It Looks Like Bryce Harper Will Be Playing Baseball This Spring . . . in Japan

Last week Bryce Harper posted on his Instagram a picture of himself photoshopped in a Yomiuri Giants uniform from Japan’s Nippon League.

The caption asked if the team was awake (since Japan and the United States have a 10 hour time zone difference) and that he’s got some time to kill. He even mentioned that they got the phone number of his world famous agent Scott Boras.

While Bryce probably wasn’t 100% serious about joining the Yomiuri Giants, he still would like to play some baseball this Spring since it looks like he won’t be playing in Major League Baseball for awhile.

For months the top storyline in baseball has been these ongoing negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association. Neither side has relented in trying to get what they want, and the negotiations have now forced a delay to the start of the 2022 regular season.

The Phillies first series was actually going to be against the defending American League Champion Houston Astros, which would have been a fun and exciting challenge for the Phils. But that’s not going to happen and it feels like we will be seeing more series getting canceled as talks continue.

Mike Trout, the best player in baseball, is willing to wait and play the long game with the MLB for the best Collective Bargaining Agreement the players can possibly get.

As much as we miss baseball, most sports fans in the country can afford to live without it for a little while. It’s the type of sport that people only get excited for once the NFL season ends, college basketball wraps up March Madness, and the NBA and NHL are in the middle of the regular season before the playoffs start in the Summer.

Baseball owns that special time in the Spring as March Madness ends and for a couple of days all eyes are on the diamond field. But since baseball won’t be there in the early days of April then everyone’s attention will remain on the NFL offseason, along with NHL and NBA storylines. This could be fairly dangerous for the game of baseball that has slowly lost its national popularity.

In the national sports power rankings the NFL has a firm grasp on Number 1 by a lot. Number 2 is the NBA and 3 and 4 are the college versions of football and basketball. Baseball has hung onto the 5th spot after being Number 1 for most of the 20th century but could see NHL hockey and MLS soccer creeping closer to their spot. And don’t forget individual sports like MMA, Golf, Boxing and Tennis.

Is it true that baseball is no longer attractive to the 21st century young adult? Yes. Is is also true that Major League Baseball often shoots themselves in the foot when trying to appease to a nationwide audience? Also yes. And this lockout exposes young fans who were weren’t around for the cancellation of the 1994 World Series what happens to the game when it’s not around during the time its supposed to be.

So maybe it’s actually best for players like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to play some baseball this Spring in Japan or anywhere around the world outside of Major League Baseball. Because otherwise the game is going to continue to sink lower and lower in the American sports fans psyche.

 

By Mike McCarrick | March 7, 2022
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