Philadelphia Phillies fans have waited a long time, but the Phillies are back in the postseason dance. They clinched their playoff berth after an impressive 3-0 shutout victory against the Houston Astros, marking their first postseason appearance since the heyday of the late Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels in 2011. And outfielder Bryce Harper couldn't contain his excitement during the team's locker room celebration.

Interim manager Rob Thomson tipped his hat to his players, giving a heartfelt message filled with gratitude without losing sight of the task at hand entering the playoffs. Afterwards, Harper screamed in a manner that's not safe for work, on live television no less. The 29-year old yelled out from the bottom of his lungs, “F–k yeah!”

The expectations for Bryce Harper were especially high after he signed a huge 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies in the 2019 offseason. But by and large, Harper has lived up his contract thus far, especially after he won the 2021 NL MVP award.

Still, Harper knows that winning a World Series in Philadelphia is the ultimate goal, especially after he saw his former team, the Washington Nationals, win it all back in 2019.

“I'm excited to be back here [in the playoffs] for an organization I absolutely love. […] This [making the playoffs] is the plan, right, this is the goal to do this, but this is step one as well. But we all know that. But we're gonna enjoy this. We're gonna have fun,” Harper said.

In Year 4 of his Phillies career, Bryce Harper is absolutely motivated and eager to show that he could lead the Phillies, despite being a lower-seeded wildcard team, deep into the postseason amidst all the doubts cast upon him since being branded as baseball's golden boy when he entered the league back in 2012.

“I'm so happy to do it as a Philadelphia Phillie. I'm so excited to be here. I got chills just thinking about it. It's for the city, this is for the fans and I hope we get back and get there and play in front of them [in the postseason].”

As things currently stand, Bryce Harper and the Phillies are set to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card round, which, under the new format, will be a best-of-three series with the higher-seed hosting all games. As Harper said, Phillies fans will hope they get to witness the first playoff series in Citizens Bank Park in over a decade.