David Huzzard: The baseball world dislikes Bryce Harper, and D.C. should love it

As has happened on several occasions, I was told last night that Bryce Harper is a jerk. It turns out that this guy's nephew once road in an elevator in Crystal City. I've never met a person who I'd judge on their elevator behavior of eyes forward, hands at side, saying as little as possible and trying desperately to hold in the District Taco they just ate. This isn't the first time a stranger or acquaintance has informed me that Harper is a jerk. They see the Nationals hat and it's close to the first thing they have to say to me, and I've come to love it.

After Stephen Strasburg signed his extension there were a deluge of columns, interviews and articles on the matter, and in them, Strasburg listed the support he received during the shutdown in 2012 as one of the reasons he stayed in D.C. Harper has never gone through anything as controversial as the shutdown, but everything he does is controversy. Harper has been targeted by umpires, opposing fans, former players turned announcers, current closers and national sports columnists alike. Some of them see that Harper is a student of the game that does nothing but play hard and whose natural habitat is on a baseball field, but when it comes to the young Nationals slugger, it is mostly clichéd scorn on how he's not a leader without a ring, a loud mouth youngin' that needs to earn his right to talk and a bad clubhouse guy.

Bryce Harper is a jerk. That is the sentiment outside of Washington, D.C. Bryce Harper is disliked for being Bryce Harper. Fans clamor for personalities like sports had in the good old days, and then they're given one and reject him. The rejection of Harper by fans outside D.C. is great. He is going to get Robert Downey Jr. money. He is going to break every record for the largest signing. Harper is going to get paid, and until November 2018, the Washington Nationals are the only team that can give it to him. That gives them some advantage if they put the right amount in front of him or he's willing to discuss an extension like Strasburg.

Strasburg was willing to discuss an extension because he felt comfortable in D.C. It was a place that took care of his body and where he was supported while every other baseball city called it a travesty and bad idea. Before Harper was even in the majors, he was labeled a jerk. Before he was even drafted, Kevin Goldstein, then of Baseball Prospectus, wrote, "This should not be underrated. It's impossible to find any talent evaluator who isn't blown away by Harper's ability on the field, but it's equally difficult to find one who doesn't genuinely dislike the kid. One scout called him among the worst amateur players he's ever seen from a makeup standpoint, with top-of-the-scale arrogance, a disturbingly large sense of entitlement, and on-field behavior that includes taunting opponents."

Harper, since before he was drafted, has been genuinely disliked by officials for other baseball teams. Harper is consumed by his legacy and idolizes players like Cal Ripken Jr. and Derek Jeter who stayed in one city for their entire careers. Harper could go to the Yankees and be another face in monument park, or he could stay in Washington and be a monument. The choice is up to him, but for now, I say let the hatred grow. Let fans around the country despise Bryce Harper, call him a jerk and clubhouse cancer, and say they're happy he isn't on their team because I'm happy he isn't on their team either. Their dislike of Harper can only highlight the love D.C. has for him and maybe, just maybe, be the deciding factor in taking the Nationals' contract over someone else's.

David Huzzard blogs about the Nationals at Citizens of Natstown. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHuzzard. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our regular roster of writers.