Why Davey Johnson Must Save Bryce Harper Now for Both of Their Sakes
(last one!)
By Brian Scala
May 13, 2012
(Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
On Friday night, the face of the Washington Nationals needed 10 stitches after his first major league moment of rage gave him a bloody eye and welt. Since his call-up on April 28, Bryce Harper has shown flashes of brilliance and poise. One week ago, he was praised for handling Cole Hamels’ distorted view of “old-school baseball” with class and dignity, and a steal of home to boot.
Since that moment, however, Harper has looked like a typical 19-year-old rookie who is not quite ready for prime time. He has one extra-base hit in that span, and his average has dipped from .308 to .213. If Harper’s response to Hamels’ words and actions were brilliantly clichéd, his response to his obvious struggles was also clichéd, albeit painfully so.
It’s not surprising to me that a teenage rookie fought a dugout wall and lost. It is perplexing that a young man who has captivated baseball in such a short time and won people over with his composure has sullied his newly-earned reputation so quickly and suddenly.
The Nationals have made it known that Harper is here to stay. This means he needs to work things out on the biggest stage in baseball, with all eyes on him waiting to analyze and scrutinize his every move. Nobody questions his natural abilities and God-given talent. He is capable of delivering on the field.
What Bryce Harper needs to do, first and foremost, is show that his violent misstep was not a sign of things to come.
Most people his age are not capable of this, so the onus is not on Harper alone to deliver off the field. This task must be placed on the shoulders of Nationals manager Davey Johnson.
It is a position not unfamiliar to him in the least. Johnson was famously the skipper for the New York Mets in the 1980s. Four years prior to him managing them, the Mets were an organization in ruins. They had no real major league talent, no discernible minor league talent, and they averaged about 10,000 fans per game at Shea Stadium.
Four years prior to Johnson becoming the Nationals manager, they had Ryan Zimmerman and not much else. They won 73 games and were 14th in the National League in attendance at the antiquated RFK Stadium.
Under Johnson, the 1980s Mets boasted a dynamic duo of Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, not unlike Harper and ace teammate Stephen Strasburg. The Mets had veteran leadership in Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, not unlike Zimmerman today, and a rotation for other teams to envy, not unlike today’s Nats. On their best day, the Mets were downright unstoppable, which makes fans and pundits dream of the future possibilities for the current Nationals.
Unfortunately, under Johnson, the Mets did not have enough “best days.” Fans remember 1986 with great fondness, and rightly so. Truth be told, it was the only year in which their team lived up to expectations.
What Mets fans don’t like to recall are all the other seasons that Johnson managed the team. They fell short and later fell apart in dramatic fashion. Strawberry and Gooden, two core players who were once on the fast track to Cooperstown, succumbed to drugs and allowed their egos to hasten their demise.
While it isn’t fair to solely blame Johnson for the Mets only winning one World Series title, the fact is the downfall of “Dr. K” and “the black Ted Williams” happened on his watch.
Now, the Nationals have primed for success, and it’s up to Johnson to guide them to greatness. It is a job that many in baseball, including former Mets broadcaster Tim McCarver, feel is perfectly suited for him. They have probably forgotten that Johnson’s hands-off approach to managing the Mets was equally beneficial and detrimental.
Johnson said that he would have a discussion with Harper about his actions. This is the perfect time and place for him to preemptively strike and remind Harper that there is a right way and a wrong way.
Dismissing Hamels’ caveman behavior and outclassing him on the field via a steal of home is the right way. Pretending the dugout wall is the high school fastball that made Harper a legend, only to come away bloody and battered, is the wrong way.
This is also the perfect time and place for Johnson to show that he has learned from his mistakes. He once treated his Mets players like men despite the fact that they weren’t capable of acting like men. Harper is still a teenager playing a man’s game. If there’s anything positive to be taken from Harper’s outburst against the evil dugout wall, it’s that he has a desire to succeed and a sense of accountability.
He’s already a step ahead of Strawberry on his best day.
