(Bryce Harper is mobbed by autograph hounds following his first day at Nationals camp. Photo is courtesy of MLB.com's Bill Ladson.)
Bryce Harper arrives, hits, shags, gets attacked by pen-wielding mob.
"He couldn't have got out of there. He needs to be able to sign a few and get back in here, do the things he's got to do in the weight room, have something to eat. He'd have been out there for an hour. It can't be like that. ...You've got to be able to have a little freedom to keep moving. He was just smothered, you know? It kind of almost needs to be an atmosphere - and same thing with Strasburg - where it's a little more controlled. You can't just have a mass of people sticking pens at him."
(Jim Riggleman, via Nationals Journal, 2/21/2011)
A Strasburgesque arrival for Baseball Jesus 2.0. And that was only day one...
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If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, that says to me "autograph mob". Scarey to surround that kid on 4 sides and feel helpless having bats shoved in your face.
The Nats have to come up with a better system favoring the fan base and not rewarding the autograph hounds. Not sure how you do it, but they need to come up with some plan.
Posted by: Michael L.G. | February 22, 2011 at 11:48 AM
Looks like they found a better system for one day: stick the kid on a golf cart after practice and drive him back to the facility.
Posted by: The Nationals Enquirer | February 22, 2011 at 06:49 PM