ANOTHER HARPTOBER IS UPON US: NO ONE ASTONISHES QUITE LIKE `THE SHOWMAN'

In a rite of autumn, Bryce Harper continues to make the baseball postseason his untamed triumph, with his double home runs against Atlanta firming up that no legend could have chosen a better market

     He listens to WIP. Nothing else needs to be said about why Bryce Harper is in Philadelphia, a city of shock-jock sports radio, and why a legend never has chosen a better place to finalize his career. From his Phillies bandana, through his beard and eyeblack and long hair, and then conducting a hazy post-game celebration in only his pants in what almost seemed seamy — didn’t this native of Las Vegas find the superlative place to become an all-time playoff performer?

     Welcome to our second straight Harptober. After hitting six home runs with 13 extra-base hits and nearly leading his team to a World Series title, he’s back with more mania, including a revenge two-homer game over a besieged Orlando Arcia who still thinks his comments should have remained in the clubhouse. Never mind that the Atlanta shortstop garbled — “Atta boy, Harper” — after he was doubled up on the bases to end Game 2. Never mind how it opened another journalistic debate about why a legitimate reporter was commenting on actual events, prompting him to be badmouthed by baseball-digested media.

     Think Harper is aloof? “My teammates just kind of told me,” he said, “and they were like, ‘What are you going to do?’ ’’ He answered with both shots, staring down Arcia each time in a Game 3 edict that led to a Game 4 triumph over the 104-win Braves. He is in the perfect town for his radical behavior, helping the Phillies to a 26-11 postseason record at Citizens Bank Park and making it hard to believe they won’t win their first Series in 15 years.

     “It’s a super competitive game we play, and I enjoy commentary and things. I listen to WIP, and you hear a lot of stuff on there as well at times,” said Harper, becoming the first athlete ever to acknowledge a media outlet. “I just enjoy it. I mean, anytime anybody says something, right? I mean, that’s what it’s all about.

     “Yeah, I mean, I stared right at him.”

     In a comment heard by numerous reporters in a victorious clubhouse, Arcia rankled the wrong man. He complained a day later, saying, “He wasn’t supposed to hear it. I feel like whatever is said in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse.” He can’t be serious in the playoffs, especially when Jake Mintz of Fox Sports reported what many other media passed along, prompting Alanna Rizzo — who works for the MLB Network, and is paid by commissioner Rob Manfred — to go off on Mintz. “And then some jackoff comes in at the end of the season that gets a credential, God only knows why,” said Rizzo. “The clubhouse is a sacred space. And, remember, I’ve been in clubhouses for the last 16, 17 years. I remember I would go in there, get my job done and get out. That is their space. So for this idiot to go in there and take something out of context just to make him give himself a name is ridiculous. First of all, this guy, Jake Mintz, that’s not even a reporter.”

     He’s not only a reporter, right? Mintz helped change baseball history by the nature of his job duties. All he did was fire up Harper, who hit his blasts then watched Nick Castellanos become the first player to hit multiple homers in consecutive postseason games. After the clincher, which placed the Phillies in a National League championship series against Arizona, teammates offered Harper a t-shirt he could take home.

     “Atta Boy Harper,” it said across the front.

     “He wasn’t supposed to hear it,” it said across the back.

     And you wonder why he loves Philly, their crazed fans. He’s one of them.

     “I love this place. Flat out, I love this place,” he said. “There's nothing like coming into the Bank and playing in front of these fans. Blue collar mentality, tough, fighting every single day. I get chills, man. I get so fired up. I signed here for a reason, to do everything I could to bring back a trophy to this town, to this organization. I get chills thinking about it, because that's what it's all about. I love every single person in this organization, fighting, clawing every single day to get back to that moment.

     “I could go on and on, man. There's nothing like playing here. If you don't like it, you can get out, because we don't want you here, and we want to be able to come in each night and play our game, and they are with us in this every single step of the way.”

     He’s still only 30. He could have eight more years of this passion, which is remarkable considering Sports Illustrated put him on its cover at 16, calling him “The Chosen One.” He could be sick of the grind, the mental intrusion. He just wants many championships. “I’m so thankful that I'm able to play this game,” he said. “I'm so thankful to be able to have these moments and these opportunities. There's nothing like growing up and playing the game of baseball. When I was 10 years old, 11 years old, I played in so many big tournaments and big lights. And I mean, you guys couldn't imagine the pressure of the situations or going to (junior college) early and having everybody in the world relying on you to be the No. 1 pick. That was hard.

     “You know, 17 years old, 16 years old, trying to be the No. 1 pick, knowing that if you're not, you're a failure. So that's pressure, you know. Trying to make all the money you can to get your family out of an area or set them up for life, that's pressure. This is all cake, man. This is so much fun. Man, it’s not pressure anymore when you're just playing and having fun. Those moments — the pressure is gone.”

     Everyone in baseball knows the Hall of Fame is coming, in due time. His surge is exactly what the game needs and why his October obsession should rule the sports world. “There’s a reason you get the nickname, ‘The Showman,’ ” said second baseman Bryson Stott. “He’s just one of those guys where it feels like any time you need a run, you need a hit, you need a home run, he’s always up. And then he always does what he’s supposed to do.”

     Said owner John Middleton, who easily lured him from I-95 in Washington: “Ultimately, when we handed Harper $330 million guaranteed, he was going to respond. Bryce looked at that contract and said, I need to live up to this. I need to earn this. As opposed to, I’ve earned it, now I can coast. I’ve got it made. And that’s what I think has helped us: Every time we look to sign these guys we ask — what is their character? How are they going to fit in? We make a lot of effort to talk to players, talk to coaches, to make sure they’re going to fit in here.”

     The hitting coach, Kevin Long, took it one step further in an interview with The Athletic. “The best in the world — what do they want? Michael Jordan wants the ball. Bryce Harper wants the at-bat,” he said. “Go to football: Patrick Mahomes wants the drive to win the game. That’s the same. They thrive in those moments. They look forward to them. And it just seems like, in those opportune times, those guys come through.”

     Jordan … Mahomes … Harper. The entitlement is starting to work, though he’ll need a championship.

     What’s amazing is, we could have two series left. Already, he has engaged our attention spans. If he listens to WIP, the station manager should try and give him a show. Maybe Bryce says yes.

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     Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.