As the Philadelphia Phillies have World Series gold on their mind, part of their success will fall on star Bryce Harper who is in the midst of his sixth season with the team. While his Phillies teammates such as Trea Turner have praised him, Harper himself recently spoke about playing for a city like Philadelphia.
It seems like yesterday when the Phillies signed Harper to a $330 million contract, signaling that the star will be the face of the organization whether it wins or loses. Harper would speak to Jeff Passan of ESPN about Philadelphia which is known for its rowdiness as he has nothing but love for the city of Brotherly Love.
“At the end of the day, they want to see us win,” Harper said. “And if we're winning, they're winning. They can sit there and go, screw you to Boston, screw you to New York, screw you to L.A. They have that demeanor. That's just how they are. They can hold it over their buddy's head in New York or Boston because we beat 'em that week. You know how sports are, man.”
“That's the coolest thing about being here and being part of it,” Harper continued. “And you don't fully understand it until you're here. It takes a different mindset to play in this place. And I wanted to do it.”
Phillies' Bryce Harper on the nerves he feels for postseason games
Harper hit a .285 batting average with 30 home runs and 87 runs batted in (RBIs) in 145 games where he's looking to excel in the postseason. Despite being a veteran at this point of the year, he still talks about how October and beyond still give him that excitement.
“Your heart's beating, racing a little bit, and you've got the butterflies, and especially Game 1, man,” Harper said via ESPN. “You go into Game 1 in the NLCS or the NLDS, and you're sitting there, and the planes are flying over, and the anthem's going, and you're like, damn, dude. It feels like Opening Day again. And I think that's a cool thing, too. It's a clean slate.”
“You have a good year, you have a bad year, you have the worst year of your career,” Harper continued. “I couldn't care less about what you did during the season. Does not matter. Because if you have a great 11 games, then you're going to be remembered for that. You're not going to be remembered for the year that you had. You're not going to be remembered for anything else. That's what you're going to be remembered for. Remembered forever.”
Bryce Harper loves being a part of the Phillies
However, there is no other team Harper would rather feel these feelings for as they look to get back to a World Series contest and bring Philadelphia their first title since 2008.
“I love it. I get here, and it's so calming for me,” Harper said. “There's nothing that irritates me. It's just baseball. I'm a Philadelphia Phillie. I love it. Every day.”
“After 23, 24 years of competitive baseball, since I was 7 years old, I still love every part of the competitiveness,” Harper would say.”
The Phillies prepare for their hopeful journey back to the championship as they take on the New York Mets in Game 1 of the NLDS Saturday.