Bryce Harper and the Public Display of Affection That Won't Go Away

Maybe he had just listened to the Hall and Oates song "Your Kiss"

Maybe he had just seen a video of Madonna and Britney Spears' public makeout session at the MTV Video Music Awards from a few years back.

Or maybe he's just an 18-year-old stud prospect who is tearing up minor league pitching.

While all are plausible, I think it's the final scenario that holds to be the most true.

No matter what the reason was, yesterday Bryce Harper decided it would be a good idea to blow a kiss to opposing pitcher Zachary Neal during the teams' Class A game yesterday. The players are not known as having any history or prior meetings to this point.

After Harper belted his 14th home run of the season, he slowly left the batter's box and admired his blast for a bit longer than a player ought to. As he rounded the bases, he made direct eye contact at Neal and blew him an unmistakable kiss descending into the dugout.

This has left me with only one question: Why does it matter?

We should not be surprised by Harper's actions at all. We seem to have forgotten so quickly that he is only 18 years old. Harper cannot go the bar and order a drink, and he could not vote in the 2008 presidential election. What I'm getting at is that he is very young and has had almost no time to mature before being placed in the public spotlight. 

As of today Bryce Harper is hitting .342 at the minor league level with 14 home runs and 43 runs batted in. He has stolen 12 bases, and his OPS is well over a thousand. He is the crowned jewel of the Washington Nationals minor league system and is already being called one of the greatest prospects of the modern era, and he has not even ascended to the Double-A level.

You think Bryce Harper is oblivious to the hype? I can assure you he's not. At every corner he has someone telling him how great he is going to be and what a star future he has ahead of him. The fact that he is doing well, very well, in his Single-A games only adds to his confidence.

The thing we must remember is that Harper is still a kid and will require time to mature into an adult. Harper blowing a kiss at a pitcher in a SINGLE-A baseball game should not be national news.

While I agree with most that it was inappropriate and classless, I don't know why outlets like ESPN are blowing it out of proportion. Yesterday, they even went as far as to bring Mike Schmidt to the program to give his thoughts on Harper's actions. I am not sure at what point in time Schmidt became such a formidable expert on minor league displays of affection, but the "worldwide leader in sports" saw it fit to bring him in for the matter.

Bryce Harper might be a great baseball player, or like thousands of other great prospects, he may never amount to anything. What we must remember is that he is only 18 years old. I remember how I acted when I was 18 (I'm 21 now, so I remember quite clearly) and how enormous my head was at times, and I can't even hit a softball out of the infield. It's hard being young, and it's even harder when you have everyone telling you how great you're going to be.