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Bryce Harper Delivers Powerful Message On Adversity And Resilience That Every Youth Baseball Player Should Hear

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Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Bryce Harper delivered a powerful message on adversity after a playoff win.


The Philadelphia Phillies overcame a late deficit with their season on the line to beat the Atlanta Braves in the MLB Playoffs. Bryce Harper delivered a powerful message on adversity and resilience after the fact.

His postgame comments should be heard by every youth baseball player striving for greatness throughout the country. Coaches could also learn a thing or two.

Harper was nearly made the punchline on Wednesday afternoon thanks to a costly seventh-inning blunder. He misplayed a flyball off the bat of Drake Baldwin.

Harper drifted towards the ball rather than hustling to get under it. It went over his head to provide the Braves with a late 2-1 lead. Atlanta would tack on another run in the inning to move its advantage to 3-1.

As fate would have it, Harper stepped up to the dish in the next frame with an opportunity to tie the contest. He did just that with a solo home run to right field.

Bryce Harper gets redemption.

Slugger Kyle Schwarber led off the eighth inning with a monster blast to cut the Phillies‘ deficit in half. Harper made it back-to-back jacks with a moonshot of his own.

The home run tied the game at 3-3. Philadelphia would later win in extra innings. By doing so, it kept its season alive.

Atlanta had already won Game 1 of the three-game playoff set. Anther win would’ve sent the Phils packing. Harper wouldn’t have it.

The outfielder knocked in two of the team’s four runs to force a decisive Game 3. It’s now a one-game season with a trip to the Divisional Round on the line.

After the game, Harper was asked about his fielding error and redemption received from that eighth inning swing. He delivered a powerful message that everyone needs to hear.

Harper flushed the mistake.

He thought about his son, Krew, while doing so. “What would I say to him in that situation?” Harper asked. “It’s a learning situation, not just for myself, but for everybody else as well.”

Take a listen to the full clip below:

The message was less about baseball and more about life lessons. Everyone will face adversity at some point in their life, regardless of your profession, upbringing, or financial status. We all make mistakes.

The key to success is being able to learn from them, not dwell on them.

“How quickly can I turn the page and get past that moment?… In the postseason, it’s not what you did the inning before or the at-bat before, it’s about what you do in that moment.”

-Bryce Harper

After referencing his own blunder directly, he mentioned youth baseball.

“It’s not that serious, to tell you the truth. I think people take it very seriously, and don’t get me wrong, I take it seriously, but I think there’s a mindset especially for kids nowadays. Parents and coaches put so much on kids these days to have to come through and be great.

“But for me, ‘It’s how can you learn from each situation that you’re in to come out great in the next one?'”

-Bryce Harper

Youth sports are at a bit of a crossroads these days. Costs are extremely high. Players are being forced to specialize in one area rather than pursue multiple passions. The expectation to be great is high given the investment.

There is added pressure to succeed at a young age. Much of that weight is unfairly placed on players by parents and coaches. In many cases, the kids wind up being the adults in the room.

Harper has experienced it firsthand. It has to stop.

That’s not to say players shouldn’t be driven, especially when sports are their passion, but there are layers. Sports, particularly youth sports, are about teamwork, sportsmanship, and the pursuit of a common goal. All should be prioritized above the final outcome.

In a sport like baseball, the most difficult on the planet in my opinion, failure is inevitable. As the saying goes, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.”

Bryce Harper proved it on Wednesday. He could’ve sulked and accepted defeat – and the negative headlines that came with it.

Instead, he rewrote the narrative. He hopes others will follow in those footsteps.