Larry Brown Sports

Bryce Harper left Monday’s Los Angeles Dodgers-Washington Nationals game after crashing into the right field wall trying to catch a ball during the fifth inning.

Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis led off the bottom of the inning with a drive to right, and the Nationals phenom went face-first into the right field scoreboard trying to make the play. He was bleeding from his face/chin after the collision. Harper left the game immediately.

Ellis ended up with a triple on the play and scored on a groundout on the next at-bat.

Harper might be out for a while. He missed Friday and Saturday’s games for the Nats after having a minor procedure to remove an ingrown toenail. In his second game back, this happened.

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Bryce Harper is 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, and an all-around man-child on the baseball field. But despite his large build, all it took was a measly ingrown toenail to keep him out of the lineup on Friday.

The Washington Nationals star outfielder missed Friday’s 7-3 win over the Chicago Cubs to have a troublesome ingrown toenail removed from his right foot.

The issue was noticed earlier in the week and Harper had his nail clipped, but the pain persisted. The Washington Post says the area that was not previously seen was removed in the minor procedure on Friday. They also report that Harper is on medication for an infection that emerged.

All this for an ingrown toenail, right? Well, after you see the picture Harper tweeted of the ingrown toenail, you’ll understand where all the problems came from. Take a look:

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Bryce Harper had a very quick afternoon during the Washington Nationals’ 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Harper had only one at-bat, as he was thrown out by umpire John Hirschbeck in the top of the first inning for arguing over a check swing. The call looked questionable and the ejection even more so.

Harper reportedly dropped his bat after staring at Hirschbeck, but it sure looked like Hirschbeck was antagonizing him. Instead of turning the other way, the veteran umpire threw his arms up at Harper and kept staring him down. It seemed obvious he was waiting for a reason to throw him out.

“First of all, he put both arms up in the air,” Hirschback explained after the game, via Bill Ladson of MLB.com. “To me, I felt like that’s showing me up. I yelled at him and warned him to stop. And then he continued and he slammed his bat down. I actually warned him again and then the next thing he slammed his helmet down and I felt three warnings are more than enough.”

For his part, all Harper said was that he was happy he didn’t cost his team a win. Last season, Harper was ejected after he slammed his helmet when he was angry with himself for grounding into a double play, so it does seem like umpires try to make an example of the youngster at times.

Perhaps Hirschbeck was still frustrated after being nailed in the groin by a foul ball a little over a week ago. That type of experience can stick with a person.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson has only three home runs in his career, and his most recent big fly may not have made its way into the stands without a little help from Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper.

During the bottom of the fifth inning on Tuesday night, the 37-year-old Hudson proved that he still has the strength to send a ball a long way to the opposite field. The ball may have had the distance to get out on its own, but it appeared Harper gave it some assistance when he leaped and almost made a spectacular grab at the wall. Instead, it went off his glove and into the stands.

Harper certainly isn’t the first player to have a ball go off his glove and over the wall (see: Swisher, Nick). If anything, he can consider it a good deed. The Nationals were already in a pretty big hole at that point and he made an old man happy.

Bryce Harper had a memorable opening day this season, but he does not have a special memento from the milestone game.

The Washington Nationals outfielder homered in his first two at-bats of the game and accounted for his team’s only runs in a 2-0 win over the Miami Marlins. Not only was his performance that day a special one, but it was even more meaningful because it his first opening day; Harper started off last season in the minors and did not make his MLB debut until April 28.

Well the Nationals or MLB must have grabbed Harper’s jersey after the game, because it was sold in an auction on the team’s website. Harper wasn’t too thrilled about that.

They just take my jersey away from me and don’t ask if I want it or anything! First opening day! Jersey gone! #MLB twitter.com/Bharper3407/st…

— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) April 18, 2013

I hope all the money goes to charity and not something wrong! Charities need it way more! #Jersey twitter.com/Bharper3407/st…

— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) April 18, 2013

Even if the money does go to charity, isn’t that something that the player should be consulted about first? Some players like collecting memorabilia, and a keepsake like a game-worn jersey from a first opening day seems like something a player should have a right to claim first.

H/T DC Sports Bog

How did opening day treat Bryce Harper? Put it this way: the 20-year-old phenom is on pace to hit 324 home runs this season. Harper hit a pair of home runs — in his first two at-bats of the season — and accounted for the only two RBIs of the game in the Washington Nationals’ 2-0 win over the Miami Marlins on Monday afternoon.

To make matters more exciting, a Jayson Werth look-a-like caught Harper’s first home run. As you can see from the photo above that DC Sports Bog passed along, the lucky fan was in full uniform and rocking the classic Werth beard and a pair of sunglasses. The MLB season may be only a day old, but we’ve already received a fantastic edition to our growing list of look-a-like fans.

As for the game itself, Nationals fans have to be thrilled with the way things played out. There is still a very, very long way to go, but Harper’s two home runs and Stephen Strasburg’s dominating seven innings of three-hit, no-run ball serve as a reminder that the franchise’s plan is coming to fruition. Assuming they can remain healthy, the Nats should be one of the most exciting teams in baseball all season long.

Photo via @jtannenwald

Bryce Harper appears poised for a breakout season with the Washington Nationals in 2013, but he wants more than that. Becoming the face of one of the best young teams in baseball would be nice, but Harper wants to become the Tom Brady of the MLB.

During an interview with the Washington Times on Sunday, Harper expressed a desire to be featured on magazine covers and be seen as more than just a baseball player.

“I don’t want everybody to just see the baseball side of me,” Harper said. “I want everybody to see the other side of me, too — that I can be on a magazine with jeans and a T-shirt on and my hair done and things like that. I don’t want just me in my baseball hat all the time just the boring, old, ‘Look it’s Bryce Harper with eye black on again.’ I like people seeing the other side.”

I’ll be the first to admit I did a complete 180-degree turn on Harper throughout the course of last season. However, that sounds more like the guy I used to hate that gels up his hair and blows kisses at opposing pitchers. There’s no questioning Harper’s dedication to the game and his work ethic, but you can’t expect to tell people you want to be on a magazine cover with your hair done without catching some grief.

Having said that, comments like these show how comfortable Harper is in his own skin. Without that confidence, he probably wouldn’t be such a promising young player. Don’t forget, this is the same guy who said he wants to have as much fun off the field as Joe Namath had in his day.

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