At the end of the first Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate and time stood still.
Well, not exactly. Expecting the two-time MVP to receive a standing ovation in his first home plate appearance since Game 5 of the World Series last November, the Phillies petitioned Major League Baseball for permission to suspend the speed-the-game clock , which has done so much to carve out the dead space from the times of previous games this season.
So the clock was turned off as Harper joined in the appreciated applause and chants of “MVP! MVP!” for a full 36 seconds.
The moment was significant on several levels. First, and quite obviously, it gave the home fans an opportunity to show their appreciation for a player who had returned in record time from Tommy John’s elbow surgery.
Second, it gave Harper an opportunity to tweak MLB a bit for a minor kerfuffle that surfaced at Dodger Stadium Wednesday when the umpires refused to give him extra time to put on the brace he’s wearing to his surgically repaired to protect elbows. So he mischievously suggested that he would enjoy his reception just a little more than he otherwise would have.
“I’ll enjoy this for a second,” he said with a mischievous grin.
Finally, it was a nice reminder that even the best players in the game, the kind that get a standing ovation, can have players that make them a little naïve.
Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida, the Japanese star who signed with Boston earlier this season, has been open about his admiration for Harper. That prompted the Phillies hitter-designate to reminisce about his own crushes when he was younger.
“Everyone who is born at 19 is going to have someone like that,” he said. “For me, it was Derek Jeter. Stand on second base and see Jeter. Or one of these guys. I grew up a huge Yankees fan. That was definitely really cool. to see Bernie Williams. Mariano Rivera. You can go on and on.
“I remember my first spring practice (at the Nationals). I was 17 or 18 and we were playing in Melbourne, Florida. I actually got in trouble for watching her BP. They told me to go inside. The Nationals did. Instead of watching some of the players in the world. That didn’t really make sense to me. It was really crazy. To be able to sit there and watch (Robinson) Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Jeter, Mark Teixiera. I mean, some of the biggest thugs of my generation.”
So it’s an honor that Yoshida looks up to him.
“When you’re younger you try to look up to boys and imitate boys. For me that was my father. I remember watching him work his ever loving cock to take care of us. And to be able to have that impact on other people is pretty cool. So it’s a very humbling situation to be someone to look up to in every area of life.
“He was able to come here and have great success in his first few weeks. Especially in this Boston market, it’s really cool to know how difficult it is for him to do that at this point.