Then, they went on to win the World Series. The Washington Nationals let Bryce Harper walk as a free agent during the 2019 offseason, watching as he signed with their division rival Philadephia Phillies for a rather unheard of 13-year contract worth approximately $330 million dollars (~$25 million/year).īy letting him go as a free agent, the Nationals essentially received nothing in return (other than a compensation pick in the draft) for one of the premier players in baseball. Let’s get this one out of the way right from the top. Which prompts me to ask the question: is Bryce Harper still overrated or has he possibly become underrated? I wonder if Harper’s career path might come full circle as well. Similar to the career path of Joe Buck, there was an unprecedented amount of hype in the early years, followed by years of public backlash, which in Buck’s case eventually came full circle into a certain level of gratitude and appreciation. He became somewhat of a baseball villain nationally and widely disliked by other players and fan bases around the league. Whether it was Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamelsunceremoniously beaning Harper intentionally in his rookie season as his “welcome to the big leagues” moment (after which Harper would steal home), the feud with Giants reliever Hunter Strickland, the long flowing hair, the way Harper regularly throws off his own helmet when running the bases, the emotional way that he plays the game, or even simple petty jealously at all the hype he received at such a young age, the baseball community outside of the Nation’s Capital at large seemed to turn against Harper rather quickly. Voted “Most Overrated Player” by his peers again in 2018-2019 via The Athletic.2017 National League All-Star game’s top overall vote-getter as voted by the fans.Got into a physical dugout choking altercation with teammate Jonathan Papelbonin 2015.Responded to that poll by being named NL MVP in 2015.Voted “Most Overrated Player” in 20 in an ESPN The Magazine poll by his fellow players.Was benched by his manager in Washington for not running out a groundball.Became the youngest National League player ever to make the All-Star team.Made his MLB debut at age 19 against the Dodgers on April 28, 2012.Blew a kiss to a pitcher in the minor leagues after hitting a home run.Drafted with the #1 overall draft pick by the Washington Nationals in 2010 out of Southern Nevada.Featured on a Sports Illustrated cover in 2009 as a high schooler at the age of 16 in which he was deemed “Baseball’s LeBron”.Here’s an ultra-quick recap of just a few highlights for the former catcher-turned-outfielder who was one of the most hyped and highly-regarded baseball prospects ever: Harper’s backstory and pedigree are well-chronicled, so we won’t get into all that here too much today. Networks simply don’t hand over that type of contract to someone who is bad at their job.Īll of this brings me to the Phillies’ 28-year-old superstar right-fielder Bryce Harper.įull disclosure again: I am a Bryce Harper fan (not his biggest fan by any stretch, but I root for him to be successful – I think he is good for the game). In the past few years, however, it feels like everyone has (rightfully so) come back around on Buck to some extent and even if you aren’t his biggest fan, there is no denying that he’s great at what he does.įOX pays him upwards of $6 million/year to be their lead play-by-play announcer. Then, for whatever reason, it seemed like everyone turned on him for a while where he was frequently met with loads of criticism and tons of Twitter jokes at his expense. There seemed to initially be some excitement about Buck’s presence in the booth in the early years. There is the silly long-time narrative that sports fan bases always believe that national sportscasters hate their teams. Love him or hate him, most sports fans seem to have strong feelings about Buck. I tip my cap to Joe Buck, who makes an incredibly difficult job (my dream job) seem extremely smooth and easy. Take for instance this past October when in a matter of days Buck seamlessly transitioned between calling an NLCS game (Dodgers-Braves), an NFL Sunday “Game of the Week” (Packers-Buccaneers), a rescheduled Monday afternoon NFL game (Chiefs-Bills), and a World Series game (Rays-Dodgers). I think he’s sensational at his job and is the soundtrack of some of the most memorable sporting events of my lifetime. The son of legendary broadcaster Jack Buck, Joe Buck joined FOX at the age of 25 as a bit of a sportscasting prodigy and has been calling MLB and NFL games ever since.įull disclosure: I am a Joe Buck fan. It seems that most sports fans, and in particular baseball fans, have a very strong opinion one way or the other about FOX national sportscaster Joe Buck.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |