Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals was named to the National League All-Star team on Saturday, but his true All-Star status showed in a very different way one night earlier.
Harper spent more than an hour with 13-year-old Gavin Rupp and his family, prior to the start of the Nationals' game against the San Diego Padres at Nationals Park.
Gavin was diagnosed with cancer in February of 2011, according to the Washington Post. Gavin, who plays shortstop on his baseball team, has received radiation treatment twice has undergone surgery to remove a glioblastoma tumor from his brain.
Through the procedures, the Post reported, Gavin kept his spot on his traveling team.
Last month, however, doctors told Gavin's parents that another tumor formed at the center of Gavin's brain. Surgery could not be performed because of the location of the tumor.
The Nationals, who had heard of Gavin's story, invited him to their game Friday. As they hung out in the Nationals' dugout a couple of hours before the game, Harper, the 20-year-old outfield phenom, came out and invited the entire family onto the field, the report continued.
According to the Post, Nationals community relations director Kyle Mann said Harper spent an hour chatting with Gavin and his family, up until about 45 minutes prior to the first pitch. Mann told the Post that he never had seen a player spend that much time with a kid before a game.
Mann added that Harper responded enthusiastically when asked whether he wanted to meet Gavin and the Rupps. The tumor has prevented Gavin from controlling the muscles in his face, but the Post reported that Harper "asked questions to draw Gavin out. Gavin sat in a folding chair in the Nationals dugout. Harper leaned forward and his elbow on his left knee so his eyes would be at the same level as Gavin's."
Harper and Gavin exchanged wristbands. Harper actually asked Gavin to sign a baseball for him.
"I can't say enough. A guy who is 20 years old, to take that much time," Gavin's father, Chris Rupp, told the Post, which added that the father's voice quivered and his eyes watered. "When I was 20 years old, I didn't have that maturity, to do what he just did."
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