Bryce Harper recently joined the Barstool Sports The Starting 9 Podcast for a 2 hour long interview. It was fantastic. You can listen to the entire episode here. Below are some of the key points I found interesting.

Bryce Harper wants MLB to be in the Olympics and believes it’s key to “growing the game”

Harper was fired up when talking about the Olympics and the fact that MLB players should be given the option to represent their countries.

The Olympics were delayed 2021 given the COVID-19 pandemic but looking ahead, it’s great news that baseball is back for the first time since 2008. In the past, MLB players were not allowed to compete and the Olympic games used top minor-league talent instead.

Bryce Harper, much like myself, doesn’t agree that should be the case.

You want to grow the game? You really want to take it to different countries and places, you put the baseball back into the Olympics, but let the big league players play.”

Harper continued:

It’s such a travesty for me…the 2020 Olympics in Japan, in Tokyo, and you’re not sending big league guys? Are you kidding me? You wanna grow the game as much as possible and you’re not gonna let us play in the Olympics because you don’t want to cut out on money for a two week period? Like okay, that’s dumb.

Very dumb. Totally agree. Last bit:

You have [Shohei] Ohtani going back and playing for Japan facing Mike Trout. Just imagine that… You know damn well Ohtani’s gonna try to punch him out and Trout hopefully goes deep 900 feet in the Tokyo Dome.

I couldn’t agree more with Bryce. The MLB can definitely afford to take a two week hit in the Summer to allow MLB players to play in the Olympic games. They would make that money back easily, with the new exposure and fans it would gain on the world stage. Having Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and JT Realmuto wearing the good old red white and blue and crushing world opponents would be must watch TV.

Bryce Harpers Free Agency Decision

Harper was hurt by the Nationals offer. He wasn’t a fan of the deferred money in the deal. Once the Nationals signed Patrick Corbin, Harper knew the Nationals were going to be World Series contenders.

I remember sitting in the Aria Hotel after I got that offer from the Nationals and then two weeks later they signed Corbin out of nowhere and I said to Scott [Boras] ‘They’re gonna win the World Series.’ They looked at me dead in the eye and they go ‘No chance’ and I go ‘I promise you right now they’re gonna win the World Series.

Harper also received offers from the White Sox, which intrigued him given the young group of players, such as Jose Abreu, but the talks never really gained traction.

He also received an offer from the Giants, but felt that their time as contenders was about over and that the core group of players they have in San Fran “were kind of done”.

From there, Philadelphia joined in. Harper at first, wasn’t very excited.

Philly came in, I wasn’t very excited. I told them flat out ‘I’ve  beat your guys’ a– for the last couple of years’… I remember walking away from that meeting saying I don’t know.

Can confirm. Harper would destroy the Phillies and I absolutely hated him for it for many years.

Harper loved the long-term deal the Phillies offered because it didn’t have opt-outs and obviously paid him a shit ton of money. It was important for him to show whatever city he was going to that he was in it for the long haul. To date, Harper has done just that.

Harper calls he and Philadelphia a “match made in heaven” because it reminds him of his family and how he was raised.

I understand what they’re going through because my dad did it every damn day

Harpers father was an iron worker in Las Vegas and worked long hours overnight. He felt like the city of Philadelphia embodied that type of work ethic.

That’s what fuels me going out there every single day. I wanna play 158-162 [games] because those fans work through their whole week to buy a ticket for a Saturday day game or Saturday night game and if I’m not playing that’s a slap in the face to them…They are the working-class city.

Harper landed a huge contract in a city that is absolutely crazy and passionate about sports. Philadelphia is a tough city for any athlete, but Harper understands that and ultimately, attracted him to the Phillies.

I cannot wait for baseball to resume. This Phillies team, although maybe a year or two away from being true contenders, has Bryce Harper leading the charge for the next 12 years. There’s nothing to hate there.

Check out the full interview on The Starting 9 from Barstool Sports here.