Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Bryce Harper Hits the Deck!
There was
mild consternation recently, in the world of Philadelphia baseball,
when Bryce Harper was recently felled by a Trent Thornton pitch.
Thornton is a Blue Jays' rookie, and he hurled a 96 mile an hour
fastball a little bit low and inside to Harper. You could hear the
gasps everywhere at Spectrum Field.
Harper is a
special player, without question. He has been compared to Robert
Redford in his portrayal of “The Natural”, a movie from several
years ago. He has all the tools, and has been productive in the seven
years that he has played in Washington. But it was time to test the
free agent market, to see if perhaps some other team might want to
pay handsomely for his services.
Initial
X-rays at the ballpark indicated that he had a right foot contusion,
but no broken bones. Manager Gabe Kapler commented after the game:
“We don't have reason for major concern, but obviously, we want to
go inside and take a look first. We're confident and we understand
that we have a good club on the field, and we're confident that Bryce
is going to be all right”.
Harper
recently signed a $ 330 million, 13 year contract with the Phillies.
He has yet to collect a hit in Spring Training baseball, but that is
not a concern. Naturally, with that amount of money tied up in a
contract, there is some concern about his foot. Harper left the
Washington Nationals as a free agent to sign with Philadelphia.
His signing
was greeted with the usual in Philly. More than 2 000 season tickets
were sold the next day. The store that sells the official team
jerseys cannot keep enough Harper “9” jerseys on the shelves.
There is “Harper Fever” in the city which houses the Liberty
Bell.
Unfortunately
for Blue Jay fans, the Phillies do not play in Toronto this summer.
The team plays in the National League, and the Jays will have other
teams from that league this year.
News on the
basketball front: the Carleton Ravens recently won another Canadian
Championship. The team, coached by Dave Smart, has completely
dominated Canadian college ball for the past 15 years. The Americans
have completed their regular season games, and are in the playoff
mode. There are 64 teams chasing the NCAA title. I am backing Duke
this year, led by Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, a Canadian freshman
who is likely to enter the NBA next year.
The Florida
Everblades are in the final stages of their hockey season. Despite
all of the changes in personnel, the team will finish as one of the
top ECHL teams this year, hosting playoff games as they continue to
succeed.
Bianca
Andreescu, an 18 year old Canadian tennis player, became the only
Canadian ever to win a major WTA tournament last week in Indian
Wells. She picked up more than a million dollars (American Cash) for
his efforts!
And a happy
St. Patrick's Day it was for Rory McIlroy as he picked up more than 2
million for his golfing win in North Florida! Ah, the luck o' the
Irish!! And plenty of skill too!
James Hurst
March 18,
2019
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:57 AM 
