The Opportunistic Genius Of The Bryce Harper Call-Up
In my pre-season notebook, where I scribble all the useless data and hot tips for the year ahead (and occasionally jot something down like what I did in 2007: “Manto sez watch Bautista. Could hit 40”) I made this little note on my Washington Nationals page:
It was not the most outlandish forecast of all time. Predicting in March that Bryce Harper would be called up on April 25 was a less than even-money wager (and it was wrong, by two days). But when Harper looked ordinary in the spring, and anything but dominant in AAA this month, I nearly crossed out the note in order to write “September” instead.
In short, all of us who thought Harper would have played so well that he’d be “up” by April 25 were wrong.
Upcoming 2012 Topps Harper "Rookie" Card
That’s why the move to bring Harper up because of the injury to Ryan Zimmerman is, as the title of this post suggests, opportunistic genius. It’s a controlled experiment with a time limit, and that’s the variable none of us (maybe not even GM Mike Rizzo foresaw). Let me quote from my post here early last month:
…the most amazing question of the spring isn’t about whether or not Harper is going to open the season with the Nationals, nor the one that goes “are the Nats seriously considering it?” The answer is: what happens if it doesn’t work?
(19-year old Mickey) Mantle was sent down to AAA Kansas City after the game of July 13 (1951)…American League pitchers had begun to deny him fastballs late in May, and in his last six weeks before the demotion Mantle had hit just .211…
But Mantle’s demotion came 61 years ago. There was no internet, no cable, no tv sports news to think of, no radio call-ins, no blogs. The Yankees who didn’t get sent to the minors that season included Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, Ed Lopat, coach Bill Dickey, and manager Casey Stengel. They were the two-time defending World Champions and, frankly, it is possible that a lot of Yankee fans had no idea for days or weeks that Mantle had even been sent back to the minors.
That will most assuredly not happen if Bryce Harper struggles in the majors – if he bats .211 over 100 agonizing at bats and Mike Rizzo and Davey Johnson decide they have to send him to AAA. The coverage would be intense, uninterrupted, and brutal, and it would not stop the day Harper went to Syracuse or Harrisburg. It would be relentless.
Except now, it wouldn’t. If Harper hits .211 over 100 agonizing at bats (or just 50), and the Nats get healthy – gee, he showed flashes of brilliance and we know exactly what the later Harper will look like, but, gosh, Ryan Zimmerman is indeed coming off the disabled list on time on May 6 – the Nats can send him back to Syracuse and tell him and the world that this was the plan all along, see you real soon.
He would not have failed. The message would be: He did exactly what we needed him to do, on a short-term basis – and now having given him a taste of the real thing, we’re going to put him back in the oven because he isn’t going to play here every day and blah, blah blah, blah blah…
Of course, if he’s hitting .290 when Zimmerman comes off the DL, they can abandon the “plan” and stick him in the line-up for good.
And that is opportunistic genius.
It’s not new – the Yankees did the same thing with Derek Jeter for a long weekend in 1995 when they came up short in the infield – and it’s a mid-season cousin to the standard procedure with standout rookies: bring them up in September and stick them in the line-up. If they succeed, great. If they fail, the season is ending in three weeks, nobody will consider them as having flamed out. Heck, in 1977 the Tigers brought up Jack Morris, Lance Parrish, Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker over an eight-week span (the latter two debuted in the same game). Same idea, and it works nicely.
Of course, with Jayson Werth scratched, Michael Morse lost in some kind of injury ozone, and centerfield a mess, take the odds and wager on Harper overstaying his visit. Heck, he may have to overstay it in centerfield, and the other farmhand just promoted today Tyler Moore (is he a fun guy? Is he a merry Tyler Moore?) in a platoon of some kind in left.
Baseball Nerd 
Merry Tyler Moore… Hee! 😀 On a side note, did you know that Ted Konopka played a “barking dog” in one episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show? I’m betting you know who that is. “Good Night, and Good News!”
Let’s hope that your next gig is that of Baseball Commissioner. You are perfect for the job and know more about BB than most anyone.
I agree, Ron. But he claims that George Will knows even more about baseball. Mr. Will picked the Rangers and Keith picked the Rays. I know this: I have never seen anybody love any sport so much. Cool.
I can’t believe Mr. Harper already has his baseball card! Wow! When I saw him hit and run, I knew he was something different. The SportsCenter guys were laughing at how the fresh player got rid of his hat for the run, but I was thinking…who needs the weight of that batter’s helmet? The guy is so young, none of his parts hurt yet. So, he can RUN! Also, he’s got lots of hair and had somewhat of an Elvis moment there when he arrived on his base. This is going to be even more fun with Merry Tyler Moore thrown in the mix! When all the players stop having wrinkles, it can mean only one thing…someone else is growing old. heehee (Not me!)
anyone would make a better commish than the one we are dealing with at this time
Of course I have to point out that you had him penciled in for CF, not LF where he made his debut. Thank took another day. ;o)
He shows great promise in this instance captured by MLB: atmlb.com/JWmcmF. But it started with your own insights. Hopefully they will retain him. Gee and it all started with an observation from you. Do you have a crystal ball or are you the most talented scout BB has? Merry Tyler Moore? lol
OK, since you went there Keith– I wanted to see Mary Tyler Moore face Barbara Billingsley.
Page 6 of the July 25, 1951 issue of The Sporting News has a story titled “Yanks See Mantle as ’52 DiMag” which talks about his release to the KC farm team. Not front page news, but also not buried as deeply in the 40 pages of baseball news that it could have been.
Looks like Jose Iglesias will be called up for the Red Sox. That seems overdue.
Bryce Harper being called up however, seems about right on schedule if you ask me.
kid has an outstanding arm. gives runners second thoughts bout taking that extra base fer sure.
Interesting post! I really enjoyed reading it and it’s so nice that you were able to make your notes to write down the details which makes your article interesting.
Arah
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