Johnson has the power to mold Harper into the kind of winning player that actually does go to Cooperstown. He just needs to revise his hands-off approach. One hand needs to pat him on the back. The other needs to point sternly at the mound, for there is the real enemy.
Since that moment, however, Harper has looked like a typical 19-year-old rookie who is not quite ready for prime time. He has one extra-base hit in that span, and his average has dipped from .308 to .213. If Harper’s response to Hamels’ words and actions were brilliantly clichéd, his response to his obvious struggles was also clichéd, albeit painfully so.
It’s not surprising to me that a teenage rookie fought a dugout wall and lost. It is perplexing that a young man who has captivated baseball in such a short time and won people over with his composure has sullied his newly-earned reputation so quickly and suddenly.
The Nationals have made it known that Harper is here to stay. This means he needs to work things out on the biggest stage in baseball, with all eyes on him waiting to analyze and scrutinize his every move. Nobody questions his natural abilities and God-given talent. He is capable of delivering on the field.
What Bryce Harper needs to do, first and foremost, is show that his violent misstep was not a sign of things to come.
Most people his age are not capable of this, so the onus is not on Harper alone to deliver off the field. This task must be placed on the shoulders of Nationals manager Davey Johnson.
It is a position not unfamiliar to him in the least. Johnson was famously the skipper for the New York Mets in the 1980s. Four years prior to him managing them, the Mets were an organization in ruins. They had no real major league talent, no discernible minor league talent, and they averaged about 10,000 fans per game at Shea Stadium.
(Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
Four years prior to Johnson becoming the Nationals manager, they had Ryan Zimmerman and not much else. They won 73 games and were 14th in the National League in attendance at the antiquated RFK Stadium.
Under Johnson, the 1980s Mets boasted a dynamic duo of Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, not unlike Harper and ace teammate Stephen Strasburg. The Mets had veteran leadership in Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, not unlike Zimmerman today, and a rotation for other teams to envy, not unlike today’s Nats. On their best day, the Mets were downright unstoppable, which makes fans and pundits dream of the future possibilities for the current Nationals.
Unfortunately, under Johnson, the Mets did not have enough “best days.” Fans remember 1986 with great fondness, and rightly so. Truth be told, it was the only year in which their team lived up to expectations.
What Mets fans don’t like to recall are all the other seasons that Johnson managed the team. They fell short and later fell apart in dramatic fashion. Strawberry and Gooden, two core players who were once on the fast track to Cooperstown, succumbed to drugs and allowed their egos to hasten their demise.
While it isn’t fair to solely blame Johnson for the Mets only winning one World Series title, the fact is the downfall of “Dr. K” and “the black Ted Williams” happened on his watch.
Now, the Nationals have primed for success, and it’s up to Johnson to guide them to greatness. It is a job that many in baseball, including former Mets broadcaster Tim McCarver, feel is perfectly suited for him. They have probably forgotten that Johnson’s hands-off approach to managing the Mets was equally beneficial and detrimental.
Johnson said that he would have a discussion with Harper about his actions. This is the perfect time and place for him to preemptively strike and remind Harper that there is a right way and a wrong way.
Dismissing Hamels’ caveman behavior and outclassing him on the field via a steal of home is the right way. Pretending the dugout wall is the high school fastball that made Harper a legend, only to come away bloody and battered, is the wrong way.
This is also the perfect time and place for Johnson to show that he has learned from his mistakes. He once treated his Mets players like men despite the fact that they weren’t capable of acting like men. Harper is still a teenager playing a man’s game. If there’s anything positive to be taken from Harper’s outburst against the evil dugout wall, it’s that he has a desire to succeed and a sense of accountability.
He’s already a step ahead of Strawberry on his best day.
Johnson has the power to mold Harper into the kind of winning player that actually does go to Cooperstown. He just needs to revise his hands-off approach. One hand needs to pat him on the back. The other needs to point sternly at the mound, for there is the real enemy.
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