One of baseball’s most prominent contemporary figures, Bryce Harper covers the most recent issue of ESPN magazine. The Washington Nationals player gets candid, dishing on the current state of Major League Baseball. Finding fault with baseball codes, Harper expresses, “Baseball’s tired. It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do.”
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The right fielder continues, “I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig–there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.”
Comparing baseball to other sports, Harper confides, “If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I’m going to go, ‘Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.’ That’s what makes the game fun. You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football, basketball.” Harper goes on to say, “Look at those players–Steph Curry, LeBron James. It’s exciting to see those players in those sports. Cam Newton–I love the way Cam goes about it. He smiles, he laughs. It’s that flair. The dramatic.” Read more on ESPN.go.com.
