Harper delivers in major league debut

LOS ANGELES - Less than two years ago, a few hundred fans were drawn to a small town in Colorado for a chance to see the future. Bryce Harper, something between a myth and a teenage legend, was making an appearance.

By the time he left Lamar, Colo., after hitting for the cycle in one game and blasting four home runs in another, Harper had turned into a combination of Roy Hobbs and Mickey Mantle.

Over the hills from Hollywood, the 19-year-old made his major league debut Saturday night, and this time he helped draw a sellout crowd of 54,242 to historic Dodger Stadium.

He's not in junior college anymore. And he's not just hype.

"My emotions are going," he said. "I'm just really excited to be here."

Harper, who left Las Vegas High School after his sophomore year for the College of Southern Nevada and became the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft, was a smash hit upon arrival in the big leagues.

His flight landed in Los Angeles at 1 a.m., and at 7:56 p.m., Harper delivered his first hit, a line-drive double off the wall in center field. His sacrifice fly in the ninth scored the go-ahead run for the Washington Nationals in their dramatic 4-3 loss to the Dodgers.

Starting in left field and batting seventh, Harper went 1-for-3 and left his impression as the fourth teenager since 1969 to get an extra-base hit in his first major league game.

Matt Kemp's towering leadoff homer in the 10th inning won it for the Dodgers. But before the game, and even after it, the hottest topic was Harper and what his future might bring.

"I first heard about him when he was 14," said Scott Boras, Harper's agent. "He's a very special talent. He has every tool to really achieve great success in the game. It takes a lot to be at this level at that age.

"Bryce has the ability, the discipline and the patience. What's rare about Bryce is he has intellect. He's a smart kid. He had to go to college when he should have been a junior in high school."

Seated in the front row behind home plate with Harper's parents, Ron and Sheri, Boras added, "It's not a normal day. It's the dream you've been waiting for your whole life. This is your first big league game. It's a baptismal event."

The call for Harper to report to the majors came Friday morning. He was in Syracuse, batting just .250 after 20 Triple-A games, and not expecting a promotion.

"Ten minutes before it hit the Internet," Ron Harper said, is when his son called with the news.

"Bryce was a little choked up, and I was, too," he said. "I said, 'Hey kid, just work hard.' This is what he's worked for his whole life."

Ron Harper said around 30 family members and more than 30 friends made the trip to Los Angeles.

"I know a lot of people who are coming down to support him. The support from Las Vegas is great, and that's what we really love," Ron Harper said. "We want Vegas behind him. That's my hometown, where I was born and raised. I think it's a great story."

In 1951, at age 19, Mantle was in the New York Yankees' lineup on Opening Day. He had to overcome some initial failures before persevering and producing a Hall of Fame career. Mantle was known for his raw power and speed, among many other attributes, and so is Harper.

Steve Garvey, a former Dodgers great and friend of the Harper family for five years, said instead of Mantle, Harper should be linked to a star of this era for the Texas Rangers.

"If you like Josh Hamilton and his talent, then you're going to like Bryce Harper," Garvey said. "Be patient. Let's get him to 23 or 24. But his potential is there to be a transcendent player. Bryce is starting on that journey.

"He's still got a lot of kid in him. He also knows how to be a professional player at 19. A lot of times people mistake his edge and desire to win for cockiness. All great players have that edge."

Garvey said he advises Harper about "keeping his life in perspective" and not worrying about meeting outside expectations that might be unrealistic. That won't be easy.

After appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated as "Baseball's Chosen One" in 2009, the media's coverage of Harper intensified. Two hours before Saturday's game, Harper sat with his back to a dugout wall and faced a crush of reporters.

Garvey smiled and said, "Is there a bigger stage, except for Yankee Stadium, than here tonight to start your career?"

In his first at-bat in the second inning, Harper grounded out to Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley. In the fourth, Harper flied out to left. But with two outs in the seventh, he crushed a 3-and-2 fastball over Kemp's head to the base of the wall in center.

Kemp got the final word. Yet the Nationals, who started right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 pick in 2009 out of San Diego State, can look forward to brighter days with two of baseball's top young stars.

"It's a huge step to come up here and play," Harper said. "I've just been trying to take it one step at a time. I came in trying to keep my mouth shut and play. It was a long trip out here. There's a lot of history in this ballpark."

In a short time, Harper made a little history, and there were more than a few hundred people on hand to witness it.

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.