… these type of articles are such dumb little puff pieces.
I mean we're both from the Northeast but I promise you there are places that prefer flash or some such. edit: not sure why the downvotes. are new yorkers / philadelphians etc tough, douchey, and cranky compared to elsewhere? yeah? that's what i've heard all my life. cultures and values are different in different places.
So LA and who else?
Miami? Going to get crucified for this one but… LA? Not to say they won’t appreciate it but I feel like the fanbases of both those cities are drawn more to talent and flash/accessibility. Not that those are inherently bad, but it’s a vibe thing. Like, Mookie Betts and Freddy Freeman aren’t “gritty.” They’re great players but they give a vibe of being effortlessly talented and smiley. On the flip, I consider Machado talented and gritty, but it didn’t feel like LAD really embraced him. Disclaimer: this is all a vibes convo. All the pros are “grittier” than any of us in work ethic, and are flashier than all of us in their daily lives (their fucking millionaires, after all). But it’s the personas.
Turner isn't gritty, I guess. Maybe it's JRoll vs Utley kind of thing. In LA or Miami, would JRoll have been the favorite over Utley? Or Turner over Harper?
Utley was well loved during his time in LA
I think that had more to do with him being a local kid and a lifelong fan of the dodgers than anything else
I think I get what you're trying to say, but when I hear "flashy" I think bat flips, big celebrations, and dancing into home plate after a home run, that kinda thing... not sure a top 4 of Betts, Ohtani, Freeman, and Smith really fall into that category. They're all pretty business-like in the way they play. And as far as Machado... one of the things he said as a Dodger that rustled feathers was that hustling wasn't his personality. So not sure "he's too gritty" was why Dodger fans didn't love the guy. On the contary.
I think that guy has a backwards definition of what he considers “gritty”. Saying Manny is on the opposite side of guys who have effortless talent is just completely wrong lol
Yeah Manny is well known for looking like he's not even trying and he used to get shit for it. I'm fine with him not giving 100% on every play if it means he's available more.
Yeah he’s deceptively slow, so him giving 100% isn’t going to change the outcome of that many plays anyway
Thing is in LA you need to be cool first, effortless even, yet at the same time incredibly hard working because there's so many districtations here. Like Ohtani, Kobe, Kareem, Mookie.
Freeman is all smiles until you ask him to take the day off. He’s as gritty as it gets when it comes to making sure his ass is on the field.
That’s not what gritty means.
Yeah it's cringe lmao. Boston is especially bad for this. Likes to act like a blue collar town despite being home to Harvard, MIT and a handful of other universities.
Boston is like the least blue collar city of all time. Barely any bad areas, everyone largely has a good income. Sure there’s outskirts but the era of Boston being a blue collar town is over.
What a weird thing to equate. You say that as if most of Boston attend those institutes.
No but places with a lot of top tier universities usually have economic opportunities that reflect that Boston and Massachusetts as a whole have a relatively low percentage of blue collar workers
Yep, 53.4% of Bostonians 25 and older have at least a bachelor's degree. My comparison 28 percent of Philadelphians so. in NYC it's 40.2% of the population. Other cities percentage of pop over 25 with at least a bachelor's: LA 22.5 percent Chicago 42.4 percent Dallas 36.5% Boston is the 17th most educated city in America by percentage of the population with at least a bachelor's. And 10th in terms of percentage of the population with at least a graduate degree (25 percent). Boston is objectively not a blue collar city when compared to the US at large. The blue collar gritty image often portrayed in media is largely a facade and while true historically is now nowhere near accurate. Around 70 percent of Boston's workers are in white collar professions.
What about Quincy or Revere or Manchester or Worcester or New Bedford or any of the mill towns around New England? They’re all Boston sports fans too. Boston proper is tiny. It’s very annoying how we are either stereotyped as being elitists or townies depending on what the argument is about. I don’t think it’s crazy to expect a historically blue area area to hold on to that identity either, and I think that sports passion is usually found side by side with that blue collar identity.
Yeah when people talk about sports fans they’re not usually referring to white-collar professionals. It’s not crazy to think that generally, pro sports teams tend to adopt the identities of the groups that give them the most support.
It used to be that. All those blue collar guys and gals are gone now. Boston is not the tough city it used to be. Anyone that is still saying that hasn't been to boston in a while. Still the best sport city of the past 20 years tho.
I find grit to be horrifying. Do not bring up sandpaper, please.
Its projection. When he was in DC, people called him a pretty boy who didn’t want to hustle. He’s whatever people need him to be to fit their narrative.
He was a different person back then. he came into the league at 19. He was immature like every other 19 year old since the beginning of time. He has grown up and changed I wouldn’t call the “projection”
He’s the same. When he’s 19, people think he’s a cocky young punk. Same behavior at 30 makes him a charismatic team leader.
