Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper achieved yet another career milestone on Wednesday afternoon in South Philadelphia. With a flair for the dramatics, Harper crushed an 8th inning, two-run home run to right-center field off of former Phillies’ reliever Matt Moore to give the Phillies a (short-lived) 8-6 lead over the Los Angeles Angels. The homer was Harper’s 15th of the season and the 300th of his career. Harper is the 12th active player to reach the 300-home run club.
Harper, 30, is the fifth member of the Phillies franchise to hit his 300th home run while with the organization. The exclusive club includes Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, World Series Champion Ryan Howard, five-time All-Star Roy Seivers. Harper is the fourth fastest in MLB history to reach the 300-home run total at 30-years and 318-days old. Of his 300-home runs, Harper hit 184 with the Washington Nationals from 2012 through 2018 and 116 with the Phillies from 2019 to present.
Watch: Bryce Harper Hits His 300th Career Home Run
After rounding the bases, a jubilant Harper emerged from the Phillies’ dugout for a curtain call. The former MVP kissed the “Phillies” script on his cream-colored jersey sending the 34,655 at Citizens Bank Park into a further frenzy. The ovation would’ve lasted longer if it weren’t for baseball’s new pitch clock rules that forced the action to proceed. The move was akin to basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson kissing the Philadelphia 76ers logo at center court of the Wells Fargo (or whatever it was called) Center.
3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/MsyHPjbahM
— Taryn Hatcher (@TarynNBCS) August 30, 2023
Harper has been “all-in” on the city of Philadelphia and the fan base since signing with the Phillies before the 2019 season. Many in the media and social media have called out the potential future Hall of Famer for “pandering” to his new city by embracing the Philadelphia sports culture. Harper has famously worn the name, image, and likeness of sports most phamous mascot, the Phillie Phanatic. He’s embraced the Sixers, the Flyers, and the Eagles, even showing up to Citizens Bank Park wearing a Kelly-green Jason Kelce No. 62 jersey a few weeks back. Hell, he’s even embraced listening to and calling in to SportsRadio 94 WIP.
Harper addressed the naysayers during Wednesday’s postgame media scrum.
Bryce Harper loves Philly.
And Philly loves Bryce Harper. ♥ pic.twitter.com/VvuLiDbkBd
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 30, 2023
“Everybody thinks I pander a lot, but it’s real. It’s so real, it’s from the bottom of my heart, and I’m just thankful to put this jersey on every day.”
-Bryce Harper on playing in Philadelphia and the Phillies
If Harper has his way, he’d play in Philadelphia until he can’t play anymore. That’s how much he loves playing in Philadelphia. Judging from fan reaction social media, they’d be happy with that too.
