Bruising baseballs

Dan Hamerman photo

This is how baseballs surely look 13 years ago today in Viera, Fla., after wunderkind prospect Bryce Harper takes his first, pulverizing round of spring training batting practice for the Washington Nationals.

Harper, then 19, finishes the 2011 season with the Class AA Harrisburg Senators, albeit on the bench with a strained right hamstring.

He does quite well in 2012, though, reaching the major leagues and winning the National League’s rookie of the year award.

Harper does even better in 2015 as he is unanimously selected as the National League’s most valuable player.

Since then, Harper moves from Washington to Philadelphia, where he wins another MVP award, leads the Phillies to the 2002 World Series and the 2023 National League Championship Series.

Harper quickly and clearly becomes the face of the Phillies’ franchise and should be for quite a while as he is not even halfway through a 13-year contract that runs through the 2031 season.