"The hardest thing that he's gonna have is the mental side of it, and learning how to deal with the stage. ...Unfortunately he's 19 and just like everyone else he's gonna have to make mistakes and learn from them. I think we're all excited for him, and when it comes down to it he's gonna help us win a lot of games, and I think that's what it's all about."
Washington Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman walks off the field during the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park in Washington on August 16, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
"I don't want to gauge my feelings on it. We are working extremely hard at it. ... I'm hopeful. ... [If we sign him to an extension], it would take something off our plate for the future. We have Ryan for two years. It would put a punctuation on Zim, at least, knowing that he would be with us for the long term." (Mike Rizzo, via Nationals.com, 2/23/2012)
Seems hard to believe that a no-trade clause is the only major hurdle standing between the Washington Nationals and Ryan Zimmerman doing a long-term extension. You have to wonder if the stalemate has less to do about dollars or bells-and-whistles (like no-trades, backloaded money) and everything to do about length of contract? Sounds familiar. Unfortunately, Zim's agent Brodie Van Wagenen won't return our texts requesting comment. Oh well. Zim's agent Brodie Van Wagenen texted us back Thursday night after having dinner with client Drew Storen to say "No comment"...but did confirm that not only is he not staying in Viera through Saturday, he is already gone.
In any case, we're guessing this thing doesn't get done before Zim's Saturday deadline. Or maybe the deal is already done. Who knows? Until then, here's Michael Morse on Zim, via Amanda Comak of the Washington Times:
"Zim, I like to say he’s like the silent assassin. You look at him, he works very hard, he does his routine. He never argues, he’s never up, he’s never down, he’s always confident and consistent. In this game, consistency is one of the biggest things you can [have] and he leads by example that way." (Michael Morse, via Washington Times, 2/23/2012)
And here's a screencap of Michael Morse before he was The Beast, videobombing The Silent Assassin during a post-game interview after a July 2010 walkoff HR by Mr. Walk-off himself beat the Padres.
"I think people took that a little wrong: It's not like I want to go out and blackout drunk or anything like that. That's not anything I wanted to do.
It was the other side. The movies, the commercials. I love that kind of stuff. I think that's awesome. I think that's so much fun. When you're a baseball player you want to be an actor, when you're an actor you want to be an athlete. I think it's always been that way. I would love to fulfill a dream in that also, but I need to perform on the field first. And I understand that. There was nothing like anything on that Joe Namath thing."
In the immortal words of Joe Namath, via his classic 1973 Brut commercial: "If you're not gonna go all the way man, I mean, why go at all?"
(Bryce Harper's sweatshirt carried on a proud Washington Nationals tradition of misspelling. Screen cap via MLB.com video.)
"I want to go up there and be a game changer. I don't wanna go from big leagues, triple A, up to the big leagues back to triple A again. I want to go up there, stay there, be a game changer, play hard, try to win that rookie of the year." (Bryce Harper, via MLB.com. 2/21/2012)
On Tuesday, MLB Network aired a segment filmed in Las Vegas earlier in the month: Harold Reynolds talked with Bryce Harper about expectations, hitting, Justin Bieber, misconceptions, goals, shit Bryce Harper says on Twitter, lifting weights, etc. etc. Video here and below. Good stuff; at around the 3:30 mark, Reynolds asks Harper about PEDS, which isn't something we can recall Harper being asked about in any recent interviews:
Reynolds: In this day and age, you hit 50 home runs, everyone says "Oh, he's on something." I'm sure you've already had that said about you
Harper: Yeah. I'm as natural as it gets. You can test me today, tomorrow, the next day. 10 years, you know. I ain't got nothing in me. There's nothing.
We'd be remiss if we didn't post up the above MLB.com video of Washington Nationals pitchers, catchers, and others reporteing to Space Coast Stadium in Viera Florida.
Upon seeing Drew Storen’s shoulder-length locks, McCatty blurted, “Cut that [stuff] off. (via Washington Post, 2/19/2012)
Storen's hair needs its own Twitter account, clearly. And then there's Ian Desmond, who typically keeps things tidy, with an explosion under his cap upon arrival:
...at least...he does in the video above, which supposedly shows Bryce Harper hitting in a batting cage at the age of 12.
Today, seven years later, Harper arrived in Viera, Florida, for his second Spring Training as a professional. In his meeting with the media, the kid said all the right things, registering an early contender for best quote of the spring:
So does keeping his mouth shut mean no more inciting riots on Twitter?
"I’m going to get blown up either way. f I say something right or say something wrong, that’s just how it’s going to be. There’s nothing I can really do about that. Some things, maybe I shouldn’t say. Some things I’ve got to learn from. And there’s some things I should just keep my mouth shut on. I need to grow up in that aspect, I guess. I feel good with what I say and I’m not going to back down with anything. I like interacting with fans and letting them know who I really am. I want everybody to know the real me." (Bryce Harper, via Washington Times, 2/20/2012)
And so, while we're just lazily copying/pasting quotes, here's Ryan Zimmerman adding a punctuation mark, via Adam Kilgore/Washington Post; and effectively trumping Harper for best quote of the spring:
"I think he’s very misunderstood as a person. I would say part of that is his fault [chuckles] and part of that is – I don’t want to say the media’s fault, because the media is only doing their job. But when you’re as highly touted as he has been since he was 12 years old, no kid should be put through that at 12 years old. I know that’s how our society is now. They’re looking for the next LeBron James or the next A-Rod. People forget he’s 19 years old. He should be a freshman or a sophomore in college. What I always tell people is, just imagine yourself when you were 19 years old and what you were doing: probably getting black-out drunk at a frat party and then waking up the next day and having no responsibilities. Compare that to what he goes through every day as a 19-year-old. Everyone is going to have some troubles dealing with it." (Ryan Zimmerman, via Nationals, Journal, 2/20/2012)
"My mind is a lot clearer. I just go out there and throw the baseball. I don't think as much about mechanics or anything. I don't feel myself holding back a little bit. ... I think it was more on the mental side. Not necessarily bracing for it, but just that little thing in the back of your head when you are throwing a pitch. It's like, is everything right? Now, there are no second thoughts at all in my head. It feels more natural now than it did coming right off surgery." (Stephen Strasburg, via Nationals.com, 2/19/2012)