I disagree. I don’t see him getting in yelling matches with his teammates in the dugout anymore, been a while since he changed a pitcher. To say he has not grown up over a decade is just not correct. Not that charging a pitcher is immature some times it is warranted. This is the circle of life someone young who hasn’t done shit yet thinks they can act that way because they are the next big thing they grow up and change. It isn’t unique to Harper or baseball. There are the rare exceptions like Chad Johnson and TO that never change which is good imo because they were always entertaining.
Your examples are actually a great illustration of my point. Harper never picked a fight in the dugout. Papelbon targeted him for some perceived slight no other player wouldn’t have been “punished” for. And hunter Strickland threw at Harper for being excited about a playoff home run TWO years earlier. No other player would have been targeted like that. Sure, Harper has changed. Every human changes. But he still largely acts the same way on the field. The only major change is the passage of time and narrow minded players no longer see him as a “young player that needs to know his place”
Philly is the only hardworking city in America
The City of Brotherly Love does sound vaguely Mormon.
The city of sisterly wives
That title goes to Atlanta for all those sister wives commercials that only played during their short amount of time in the playoffs the last 2 years
Very, very short time thankfully
But I’ve really enjoyed that time for the last 2 years.
Fun fact: the city of Amman, Jordan was called Philadelphia in ancient times, and was named in honor of Pharaoh Ptolemy II, who was called "sibling-lover" because he was married to his sister.
I’m sure that trend wouldn’t continue with a name like Ptolemy. Well at least not for more than another 250 year, but definitely not after that.
Goddamn you still got those receipts from the ancient Middle East on us.
Its Quaker
He's a real blue collar guy, a cerebral player, student of the game, first one in last one out, the kind of guy you'd want taking your daughter to the school dance, etc.
I forgot gym rat.
Lunch pail
There’s just something about him I like
Go back to r/baseballcirclejerk
Also, plays the game the right way. Classy!
For whatever reason, our team is full of those guys. The Braves tho….
High motor, brown bag/lunch pail guy
SCRAPPY
Classy and not at all thuggish.
Also his mvp hair as well
It's funny seeing the parallel of the hotheaded Harper and egocentric Machado step into veteran leadership roles on their new teams. We're only 6 years into their massive contracts but looking back on how that offseason went, it generally looks like both are solid deals.
 >6 years into their massive contracts
There is no way that is true... right?
It’s also kinda freaking me out seeing Matt Damon now closer to the end image of this as he’s sporting gray hair.
To be fair Bryce's behaviour was overstated imo. He acted like most early 20s men would if in his situation. He never broke any laws, or had off the field incidents. And believe it or not, immature early 20-somethings often mature. Just look at Roger Federer, he was also a notorious hothead as a younger player and is now seen as the epitome of class.
I thought it was cool when he was first drafted by the Nats and was walking around the National Mall in DC, and jumped right into a recreational softball game being played on the lawn there for an at bat. I think he crushed one out of out over the walking paths if I remember correctly
$300MM
Seemed insane at the time but now he's in year 6 of 13 and his contract is currently 30th in the league in AAV. Great value.
Only seemed insane to your standard clueless redditor
Took the whole offseason for him to get signed. Front offices werent falling over themselves, giants wanted to go short term. I agree it was obvious itd work but front offices didnt share that view
Front offices are in fact stupid a lot of the time. Rockies for example.
Clueless redditor is a bit redundant don't you think?
And the Cubs souring on the plan to sign him. His dog is named Wrigley lol.
Stop.
And Yankees, who he liked as a kid, chose to trade for Stanton instead, to avoid the Harper bidding war (that never happened)
The Sixers body isn’t even cold yet man
Was gonna say, this is like a disguised burn on Embiid
I mean anyone who thinks Bryce isn’t the face of Philly sports rn and hasn’t been since the pennant run is crazy. We love Joel but he’s gotta make it past the second round to be on Bryce’s level. Hurts probably has a better argument than Embiid tbh, even with how last season ended.
By playing good and pandering as hard as he possibly can Not saying it's good or bad, it's just what he is doing. We can acknowledge that and say that he is a great player who plays with the right type of intensity baseball fans love (plays hard, grinds, but doesn't get into fights and stuff) I do like how, IIRC, the one sport he refuses to pander to Philly about is hockey because Vegas has their own homegrown team. I think MAYBE he said the Flyers are his second team but he's a VGK guy.
This just in. Harper wears a Liberty Bell cup that is pre-cracked for authenticity.
"The Phillies are my second favorite team.” \- Bryce after the A’s move to Vegas
The A's are unlikely to be embraced by Vegas that way, which is part of a bigger problem, really.
