In the bottom of the first night, Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, Bryce Harper stepped to the plate and time stood still.
Well, not exactly. Expecting the two-time MVP to receive a standing ovation in his first home appearance since Game 5 of the World Series last November, the Phillies petitioned Major League Baseball for permission to suspend the game’s speed clock which did just as much. To split the dead space from match times so far this season.
So the clock was turned off as Harper enjoyed standing ovations and chants of “MVP! MVP!” for a full 36 seconds.
The moment was significant on many levels. First, and most obviously, it gave home fans a chance to pay their respects to a player who returned from Tommy John elbow surgery in record time.
Second, it gave Harper a chance to adjust MLB slightly for a minor crack Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium when the umpires refused to give him extra time to put on the brace he wears to protect his surgically repaired elbow. So he impertinently suggested that he would savor his reception a little more than he would have otherwise.
“I’ll enjoy this for a second,” he said with a sly smile.
Finally, it was a neat reminder that even the best players in the game, the kind who get a warm welcome, can have players who make them a little more visible.
Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida, the Japanese star who signed with Boston before this season, has spoken candidly about his admiration for Harper. This led to Phillies designated hitter reminiscing about his infatuation when he was younger.
“Anyone who is 19 years old would have someone like that,” he said. “For me, it was Derek Jeter. Standing on second base and seeing Jeter. Or any of those guys. I grew up a huge Yankees fan. That was definitely really cool. Seeing Bernie Williams. Mariano Rivera. You can go on.”
“I remember my first spring training (with the Nationals). I was 17 or 18 and we played them in Melbourne (Florida). I really got into trouble watching BP. They told me to come in. The Nationals did. Instead of watching some of the world players. It didn’t really make sense to me. It was really insane. Being able to sit there and watch (Robinson) Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Jeter, Mark Teixeira. I mean, some of the greatest hitters of my generation.”
So having Yoshida look on is an honor.
“When you’re younger, you try to look up to men and imitate them. To me, that was my dad. I remember seeing him working his loving tail always to provide for us. And to be able to have that effect on other people is so wonderful. So it’s a very humbling position, to be A person who is looked up to in any area of life.
“He was able to come here and be very successful in his first two weeks. Especially in that market, in Boston, knowing how hard it was out there, for him to do it at this point, it’s really amazing.”