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quote:My son played against him at 11u and he was throwing hard back then.
quote:Originally posted by Hawk19:quote:My son played against him at 11u and he was throwing hard back then.
My son also played against Bryce several times from 11 to 14. They say you can't tell a player's future at 11 but Bryce was the exception. He is truly a special player. (It didn't hurt that he looked like 17 at 13....)
I can see the rush to excessive travel ball play now. Yes, your kid can be the next Bryce Harper. Harper is not the product of the travel ball industry. He's a kid who was born with IT and cultivated his ability. He'd still be excessively talented if he was playing Legion ball.quote:Bryce Harper is the product of a travel baseball industry that mushroomed, just as he himself was growing up, into big business.
quote:We won’t be the only ones to recognize Bryce Harper. The whole baseball world is going to be hearing a lot about him in years to come.
quote:Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
I think the LeBron analogy is not a good one. This kid is a great athlete but I don't think he could go out there on a basketball court at 18 years old and mix it up with someone like Ron Artest. LeBron's first NBA game as an 18 year old was 26 points and almost a triple double. He is one of the few people to ever live up to the hype.
Hitting 500 ft. homeruns is impressive indeed but quite a different feat against live MLB pitching. If the kid goes out and hits a homer, drives in two or three runs, scores a couple of runs, and plays solid defense in his first MLB game when he is 18, then maybe we can continue with the LeBron analogies.
I think a better comparison for this kid would be Josh Hamilton who could also hittem that far and had a cannon for an arm in high school. Apparently, Bryce is also very fast so maybe even Josh did not have that tool. Another player that no one mentions anymore is Bob Feller. He started in the big leagues in 11th grade and struck out 15 batters in his first game. I would like to see if Bryce can do things like these (against MLB competition) before the media starts hyping him as the next LeBron James.
quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:
Bryce is the best I have ever seen at his age!
He threw 89 from behind the plate without any effort and popped a 1.79 on the money. We have seen him mid 90s on the mound and extreme power.
quote:Apparently, Bryce is also very fast so maybe even Josh did not have that tool.
quote:Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
bkekcs - I wasn't trying to compare basketball to baseball. I am pretty sure this kid is a better baseball player than LeBron. What I am sure of is he is not the physical speciman that LeBron is and I saw LeBron play in high school as a 16 year old.
All I am asking the media to do is wait until he dominates MLB right out of the shoot like LeBron did in the NBA before they start comparing him to LeBron. Jerry West said that he thinks LeBron will be the greatest to ever play the sport. Time will tell if Bryce is even the next Josh Hamilton let alone the next LeBron.
My reference to baseball and basketball was meant to refer to what SI was saying as opposed to you comparing them. I think your points on the subject are valid and I agree. The kid is good but this hype is not healthy. 
quote:Originally posted by bkekcs:
On the other hand if he makes it big down the line my kid can say he played against him.
