The scene in Washington, D.C. last night was electric. Phillies. Nationals. Bryce Harper. Max Scherzer. It was a scene that not even a rain delay could dampen.
This was, after all, Bryce Harper's first visit back to his old team. The open question before the game was whether Bryce would be cheered or booed. By the first at bat, there was no question.
Most of the fans in the stadium booed Bryce Harper during each of his at bats. But it wasn't so much the fact that he was booed, but how much he was booed. The booing was universal and frankly, pretty ruthless. It was something we really haven't seen from the Nationals' fans. They're usually too nice, too friendly, and way too forgiving. But not on Tuesday. Not when they felt betrayed (and we'll get to that later).
First, I'm going to argue that Bryce Harper leaving the Nationals changed the fan base forever. They finally have a taste of what it's like to have a brutal loss.
Sure, the Nationals have had disappointments in the past, but they still had successful seasons year after year. They've always been competitive. But they've never really had to confront what losing your best player is like... and to a division rival.
The Nationals are still fairly young, a new franchise that is still building trust and goodwill with its fans. Apparently what the fan base needed was to lose its superstar to know how much it loved its team.
However, most of the fans feel that Bryce Harper is a traitor. The fans feel betrayed. I'm not sure I agree.
If the Nationals offered Bryce Harper anything that resembled the 13-year, $330 million deal that the Phillies offered, then maybe, and just maybe, the fans would be justified in their hatred. However, that's not what's played out. Report after report has revealed that Bryce was offered significantly less money and a lot of the money would be deferred. Arguably, it was at best the 4th worst offer that Bryce had, well behind what the Phillies, Giants, and Dodgers were offering.
And so, unfortunately, the Nationals fan base is booing the wrong person. If they wanted Bryce Harper so badly, they may want to boo their ownership. Ownership didn't think Harper was worth the money. Ownership might be right here. But it was ownership... and yes, it's the Lerner family, that ultimately decided whether Bryce Harper would stay or go. A matching offer would likely have kept Bryce in D.C., but such an offer was not ever even remotely a possibility.
And so the brutal irrationality of sports fandom has reared its ugly head and turns the Nationals fan base in a rabid bunch. A group that has no regard for its opponents and nothing but hatred for its rivals. This may have been a crucial turning point for a franchise desperately lacking in character. Ask any Red Sox fan or Cubs fan, and you'll hear long stories about the lowest of the lows -- the worst moments. The pain. The Nationals have yet to really endure those, until now, and maybe, just maybe, it may have been the best thing for them.