Nats' Bryce Harper slams homerun and blows kiss to opposing pitcher

2010 top draft pick causes controversy

In baseball circles, the name Bryce Harper has been generating a lot of attention over the past year. As 2010's top draft pick, Harper was chosen by the Washington Nationals and is a player baseball is watching with keen interest.

Currently playing in the minors for the Hagerstown Suns until he's ready to make his eventual progression to the big leagues, Harper is already generating waves. At Monday night's game the powerhouse hitter hammered a homerun which was talked about across the web today. However for Harper, the web chatter wasn't focused on his batting, but on what transpired afterward.

As Harper walked up to bat and slammed the ball, the announcer shouted "going, going, gone, that ball is out of here," the outfielder trotted around the bases and, as he was halfway down the third base line, turned and blew a kiss to Zachary Neal, the opposing pitcher.

ESPN Sports reports, "With the game scoreless in the sixth inning, Harper hit a home run to right-center field and took a few seconds to admire his handiwork from the batters' box before slowly tossing his bat aside and heading to first.  Greensboro pitcher Zachary Neal apparently didn't care for Harper's display and let Harper know how he felt as he rounded the bases, according to media reports."

The hit was Harper's 14th homer of the season and 42nd run driven in.

The morning after and all throughout the day, twitter users were all over Harper's display in their tweets and many reports online surfaced with mixed opinions.

Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports, said this type of splashing himself with "Eau du Arrogance" is "exactly what the sport needs."

Others disagree.

Jim Bowden writes in his article on ESPN's MLB section "The GM's office in Washington should now slow down the player development plans to promote Harper to AA -- not because of talent, but because of immaturity issues."

Bowden, who is not alone in his opinion, feels Harper has a great future, but needs to grow, not only with athletic talent, but in terms of sportsmanship.

ESPN shared comments from Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt. Schmidt, who amassed 548 career homeruns, offered the advice to Harper to "tone it down and play the game."

Schmidt also said "I would say Bryce, if you're going to hit a lot of 'em ... you'd better learn not to show up the pitcher because it's just going to get tougher and tougher on you if you watch your home runs," Schmidt said.

Harper's record is impressive and so far he's living up to the hype with his natural talent. The attention this kiss is getting is being connected to his career progress for the time being.

USA Today says, "And we wonder why the Nationals have resisted the urge to promote Harper beyond low-A ball, despite his .342 average, 14 homers, 42 RBI and 1.058 OPS in just 56 games."

The LA Times reported the Nats' are not going to discipline Harper, but rather use this incident as a "teaching moment." Nats Insider reporter Mark Zuckerberg brings up the point that this type of reaction probably happens a lot more than people hear about, but the fact that 18-year-old Harper is such a phenom, likely plays into the amount of attention he's getting.

After all, how many ballplayers grace the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of 16? It's no wonder his controversial kiss is getting so much attention.

Good, bad, or indifferent about this theatrical display, both the Nationals' decision makers and the team's fans will be watching this coveted player who has often been speculated to be a large part of the franchise's future.

CSN Washington News has the video of the blown kiss embedded on their website.