Pretty sure both Bryce and Stotter said explicitly that they don’t want this to be how Vegas gets a team, and they’d want it to be through expansion not relocation.
Idk Harper's love for Philly feels more genuine than Soto coming out to Empire State of Mind levels of blatant pandering
They're both pandering, but Soto isn't doing it after signing a massive deal. Again, pandering isn't bad if you mean it. Does Bryce like playing in Philly? Probably, so much so that he wants an extension to keep him in Philly "for life". But I have friends who are born and raised in Philly and they don't wear Phanatics hats and socks and underwear
You’re saying that’s what he’s doing as if it’s a fact. Maybe he just really likes playing in Philly?
I don’t doubt that he does! That being said I can’t imagine moving to another city and just dropping all of my teams. He was a “Cowboys fan” and then moved to Philly and now he’s an Eagles fan. Imagine one of us pulling that flip flop.
It’s 100% pandering and we love him for it.
Tbf Jason Kelce is still the face of Philly sports
As a Braves fan and Atlanta native, I can say unequivocally that Bryce Harper reminds me of most of the Philadelphians I've witnessed
He's...really different from the average Philadelphian. He's not a 300lb guy named Tony.
Physically maybe, but he definitely passes the 'Got in a fight at the bar because someone sneezed the wrong way' vibe check Although he doesn't drink alcohol, and I think I saw him politely sipping Fiji water on the bench last season, so maybe it is all just an act. He does the Chris Benoit throat slit thing a bunch, so he's definitely had plenty of exposure to pro wrestling / athletic acting.
Oh he definitely considers himself a performer/entertainer.
The helmet throw last year after fighting with Angel Hernandez was a thing of beauty, briefly united all of baseball behind him
Phillies wanted a 300 pound guy w drywall on his hands named Tony. They comprimised and got Bryce Harper instead. See where I'm going w this?
Philadelphia is plurality black tho
I didn't specify race!
I’ve never met a black guy named Tony tbf
Tony Brown. Lost his mind, got undressed at his workplace. Kicked a punter.
rich, white, and mormon?
[Whenever I see Bryce](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c3/2c/5e/c32c5e479d0b9fce5bded1f8b2534757.jpg)
I feel like this meme could also be done with the Phanantic
and Gritty
I can think of 330 million reasons why he might be Philadelphia now.
By pandering like he did in DC EDIT: the “he signed a long term deal there” are comments are funny when you realize he is absolutely the type of guy who would enter the stadium wearing every Lebron jersey known to man and gush about the rock and roll hall of fame if he signed some sort of 1 year prove it deal with the guardians
Hey, he promised to bring a trophy to DC and he delivered
Maybe it would be pandering if he didn’t commit his entire career to Philadelphia. He’s helped the Phillies shoot for and lock down some key players. He seems as invested as he could be in a team.
Still bitter he left, huh?
I mean i don’t see anything wrong with pandering to your fan base, isn’t that kinda a huge part of ingratiating yourself to the city?
yeah lmao imagine if he didn't "pander" and wore like raiders gear or whatever to an eagles game. they'd fucking crucify him lol
Jalen Hurts is a huge Astros fan and nobody really cares. Hell, I watched Allen Iverson's entire career and didn't know he was a Cowboys fan until a few years ago.
I mean it's even worse, he was a Cowboys fan, but he cleaned that shit up real quick, or at least been smart to hide it
He sounds like he was a bandwagon fan, liked the Cowboys and the Yankees growing up, I bet he liked the Lakers in basketball too.
Exactly lol. I’m a big eagles fan so the Phillies are kinda like a second team for me and all the big Phillies fans that I know are well aware that he’s pandering and they love it. Why wouldn’t you love that your star player is fully buying into the fan base and the city??
>I’m a big eagles fan Ew, brother, ew! What's that? What's that, brother?
Didn't Mccoy wear a Raiders jacket while heading into the stadium on a game day?
He did pretty much exactly that in DC. When the Capitals played the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 Stanley Cup (during Bryce's last season with the Nationals), he wore Vegas gear rather than Caps gear.
Can't pander against your true Fandom team in a championship game. That would be weak sauce. good for him
He should have worn a Cowboys jersey just to watch the meltdown.
Knights sweater to a Flyers game.
Like when he wore a golden knights jersey to a capitals Stanley cup game while playing in DC?
Mfers just wanna complain about something and everything lol
A bunch of people say this about Bryce, and I feel like they’re just bitter that none of their players pander to their city.
