Remember when hitting 70 HRs was plausible? Your favorite baseball player stepping up to the plate -- his head engorged from rampant steroid abuse -- belting 725 FT HRs with no regard for human life.
Those days are dead. Forty is the new 70, and Bryce Harper reminded you of that fact on Wednesday.
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The 22-year-old hit his 40th HR of the season, becoming just the seventh player to do so before his 23rd birthday. Harper now sits alongside four Hall of Famers -- Mel Ott (1929), Joe DiMaggio (1937), Eddie Mathews (1953 and 1954) and Johnny Bench (1970) -- a two-time MVP in Juan Gonzalez (1992) and a habitual steroid abuser in Alex Rodriguez (1998).
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Harper is also the first NL player to breach the 40 mark since Ryan Braun in 2012 (41). Guess what he was found guilty of just 12 months later?
Not to insinuate Harper is cheating the game of baseball. The mere fact that he’s capable of eclipsing the 40-HR mark in an era where sluggers will be at a premium speaks to his greatness.
An MVP favorite, Harper is hitting .338 with a .670 slugging percentage, 34 doubles, 109 runs scored and 92 RBI.
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