CINCINNATI — Brandon Phillips, The Tsar of Twitter, tweeted this to his constituents Friday morning: "We play Babe Ruth and the Washington Nationals this weekend."
He was not referring to Rick Ankiel or Adam LaRoche or even Ryan Zimmerman. He was, of course, referring to 19-year-old rookie Bryce Harper, baseball's newest cover boy.
Phillips' tweet was not disparaging and, in fact, as far as Phillips is concerned, "The Bryce is Right."
If people in the District of Columbia believe Harper stands as tall as the Washington Monument, that's fine with Phillips, even if Harper was 0 for 5 with three strikeouts Friday night during his team's 7-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
Phillips isn't in awe of the Nationals' much-hyped outfielder, but he respects him deeply.
"Babe Ruth? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I call him," said Phillips. "The thing is he is a great ballplayer and he deserves all this attention. He can be another Ken Griffey, Jr. to this game."
So, Harper is getting compared favorably in different discourses to Griffey, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds and Mickey Mantle.
Amazingly, when Harper hits his first home run this year, he'll become the first 19-year-old to hit a home run in the big leagues since Griffey in 1989.
"He is getting all this publicity and he is playing great and I'm happy for him," said Phillips.
What Harper's also getting is his ears assaulted with boos on the road. Base hit? Boo. Catch a fly ball? Boo. Steal a base? Boo.
As he sat on a bench in the Washington dugout before Friday's game, Harper's blue eyes flashed and he broke into a wide smile when asked about the boos, looking nothing like a Snidely Whiplash-style villain.
"I love getting booed. I do, I really do," he said. "It is good to hear the cheers at home, but it gets to me too much and you let the adrenaline do too much because you want to do well. When I'm on the road and get booed it puts me in a mellow stage and makes me want to go out and do better."
Harper says the boos in the bigs are no different than any other boos. He got booed in the minors, too.
"Oh yeah, it was pretty brutal in the minors," he said. "That's just fans lovin' their team and hatin' on the other team, so that's OK with me."
Boos, cheers or silence, Harper is just enjoying the big-league ride, as short and raucous as it has been.
"It's a blessing, man, because I like coming out here and playing baseball. I've dealt with media and criticism my whole life. Just another day at the park," he said.
Harper doesn't seek advice or help or instruction from his veteran teammates, but as all responsible rookies do, he keeps his ears open.
"I keep to myself pretty much," he said. "I don't say much, just try to play the game and not worry too much about things. But when guys come up to me to talk to me, that's when I take in the most. I don't try to go up to them and pick their minds. I let them come up to me and tell me what I need to do."
His manager, old-school Davey Johnson, a man who has managed Hall of Famers, is pleasantly pleased with how Harper has responded to center stage with the curtain wide open.
"He has handled the attention great and hasn't changed his game," said Johnson. "He is very aggressive, loves to play the game, doesn't get cheated at home plate, crashes into walls or falls down in the outfield to do whatever it is he has to do to make a play.
Of the "Heckle Harper" mentality, Johnson said, "If you are really into the ballgame, you don't really hear that.
"The proof will be in the pudding, but I like the way he approaches every game," Johnson added. "He does his work, he does his film studies of pitchers, like every other player. I don't even think of him as being 19. I think of him as being a heck of a ballplayer."
Just because Harper is only 19 doesn't mean Johnson doesn't know him. He's seen him play for at least four years during Harper's amateur days.
"He hasn't changed a whole lot, and it is going to be a learning experience, but I think he is at ease up here because he has had his eyes set on being a big leaguer since he was about 12 or before — maybe 3 years old," said Johnson.
Reds manager Dusty Baker was getting his first look at Harper because when the Reds lost three of four in Washington in early April, Harper was playing at Hagerstown, Md.
"Playing under a spotlight is as tough as you let it be," said Baker. "His talent put him in this situation, under the spotlight. If you are in the big leagues, regardless of what age you are, you are treated like a man.
"But just because you are treated like a man doesn't mean you are a man," Baker added. "So you aren't expected to conduct yourself like a man because you are still a young player. We've heard about comments that he has made or how cocky he is, but we were all in that situation at one time or another — 19 years old and saying things we probably shouldn't have said, either."
Baker laughed and said he was looking at the back of one of his early bubblegum cards and it said fleet-footed and cocky outfielder.
"I didn't think I was that cocky, but you never do. But that can make you successful as long as you monitor it."
On this day, Harper was more enmeshed with checking out Great American Ball Park, where home runs fly and pitchers go to die.
"I talked to Joey Votto a couple of years ago at the All-Star Game and he told me the ball flies out of here to right center," said Harper. "With the years he has had here, this should be a lot of fun."
Right center? Votto hits most of his home run to left center, so he was probably trying to steer Harper away from hitting the ball there.
Just another part of the learning curve.
