Bryce Harper hate is for losers

Tom Gatto

Bryce Harper hate is for losers image

The words were short and to the point: "He's a selfish, losing player." 

The "He" is Bryce Harper, and the words reportedly came from an unnamed "top National League executive" to Robert Murray of FanRag.com. They caused Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo to offer a profane, on-the-record response Tuesday to The Washington Post

Rizzo called the exec's anonymous rip job "cowardly," "gutless" and "chickens—," and he didn't stop there.

VIDEO: Harper breaks bat, still goes yard

All this came about, apparently, because Murray had first opined on whether Harper was overrated. Murray reported that the exec sent him three texts crushing Harper as part of the discussion. None of the texts included specifics, just ad hominem attacks.

The exec also said that if he were running a club (that's a clue to the level of exec involved), he would take the money he wouldn't give Harper and buy two or three "winning players," whatever that means (again, terms were not defined).

Because these comments lacked specificity, we're left to make our own determination as to whether Harper is a "losing player." It's clear he isn't one during the regular season because he and the Nats have made the NL Division Series four times in his first six seasons. The problem is, the team has famously failed to get beyond the NLDS. 

Harper's postseason stats (.211/.315/.487 in 19 games) show that he bears some responsibility, but . . . 

— He isn't responsible for Drew Storen's Game 5 failure in 2012.

— He isn't responsible for Matt Williams' decision to replace Jordan Zimmermann with Storen in Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS.

— He isn't responsible for the bullpen failing to hold a lead in Game 5 in 2016, or for the maneuvering by Dusty Baker that produced Wilmer Difo vs. Clayton Kershaw in the bottom of the ninth. 

— He isn't responsible for Max Scherzer not having it in Game 5 last year, and for Matt Wieters not being able to baseball correctly.

My colleague Joe Rivera addressed the hate for Harper last year after Harper fought Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland. This year we know that the hate extends to baseball front offices. We also know those geniuses are as wrong as internet trolls who think Harper is a bad guy.

Is Harper selfish for trying to go deep every time up? No, he's just like every other power hitter.

Is he selfish for not busting tail every second? No, he's just like every other big-leaguer, star or scrub.

Is he selfish for showing off his throwing arm at times? No, he just has a rocket, and he tries to deter baserunners with it.

Is he selfish for speaking his mind or for being cocky? No, that's just his personality. Deal with it.

Small ball is gone, but small minds are still around, and they're perpetuating a tired narrative. They won't stop some team (maybe even the one that employs the nameless exec) from meeting Harper's (and agent Scott Boras') offseason demands, which someone surely will term as selfish.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.