Harper on major league debut: "I did everything I could to enjoy it"

April 28, 2012 is date every Nationals fan will remember forever: Bryce Harper's major league debut.

Today, when Harper takes the field against the Phillies, it marks the fifth anniversary of his debut, a 4-3 10-inning loss for the Nationals at Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers.

Batting seventh and playing left field, he went 1-for-3 with a double, sacrifice fly and an RBI. The Nationals ended up going 81-58 in games he played during the 2012 campaign.

Harper did well that day, but when asked, he remembers the loss, as you would expect him to.

"Matt Kemp's walk-off homer against us," Harper said. "I think being able to enjoy it with my family was awesome. I did everything I could to enjoy it and take it all in but at the end of the game after he hit that homer off of (Tom) Gorzelanny, he was doing his little thing, shimmy across the plate. That's the one thing I definitely remember."

It is kind of hard to believe this is Harper's fifth season in the majors. He continues to get better with each game, already hitting .318 this season with nine homers and 24 RBIs.

Is Harper surprised the plateau he has reached in 2016? How much better can he get?

"I don't think you could ever can be surprised," Harper said. "I think really going in to what you do, you got to have the dream and the aspirations to hopefully be the best player in the world. I think every single day I come in here, (I) try to do everything I can to help this team win on a nightly basis. If I can do that, then that's what I want to do.

"I want to play hard and do everything I can to look myself in the mirror at night and say I gave it my all. That's one thing that I've always prided myself on and that's what I always want to do."

Manager Dusty Baker was asked today about Harper's anniversary. Baker believes all these heroics to begin this season for Harper are just the beginning, but also signal how far the young star has come since that first day.

"It's hard to project where he's going, because the sky is the limit," Baker said. "And where he's been, he might have gotten there a little bit ahead of schedule. I think he was a little bit rushed, because he didn't have much - I don't know much about him in the past, but he couldn't have had much minor league experience - and then when he got here, he was overmatched a little bit in the beginning, as usual. And then he figured it out and he figured it out in a hurry, and he actually figured it out quicker than Barry Bonds did.

"Because you look at Barry Bonds' track record and Barry was hitting in the .230s early in his career. So he's figured it out pretty good. He's a smart young man. And I'm just glad that I'm here to hopefully help (Harper) in a small way and to see his progress and his greatness in action."

Harper said he has thought about how fast the season can speed by. It certainly doesn't seem like that when you play 200 games a season from spring training through playoffs. But then you look up and you have been a part of two division championships and have a National League MVP award.

"I was talking to (hitting coach Rick) Schu about it yesterday," Harper said. "It always goes by so quick. I think the first time, everybody always tells you enjoy it as much as you can. I think I have. I really take it one day at a time and really try to enjoy this game as much as I can. That's what I want to do. It's been a lot of fun and I can't thank everybody in this clubhouse enough, this organization, the fans."

But Harper also likes to talk team goals and although the Nationals have won a pair of NL East titles, they still want more.

"As a team, you want to stay healthy," Harper said. "That's the main goal: staying healthy, winning ballgames and hopefully be where we want to be. That's what I want."