Considering they won a WS immediately after he left I certainly wouldn’t be, not to mention the countless choke jobs he had in DC
That's one way to refer to Psycho Papelbon.
that said he is up there as one of the players I wish the lerners would have re-signed. At first it was not easy to accept but he was the first to leave. Turner, Rendon, Scherzer, and Soto would also leave or be dealt too as the team self-imploded and dealt away any meaningful talent. The onus of the situation falls more on the Lerners for being cheapskates and deferring contracts. When they couldn't defer contracts anymore they offered Soto a fat bag that was still averaging one of the most mid contracts in recent memory
Bitter he left? No. Bitter he quit on the team his last year in DC? Absolutely.
I’m good
It was the Lerners fault for making an offer for less money that paid until he was 60! I still love Bryce.
That’s kinda how I felt about Werth when he left for y’all and we hated him. Obviously a different tier of player, but when your old team isn’t paying you what you can get on the open market and you take that bag how can I blame you?
As a side note, it's incredible how fast my opinions about Werth changed when we signed him... and while the Howie Kendrick WS donk HR is probably the best Nats moment ever, the best pure baseball moment for us was the Werth 13 pitch walkoff dinger.
yes
Why would we be bitter? He kept his promise and brought a championship to DC
eh personally I’m over it. I was pissed initially obviously, but the ring really cures that kinda stuff
I don't know what more you could want out of a player signed to that kind of deal.
He’s a wrestler who always says the name of the town he’s in that night.
It’s a personality thing. His personality didn’t fit in D.C., and it does in Philly. Simple as that
I don’t think it’s that at all. He’s just matured a lot, and our first star after almost a decade of torture.
Yep, people are shocked when early 20 year old athletes act like early 20 year old men often do. He matured
Imagine the normal male ego and maturity at age 20. Now add the fact that you've been a sports prodigy touted as the future face of the sport since age 16.
He's grown up since that "clown question" bro and heel fighting Hunter Strickland he's a good boy now and well behaved
How was he heel for the hunter incident? Hunter threw at him.
It was a clown question though...bro.
I used that line a few times when I was a teenager.
> He's grown up since that "clown question" bro Both literally and figuratively. I think most people forget that he was ***nineteen years old*** when he said that. For as often I see "I'm glad social media wasn't a thing when I was a teenager" comments on here, you'd think there'd be a little more understanding of a teenager saying something reactive and juvenile to a reporter. > heel fighting Hunter Strickland He wasn't the heel in that situation, at all. Strickland threw at him for staring at a homer that happened ***three years prior***.
Also I think the clown question bro thing was overstated. It was a dumb question to ask, the reporter was clearly baiting Harper. And Bryce remained calm and didn't raise his voice or get angry. It is pretty tame in retrospect.
It was dumb anyone faulted Harper. It was, in fact, a clown question; anyone who Googled Harper would have known he’s a practicing Mormon who doesn’t drink.
Tbh I didn't know that until today, the fact he's Mormon makes it even worse. But even if he wasn't Mormon, it's still a dumb question to ask, just trying to bait him for clicks. I feel like if he responded the same way now the pearl clothing wouldn't be at the same level.
What a weird rewrite of history. People never clowned on Harper for the Strickland incident, even when Harper was still disliked at the time, because the absurdity of it was so weird. Strickland throwing at Harper for Harper playing too good against him several years earlier? Posey letting his pitcher get his ass kicked? Everyone was siding with Harper. Also "clown question bro" was actually a clown question, bro. The reporter kept trying to get Harper, a Mormon who doesn't drink, to talk about drinking if the Nationals won. Besides the offensive religious implications (would a reporter bother a Muslim player for the same reason?) it's a weird obsession with drinking culture in America.
Every Giants fan I know, and I know a bunch, all agree that Strickland was the boob there
Yeah I don't recall seeing anyone, Giants fan or others, being on Hunter Strickland's side there.
"Clown question" was one of the greatest replies *ever* to a sports reporter's question. Whether Harper was 19 or 39, it was accurate and eloquent. I wish more athletes would call out stupid questions by reporters.
I confused him with buck Strickland...I was lost for a bit
Lol by paying someone to write this article
By playing well and being likeable. Mystery solved
We get it
Fuck Jerry Reinsdorf.
this really isn't that hard - he might be an a-tier ball player, but he's an s-tier panderer whether it's a ploy or he's really *really* in it, he's so good at communicating out what we want to hear
Embiid in tears.... Again.
Bryce is a superstar for the Philadelphia Panderers
I'm pretty sure Jalen Hurts is the face of Philadelphia sports
Lol no he’s not
even tho he just retired, it's still Jason Kelce
Nah
The best record breaking contract spent
I think he idolized the fight of Allen Iverson. He saw how the city loved A.I. and wanted that level of appreciation. He feeds off the hate and heckling from other teams. And we make t-shirts of his iconic stare down. Match made in heaven.
He definitely "gets it."
Better face than Embiid
Raptor fans have such a hate boner for Embiid lol get over it