Bryce Harper: Phenom Is Already Pissing People off and Just Might Save Baseball

Bryce Harper is pissing off players, stealing home and causing scandals, all while locking down a permanent job in the Nationals' outfield. Yes, I guess you can say I am excited for what is to come. 

It's time to wake up Bud Selig from whatever hammock he might be sleeping in to alert him to the fact that there has never been a better time to market specific players. 

The NBA received the memo decades ago. Say what you will about David Stern, but the NBA gets it when it comes to marketing their players, making the Association a personality-driven league. 

It would be nice for baseball to garner the same kind of buzz it once did. Those days went the way of transistor radios, but there is hope. It comes in the form of a player that can get under people's skin, even me. 

Bryce Harper 

I'm not a huge fan of Harper, the caricature. The person that is seen as a cocky slugger with eye black isn't for me, but that's hardly the point. 

I love Harper the ball player, and see a tremendous amount of promise in his hustle and work ethic. But that's not the point, either. 

The point is, you all seem to care a great amount about Bryce Harper, in all facets of who he is and what he symbolizes. 

On Sunday, a veteran ace who has volumes more on his resume than Harper decided to send a message. The fact that Cole Hamels thought Harper was elite enough to plunk means the world. 

Forget sending him back to the minors now, because the man has arrived. 

The intriguing part is all the hype and hoopla that is being drawn to this incident. You have Curt Schilling calling out Hamels for his egregious act. 

The Debate

I say it was an awesome display of old-school antics. 

If you want a miracle, consider that there were some very passionate debates occurring this morning, and it was all because opponents can't stand Harper. 

Let me jump off easy street and onto bold prediction avenue to say that Bryce Harper is the future of Major League Baseball. 

At least, that's what I hope. 

He plays like Pete Rose but with the nonchalance of the jaded youth. He is perfect to both incite and engage. 

The Conclusion

All we need now is MLB to get with the program and tout players over team, personality over franchise and let rock stars take the stage. 

Matt Kemp is a sensation, Bryce Harper is a machine and a myriad of others could be the new faces of a league actually stepping in a new direction when it comes to marketing. 

We had ourselves an old-school moment, but that doesn't mean the marketing should remain archaic. 

There is a ton of swagger on the diamond—let it shine. 

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