Bryce Harper has gone on record with how he feels about baseball’s ‘tired’ unwritten rules ultimately negating fun and excitement in the sport. After Washington’s 4-3 season-opening win against the Atlanta Braves, the 23-year-old took another stand for fun, borrowing from Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, sporting a ‘make baseball fun again’ hat.
Bryce Harper wears a "Make Baseball Fun Again" hat after the Nationals' win. pic.twitter.com/MvGeU6MDA5
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 5, 2016
Harper isn’t the only young face of baseball to take a stand against the sports old-timer ‘no fun’ mentality. Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa just wrote an essay saying that the the sport is “stuck in the past,” and that the unwritten rules “strangle the passion and creativity of some of our sports most exciting athletes, all for the fear of breaking those unwritten rules.” He’s not wrong. Passion in sport is something that’s exciting.
For the longest time, even in today’s game, baseball players are often punished for reacting in more than a courteous manner. Bat-flips and fist-pumps are exciting and Harper and Correa realize that. With both of them speaking out in favor of fun, it’s a good sign the game could evolve into more fun accepting league as the duo are two of the top young players in the game.
Harper had some fun himself in the Nationals’ opener, hitting a home run and stealing a base in Washington’s extra-innings victory. Hopefully, he had multiple ‘make baseball fun again’ hats made and can hand them out to fellow exciting players like Correa. Plus, I totally want one of those hats.
