WORLD TOP SPORTS STARS: Bryce Aron baseball star

Bryce Aron Max Harper[1] (born October 16, 1992, in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a minor league outfielder in the Washington Nationals organization, and was selected by the Nationals as the first pick of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.[1] Harper stands at 6 foot 3 inches and weighs 225 lbs.[2][3]
Contents
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* 1 College career
* 2 Professional career
* 3 Career accomplishments
* 4 Personal life
* 5 References
* 6 External links

[edit] College career

Harper earned his GED after his sophomore year of high school in December 2009, making him eligible for the June 2010 amateur draft in order to begin his professional baseball career earlier.[4][5] For the 2010 college season, Harper enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada of the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC), a league that uses wood bats in conference play. In 66 games, he hit 31 home runs, 98 RBI, hitting .443/.526/.987 (AVG/OBP/SLG).[6] His 31 home runs broke the school's previous record of 12. He was named the 2010 SWAC Player of the Year.[6]

In the Western district finals of the 2010 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) World Series, Harper went 6-for-7 with 5 RBIs and hit for the cycle.[7] The next day, in a doubleheader, he went 2-for-5 with a three-run double in the first game, and in the second game went 6-for-6 with 4 home runs, a triple, and a double.[8]

On June 2, 2010, Harper was ejected from a National Junior College World Series game by home plate umpire Don Gilmore after a called third strike. Harper drew a line in the dirt with his bat as he left the plate, presumably to show where he thought the pitch was. It was Harper's second ejection of the year, and resulted in a two-game suspension.[9] The suspension ended his amateur career, as Southern Nevada lost the game from which Harper was ejected and lost their next game with Harper suspended, which eliminated them from the tournament.[10]

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award.[11]
[edit] Professional career

Harper was selected with the first overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals,[12] becoming the Nationals second straight number 1 overall pick of the Major League Baseball Draft, following Stephen Strasburg.[13] Although Harper has predominantly played catcher, the Nationals drafted him as an outfielder. Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo explained that Harper playing the outfield will "accelerate his development in the minor leagues and extend his career in the major leagues".[12]

Harper agreed to a 5 year contract worth $9.9 million.[14] On August 26, 2010, Harper was introduced by the Nationals. Harper said he chose to wear #34 because "I always loved Mickey Mantle, three and four equals seven."[15]

After batting .319 with a .407 OBP (and leading his team in hits, homers, RBIs and walks) in the Nationals' fall instructional league, Harper was selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions taxi-squad,[16] the second-youngest player in the history of the league (two days older than when Mets' prospect Fernando Martinez appeared in the league in 2006)[17]

Bryce Harper