April 02, 2019
Bryce Harper returned to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night as a member of the Phillies. Unsurprisingly, Nationals fans booed the hell out of Harper.
The Nationals put together a pretty nice tribute video for Harper on the big screen during player introductions, but the team's fans didn't seem enthused:
Boo birds & (drunk Philly fans) during the @bryceharper3 tribute video at @Nationals Park ⚾️🗣🐦 #PHIvsWAS pic.twitter.com/jjUTi9ZPrx
— Alfred Flaschel Jr (@SpursKCfan913) April 2, 2019
Big-time boos for Bryce Harper when they announced his name in the starting lineup.
— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) April 2, 2019
What a bizarre scene. Bryce Harper stood at the bat rack in the dugout as a tribute video played. Resounding boos. He never emerged from dugout.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 2, 2019
The fans also let Harper hear it during his first at-bat:
Loud boos for Harper duding his first at bat pic.twitter.com/7zKof5QvE7
— Travis (@travislylesnews) April 2, 2019
Boos for dad-to-be Bryce Harper @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/gclMtHxxO2
— Dan Koob (@DanKoob) April 2, 2019
Harper comes up with two men on in the first. Big boos.
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) April 2, 2019
You could say it was a bit of a clown show:
The scene from #Nationals Park before the #Phillies and Bryce Harper take the field (photos provided by Paul Hagen) pic.twitter.com/zzKSgjzeEh
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) April 2, 2019
Nats fans are ready for Bryce pic.twitter.com/iLbcFItwXZ
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) April 2, 2019
Luckily for Harper, more than a few Phillies fans were in attendance to keep things at least kind of balanced:
The 500+ Phillies fans in right field are standing and vocal.
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 2, 2019
They’ve got a “Let’s go Phillies!” chant going.
“We got Harper!”
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 2, 2019
8 buses brought 500 @Phillies fans to take over RF behind @bryceharper3 tonight.
Phils fans have Bryce’s back as he returns to Nats Park for first time
Looks like an Eagles tailgate!#RingTheBall pic.twitter.com/0MT9bkDZmJ
Ultimately, the fans’ reaction wasn’t much of a surprise. And why Harper was booed isn’t hard to figure out, either.
The most immediate circumstances are clear: Harper had a dynamite first series with the Phillies, booming a pair of solo home runs and helping his team to a sweep of the Braves. The Nats, meanwhile, entered Tuesday’s game with one win in three tries. The early returns aren’t too great.
The run-up to Harper’s much-ballyhooed was also noisy and silly. The mayor of Washington D.C., Muriel Bowser, shared a picture of Harper styled as Benedict Arnold and then deleted it. A writer at NBC Sports Washington told Nationals fans to stay home if they weren’t prepared to boo him. It seemed clear Nationals fans weren’t moving on just yet.
On Harper’s end, the 26-year-old star delivered a thoughtful goodbye post aimed at Nationals fans on Tuesday, calling Washington D.C. his “home” while he was there and saying Nationals fans will have a “special place in [his] heart no matter what”. So you can see why they’d be mad.
Nats fans’ anger, however, seems displaced. A story from the Washington Post this week offered a view into why Harper didn’t end re-up with the Nationals: the team made a second offer to the outfielder for 12 years and $250 million, a far cry from what he landed with the Phillies. To make things worse, the payments were reportedly deferred all the way to 2072.
If Nationals fans want to be mad, maybe they should be mad at ownership for giving the face of the franchise a rough go after he decided to test free agency as a 26-year-old star in a sport with no salary cap.
For now, Harper will have to console himself by playing for one of the most loaded teams in the National League and earning $330 million over the next 13 years.
For the record, Harper struck out with two men on for the first out of the game. Welp!
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