PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 24: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals celebrates after clinching the National League East Division Championship after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 at PNC Park on September 24, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
MLBOlympicsBy Jay Rigdon on

Bryce Harper is way cooler than he gets credit for being.

He possessed the unfortunate combination of extreme talent and extreme youth, and when you have both of those, the old guys aren’t going to like it. So what would pass for grit and hustle for other players was labeled “look at me” type stuff. He was even voted Most Overrated in an anonymous player poll for two straight seasons! (That piece came out in March 2015, and Harper went on to win NL MVP that season.)

This is a long-winded way of saying that he gets a lot of unwarranted criticism.

That’s unfortunate, because he actually does some really cool things. Back in August, he held Olympic star Katie Ledecky’s array of medals while she threw out a first pitch. That interaction paid off again last night.

Apparently Ledecky gifted him one of her swim caps, because he wore it while the champagne was flowing after the Nationals clinched the NL East.

It even came to Ledecky’s attention:

That’s really cool! And, if we’re honest, a perfect use for a gifted swim cap.

You know, aside from swimming.

[Sporting News]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.

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