On Friday afternoon, Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. In nearly a 20-minute interview, the two-time NL MVP discussed a number of topics, ranging from his club’s “it factor” to pressure to the Phillies partying abilities.
One the first questions Harper fielded was in regards to the Phillies and what it is about the team that allows them to seemingly come up in big spots on a regular basis. Or in other terms, where does their “it factor” come from. He responded by saying, “I think just the vibe, like our whole team has a vibe. Every single guy in our clubhouse is made to play in Philly.”
Harper went on to mention how everyone on the team, including himself, is more focused on helping the team win, rather than how they individually perform on any given night.
When it comes to the team’s success, they’ve had plenty dating back to last year. They went on a postseason run that ended two wins shy of a World Series championship. Harper was asked whether or not losing the World Series is something the team thought about this year and if it had any effect on them during the lengthy regular season.
The left-handed slugger discussed how hard it was to lose the World Series, but said the team had to forget about it, worry about this season and focus on getting back. He said it didn’t matter how — a division title or another spot in the Wild Card round — all the Phillies wanted was a spot in the playoffs, “We just want to get in because we know what our fan base is like, we know what our stadium is like, we know how hard it is to win in our stadium and there’s nothing like [playoff baseball in Philadelphia].”
Playoff baseball in Philadelphia does seem to be different. It’s hard for visiting ball clubs to win there, too. The Phillies won six of eight playoff games at Citizens Bank Park last year and are 4-0 so far this October. In fact, the Phillies are 26-11 all-time at CBP during the postseason, which translates to a .703 winning percentage — the highest of any team in any one park ever in postseason play.
When playing postseason baseball in South Philly, Harper and his teammates play in front of 45,000-plus fans. Harper was asked how he harnesses the energy from the crowd and how he dials-in in those loud environments. He replied, “I think being prepared for that, right? Like you prepare so much, you work hard all the time and in the game you just go out there and play. The lights might be brighter. It might be 45,000 people, but I love that. I’m all about that.”
Harper isn’t wrong. He has a knack for coming through when the lights are at their brightest. For an example of that, all you have to do is to go back to Wednesday. When Harper stepped to the plate in the third inning of a tied Game 3 of the Division Series with two runners on base, all eyes were on him to do something special. And he did.
On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Harper saw a hanging slider and jumped all over it, sending the ball into the second deck in right field for a three-run homer.
One of the more interesting things Harper brought up during the interview was about Game 3 and how he wasn’t necessarily locked in beforehand. He said, “That’s how I felt [Wednesday] night before [Game 3]. I walked out of the [batting] cage about three times and said, ‘I got no chance tonight boys. You guys go out there [and] do your thing’.”
As crazy as that may sound, it’s Harper at his finest. Once the pressure is on, no matter what, he seems to come through. When talking about pressure, Harper, who has been on a national stage since he was about 15 years old, said he’s already dealt with pressure and no longer feels it.
He noted how he dropped out of high school, got his GED and went to play in junior college before turning 18. At the time, Harper told himself he had to be the number one pick in the draft one day, “That’s the pressure, right? That was the pressure. I have to be the number one pick. If I’m not, I’m a failure. I have to be able to get my family out and take care of them and do the things I can to take care of them forever. That was pressure. Now all of this is cake. This is what it’s all about. This is the fun part. Going out there and playing in front of 45,000 people and harnessing that energy into hitting a baseball.”
Harnessing the energy into hitting a baseball has worked out well for the 2022 NLCS MVP. He hit .349/.414/.746 with six home runs in 17 playoff games a year ago. Through six playoff games this year, he’s slashing .368/.538/.842 with three homers.
That success at the plate has helped the Phillies win in the postseason. Winning in the postseason means clubhouse celebrations. And over the last 12-and-a-half months or so, the Phillies have celebrated on numerous occasions.
When asked about Philadelphia’s celebrating, Harper said, “There’s nothing better. We have the best celebration team. If there’s a team anybody wants to hire for a wedding, we’re the team. We’ll bring the vibes, we’ll bring the playlist, we’ll bring it all. From Garrett Stubbs to [Nick] Castellanos to [Brandon] Marsh to Trea [Turner]. I mean it is unbelievable. We have such a great team to be able to party with.” Harper finished with, “Broad Street. I hope [winning the World Series] happens. It’s going to be insane. I don’t know if any of my teammates are going to wake up for a month [if that happens].”
The Phillies do know how to have a good time when celebrating a postseason series victory.
If they want to celebrate again, they’ll have to beat the Diamondbacks in the NLCS, which begins on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. The lights will continue to be bright, but Harper, along with his teammates, have proven they’re ready for it.
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