The start of something special

Bryce Harper watching the flight of his first hit in the major leagues

Washington Nationals wunderkind teenager Bryce Harper, in his major league debut 12 years ago today at Dodger Stadium, launches Chad Billingsley's 3-2 pitch to center field for a seventh-inning double and his first major league hit.

The double comes off a 93-mph fastball from Billingsley, a pitch that Harper lines past Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp.

“I was just hoping it’d get over Kemp’s head,” Harper tells the Washington Post after the game.

The 19-year-old Harper also picks up his first RBI on a ninth-inning sacrifice fly in a game the Nationals eventually lose to Los Angeles 4-3 in 10 innings before a Saturday night crowd of 54,242 in L.A.

“I didn’t have any butterflies at all, really,” Harper says later.

He has not had many, if any, since then as Harper in his first 12-plus seasons in the major leagues – the first seven with Washington, the last five-plus in Philadelphia – earns seven All-Star selections, seven Silver Slugger Awards, one National League rookie of the year award and two National League Most Valuable Player awards.

Other than that, Harper has been just like the other 19,194 players who precede him to the major leagues.