Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 1982. He played his high School ball at Las Vegas High School, deciding after his sophomore year in 2009 that he was finished and needed to play against better competition. He took and passed his GED making him eligible to attend Junior College.

As a freshman in high School In [[[2008]] Harper batted .590 with 11 home runs and 67 RBIs in 38 games. As a sophomore he posted a 626 Batting Average, with 14 Home Runs and 55 RBIs. He was also the first Sophomore High School player to ever win Baseball America's High School Player of the Year award.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/09/21/ba.draft/index.html13

Bryce enrolled at Community College of Southern Nevada and proved he was ready for college ball by hitting .442 and blasting out 29 Home Runs; 17 more that his closest competitor. As projected, he was the first overall player selected in the 2010 amateur draft.

Upon drafting him, the Washington Nationals immediately stated that he would be an everyday right-fielder, and by doing so they would lessen the wear and tear of every day play as a catcher.

Bryce has been labeled a protégée and Sports Illustrated compares him favorably to Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Nationals are hoping the legacy holds true. He has signed Scott Boras as his agent so the Washington Nationals are expecting the same type of contract negotiations as they had when signing Stephen Strasburg.

While at theCommunity College of Southern Nevada Bryce put up some big numbers on the JUCO stats board. He was 1st in the following categories; Doubles - 22, Batting Average - .442, Home Runs – 29 – 17 ahead of the 2nd place slugger and RBIs – 89. He also had 4 Triples; 3 behind the leader.http://www.jucoathletics.com/njcaa_stats.php?sport=bb®ion=18

As expected, he was the first player off the board in the Major League Baseball draft, taken by the Washington Nationals. They immediately indicated that he would no longer catch and would be made an everyday right-fielder. At the money he is going to command they are reducing the risk of injuries to he legs.

The Nationals next task is to strike a deal with agent Scott Boras and hope it does not drag on as it did with last year's number 1 Stephen Strasburg who signed just minutes before the deadline.

As a Sophomore, Bryce played Catcher, 3rd base, Outfield and Pitcher. When on the mound he was clocked at 96 miles per hour and awed the scouts attending his games.ref>http://bryceharperinsider.com/stats/high-school-stats/</ref>

He posted a .626 Batting Average, with 14 Home Runs and 55 RBIs. He was also the first Sophomore High School player to ever win Baseball America's High School Player of the Year award.http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/09/21/ba.draft/index.html

A cover of Sports Illustrated article labeled him, "The Most Exciting Prodigy Since LeBron James."

With nothing left to prove in high school, Harper opted to forego his junior and senior seasons at Las Vegas High School by enrolling at Community College of Southern Nevada. By doing so it made him eligible to play the JUCO season once he passed his GED test..

Bryce Harper played Freshman ball at Las Vegas High School in Las Vegas, Nevada and every scout in America was aware of him. At a showcase event he was hitting home runs that measured more than 500 feet; some scouts estimated a 570 foot shot. Impressive also for a High School Freshman were his final statistics. He posted a Batting Average of .599, with 11 Home Runs and 67 Runs Batted In.