Tater Trot Tracker

He's got a thin skin, and he's being baited by opposing teams relentlessly. Still, a reminder that it's more than his offensive prowess that will dictate when he progresses to the next level. His defense, and his maturity, also need further development.

Wow, hope he's ready to get plunked.

Oh, look: Jeff Kent's moustache AND personality!

It is pretty painful watching this guy, and his mustache. I'm really amazed that someone who people are talking about in the context of being potentially the best player in the game for many years would be acting so hypercompetitively against Low-A competition. It is a big plus to his makeup that he isn't taking the competition lightly, but has to be a big minus if he is using any brainpower towards humiliating Low-A pitchers or sparking brawls.

I don't know why I wrote all that, it isn't news to anyone.

For a disgusting mustache, he is doing a pretty good job with it.

Don't we really know the context of the match-up. Was he thrown at earlier, did the pitcher do something to prompt the response, etc...

I agree that Harper needs to be humbled some, something that is bound to happen. But people need to cut him some slack.

He got knocked out of the previous game by an HBP, but I don't know whether anything happened in this game beyond jawing. My guess is he will temper this kind of stuff, whether he gets plunked or not. He's a cocky teenager. That will probably mature soon into confident young adult.

There seems to be significant double standard with regards to "professional conduct" for baseball and all other professional sports. If this was done in a football or basketball game it would be applauded and celebrated, not met with offense and derision. He's a professional entertainer. He's creating a spectacle. He's creating a show. It may not be opera, but it's entertainment.

To get this out there, I'm a baseball fan. It's my sport. I like the no-nonsense staid professionalism of a guy like Jim Thome. I'm just saying that I don't like people treating baseball like it's the only civilized game while all other sports get free passes.

Just curious - any chance that ball was right down the line? If it was certainly fair and he stood there admiring it, then that's bad. But if it was a question of fair-or-foul, lots of guys stand there and see if they need to jog or get ready for the next pitch.

+1 for Luke, -1 for Diana (my browser won't let me actually do it).

Either there's nothing really wrong with it, and so Harper also gets to do it. Or it is wrong, and you don't 'earn' the right to be an A-hole by being better at something than other people. No more than you earn the right to not run out groundballs or take your turn with the press.

Probably more important team-wise that a star sticks to the rules. Earl Weaver thought so. As Bill James has pointed out, when the guy making the most money starts cutting corners, pretty soon everyone starts cutting those same corners.

Can't see the video anymore

I keep thinking of Walter Payton: Act like you've been there before.

I imagine he won't be doing that once he reaches the majors. Can you imagine the reaction of a Pedro (in his prime) or Clemens or Randy Johnson to something like that? Pedro would have tackled him or thrown a fastball at his head, Clemens would have thrown 4 straight under his chin, and RJ would have thrown a slider at his head that ended up being a called strike.

What if the pitcher was talking to him during the at bat and telling him how terrible he was and how he would never hit him? Harper may be a jerk (and probably is), but he just did the equivalent of putting one in the pitcher's ear hole - a massive bomb.

Wonder if his teammates enjoy getting plunked? That would be the way I would send the message. Then the Suns could take care of business in-house.

This is great! Life would be boring without a-holes with horrific mustaches blowing kisses after they homered in some low-A ball game and taking thirty seconds to run it out. He's committed about five US sins in this one video:

1. Lack of style(mustaches are finished!)
2. Lack of hustle
3. Lack of humility
4. Lack of sportsmanship
5. Lack of an accompanying beard. In fourteen states in the US it's a felony crime to have a bad mustache and no beard.

Wasn't Ryan Zimmerman playing in this game?

At this point, Harper does not belong in Low-A ball. Does nothing for his growth, it is bad for both teams, there is no one there to demonstrate some leadership over him. Let him face some tougher pitching in AA and work through an extended slump or two.
He says the right things in interviews but clearly demonstrates some immaturity on the diamond (whether the other team is goading him into it or not). He will learn. Hell, in this league you can drive around drunk all day, talk back to cops, and beat your significant other as long as you have a 1.000 OPS.

I'm sorry, but the truly offensive thing here is the mustache. I hope he matures enough to shave it.

I'm already tired of the shows of righteous indignance from the entire blogospehere that greet Bryce Harper's every perceived misstep. He seems like a cocky prick, but the armchair enforcers who want to "teach him a lesson" offend me far more.

Don't make me defend Bryce Harper. Please.

You know at this point he's acting like the obnoxious beer
league slow pitch softball slugger who laughs in your face
when he hits it out and slams the bat against the water
cooler when makes an out. His physical abilities are just ahead of his emotional growth. MLB needs his talent, let's
hope he gets things under control.

I think it's worth keeping in mind that Harper isn't the only young adult/teenager involved. It's not like the pitcher is 35 years old and coming at it from the same perspective as some of the commenters here. It's also not like Harper put his hand to his mouth and blew a kiss at the guy; that puckering gesture is a pretty common one on basketball courts, soccer fields, etc. these days -- which isn't to say it isn't rude, just not atypical, and probably not as offensive to the pitcher as one might be imagining.

Is it okay to pose and admire a walkoff homer? I really don't know the rules.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=15594767&topic_id=9674738&c_id=mlb

I think Pujols is being even more inappropriate since the Cubs' bullpen is actually worse than what Harper has to face in Low-A.

If a hitter watches his home run for a few seconds, the logical thing to do is retaliate? Retaliate for what? A pitcher gets paid money to throw baseballs, he does it poorly, and then his feelings get sooo hurt that he needs to retaliate physically? How mature is the pitcher's response?

In other sports, smack-talking and showboating is bad because it unnecessarily motivates the other team. It doesn't justify cheap-shotting or trying to hurt the culprits.

It's weird that baseball's unwritten rules seemingly demand such courteous conduct yet at the same time accept the immediate "hurt their players" retaliation as the logical follow up.

We have no idea what the pitcher said. Harper was being a douche but I would bet the pitcher was too.

Two things:

1) I believe that there was a previous incident between the teams that led to this. Which is to say that I don't think he's just deciding to show up lo-A lifer Biff McGraw for the embarrassment of it: there was bad blood.

2) I actually think that this kind of, well, emotion, bodes well for his career, not badly for it. You cannot say that this kid doesn't care, or that he's not up for a good fight. That is a good quality if you want to end up with an all-time great baseball player. Not all such players are unconditionally "nice" to their opponents.

Weird, in other sports, I hate show boats, but baseball needs this. The players have become too clubby.

Things we know as facts:
1. The night before, Harper was hit by a pitch on the thigh and left the game
2. Harper hits a home run the next day
3. Harper blows a kiss to the pitcher while rounding the bases

My conjecture as to what might have happened, but we couldn't hear

Harper hits homer, looks at it a bit
Tells pitcher to "Take that!"
Pitcher tells Harper to "Kiss my a**"
Harper blows kiss back at pitcher