Bryce Harper's unprecedented success

Bryce Harper, the Washington Nationals' rookie center fielder, is playing at an historic level through the first half of the season.  Earlier this week the 19 year old became the first teenage position player to be named an all-star.  Harper, the number one overall pick in 2010, was featured on a Sports Illustrated cover at the age of 16.  Unlike most teenage prodigies, Harper has surpassed all expectations and is playing better than any 19 year old has in the history of the majors. What have allowed Harper to succeed at such a young age are the maturity and professionalism that he possesses  Harper plays with a very visible effort and always runs the bases hard, which has endeared him to the D.C. sports fan base.
Earlier this season Harper was asked by a reporter whether he would be celebrating a win in Toronto with a beer, and take advantage of the lower drinking age in Canada.  Harper responded to the reporter with his now famous catch phrase "That's a clown question, bro."

When recently asked to explain the quote in an interview on 106.7 The Fan, Harper displayed the professionalism and high-character that has led him to such great achievements so early in his career.  Harper explained, “I’d rather be a good person off the field than a good baseball player on the field.  I wanna be as good as I can be off the field for these fans and this town and I don’t wanna put anything into my body and do anything outside of this clubhouse that’s going to affect this team or anybody in this city or anything like that.  I give everything I can every single day and I don’t wanna go out, I don’t wanna party, I don’t wanna drink or anything like that.  So, when someone asks me a question that, I think it’s a little disrespectful and, you know, it was the first thing that came to my mind. Like I said, my body is a temple and I’m not going to put anything in it that will affect me or the way I play because I want to give everything I can for this team and this city every single day.”
Harper and the rest of his Nationals teammates appear to be fully committed to winning.  D.C. fans had better enjoy the next few seasons.