It's not easy being Bryce Harper. (It can't be that bad either, of course.) But that uneasy tension is what having so much promise and ability and ambition is about: living up to and overcoming the criticisms and nay-sayers, the ubiquitous record books of daunting Hall of Fame achievements, the publicly known attempts to surpass the physical and mental and social constraints of a very demanding and competitive sport that requires the best and worst of preparation, practice and luck; to finally be who people want him to be. And to be who he himself wants to be, by all accounts. And who exactly is that?
The great player, entertainer, teammate and champion. The record breaker, Most Valuable Player, the guy who gets people to stop and watch him in their own private or public moments in the batter's box and in the outfield, or on the basepaths racing towards home. The guy people recall seeing and doing all those things in baseball, that used to be said of the legendary Roberto Clemente or Micky Mantle, Ted Williams or Babe Ruth, Willie Mays or Lou Brock, Rogers Hornsby or Jimmie Foxx, Shoeless Joe Jackson or Ty Cobb.
Is he that guy? After his 4th major league season, the answer is maybe. He's got a chance; he lived up to the hype this year. 2015 will go down in the record books. Another 10 or 12 years like that one, and he's got a really good chance to be one of the best of all time. Time will tell.
Nevertheless, there inevitably exists a further complication: he is Latter-day Saint, aka Mormon.
Does that matter? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe not an inevitable issue.
Religion, in this day and age they say, should not affect people that much as to how they perform. Or does it? Can it?
One famous example of religion affecting baseball was when the great pitcher Sandy Koufax, who was Jewish, would not pitch in the World Series on his Sabbath, which for us Gentiles is sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Will Bryce take games off for Sunday services? Not likely. Will he stop a playoff game for General Conference broadcast from Salt Lake City in October? Again, not likely.
Will he marry a nice LDS/Mormon girl and raise Mormon kids? More likely. Will he attend church more in the off season than the 162 game marathon from March to September? More likely. There are plenty of us LDS workers who do miss Sunday services because of labor obligations. I have had to work my odd Sundays for years. I first started doing some of that part-time back in the 1980s.
Sunday church services and dedications and devotions should not affect his numbers or career, like Steve Young as a Sunday player in the NFL who did the grand majority of playing on the 7th day, revered by his kind at BYU and his progenitors, back to the prophet of the faith, Brigham Young himself. Or Sunday TV commentator Steve Young BYU grad (twice) working on ESPN today, in the 21st century.
But it may affect how he is viewed as a Latter-day role model. The LDS major league baseball MVP of the 80s, Dale Murphy, has gone on to ecclesiastical highs like Mission President after doing his due diligence on the diamonds on the Sabbath, a day we try to consecrate for more spiritual pursuits.
Could Bryce do the same someday, being a spiritual leader like Dale Murphy or former NFL QB Gifford Nielson? Possibly. More decades to go, as all things remain pending when it comes to potential greatness becoming an accomplished feat.
Speaking of decades to go: Bryce is legitimately entrenched in the race against the history books; this (2015) season has made it quite compelling.
As he turns 23 this month and awaits season number 5 next spring, Mr. Harper is at an age where many greats are merely beginning this level of play, while he currently has 97 career homers, tied with another formidable young talent in Jason Heyward, who has now completed 6 major league seasons at the age of 26; Heyward, while succeeding in the same outfield position as Bryce and having a strong arm and some power, is not keeping up with the pace at which Harper appears to be moving in. Bryce is certainly groomed for bigger and better things.
And there is always the comparison to Mike Trout, who only a year Bryce's senior has achieved very remarkable career numbers in his four astounding years paralleling and mostly outdoing Harper. But this year was different. Bryce surged while Trout, albeit still impressive, leveled into more pedestrian numbers, and the two look to be more comparable where after three seasons many thought that Mike Trout was by far the better prospect.
Now we seriously wonder if Bryce has turned the corner and found his MVP Hall-of-Famer groove.
It could be.
Many future Sundays, the LDS Sabbath, await this anointed one to put up many more tremendous numbers. As a big Nationals fan, I hope he stays in DC and puts up a total career and fabulous accomplishments in the nation's capital.
It might include World Series, which may seal Bryce's fate as an all-time great.
Numbers, victories, wins, results.
And Sabbath day resting in between.
Bryce, and his following, both people of his religious culture and those of pure baseball adoration, may have their guy.
Let's see about season number five. 2016 will be a fascinating time for the Nats.
Will he do so much at age 23? Could be.
Will he prove he is as good if not better than Trout? Will he go from #861 all-time home-run hitter (after breaking into the club of top 1,000 earlier this spring of 2015) and possibly clouting 50 or so and going to the top 500ish of all time? I think it is very possible. He could also get injured and miss the whole season; we never know what will come, how things may play out.
Yes, the future looks bright for this exuberant, aggressive yet humble (in my opinion), feisty, and ambitious somewhat of a lightning rod figure in the major leagues.
Yes, we will have other days of rest to contemplate and discuss where he belongs, and if in fact, any of these matters truly matter.
I, for one, love to watch to see this guy do things in the field of play that young men like me dreamed of doing once upon a time, fairy book style.
And God saw his labors, and it was good. And the morning and the evening were the seventh day.
God be with you Bryce. And may you be with God. Seven days week, on and perhaps more importantly, off the field. We pray for you to be who you want to be, and please God before Mammon. Be a good, or even great, Mormon. Do what you can to lift yourself and others, inspire us to be champions like the heroes we love to revere.
And then rest.
Nothing outlandish about that.
It's only baseball, it's just about winning through perseverance, and pleasing God in His due time.
Play on.
Blog it, EMC.
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