It's early June and in a matter of hours both the NBA finals and Stanley Cup finals will be going on. Baseball season is in full swing and NFL teams are thinking about upcoming minicamps.Sports Illustrated, however, has decided that a 16-year-old high schooler is more important than all of these things. Their June 8 edition will feature baseball-playing Bryce Harper, whom the magazine is touting as "The Most Exciting Prodigy Since LeBron."
Let's meet this new driver.
He is from Las Vegas.
More superlatives after the jump.
Baseball writer and good-looking tie enthusiast Tom Verducci penned the piece, which is evidently filled with a laundry list of Ruthian feats.The rest of the country will find out what baseball fans in Southern Nevada and professional scouts already know: Harper is a phenomenal baseball player. He catches, pitches, hits monster home runs and basically turns baseball diamonds into his own playground.
One scout to whom Verducci spoke called Harper "a once-in-a-generation talent."
Verducci details some of Harper's feats. Not all, of course. There wouldn't be room.
Las Vegas coach Sam Thomas shared a story with Verducci of Harper belting a 570-foot home run in a game. Oh, yeah, that was last year. When he was 15.
"The best thing about Bryce is every day there'll be something new he does," Thomas said. "He catches every day. To hit like that, to run the bases the way he does and to go on the mound and throw 96 (mph) with a curve ball and change-up, that's what separates him.
Harper won't be eligible until the 2011 draft, but is being projected as the top pick when the calendar gets that far.
As long as he eludes that dreaded SI jinx.
Sports Illustrated discovers Las Vegas baseball standout (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
I think he is just great! Lets Hope by the time he gets to the majors he won't be burned out. I love the game of baseball due to my son playing in little leauge. I watch all kinds of baseball now.
Like most baseball fans, Harper when you examine what he has accomplished thus far is mind boggling. The world of baseball maybe in for a ride unlike anything we've witnessed. I'm a National fan from the days of the Senators........imagine how I'm looking forward to seeing Harper and Strasburg develope into something big!