POSTED: Saturday June 13, 2009
Tim Chambers will be the one to manage the madness. To guide the publicity-loaded vessel through choppy waters of scrutiny. To bring some calm into the storm of hype.
“I have known the kid since he was 6 years old,” Chambers said. “After this is done and the news is out there, I’ve told the family, 'That’s it. We’re shutting it down. Now, it’s all about him playing and going to school.’
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I’ll handle the scouts. He needs to live his life and play ball. I know it’s going to be a circus. I can handle that part of it.”
The spectacle couldn’t be much larger these days around Bryce Harper, the 16-year-old Las Vegas High baseball star who recently graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and who will bypass his final two prep seasons to play under Chambers.
The plan: Harper will earn his GED and ready himself for the 2010 draft with a year at College of Southern Nevada, where competition will be elevated and his dream of wearing a major league uniform accelerated.
It’s his right to pursue the journey as he and his family see fit.
That’s how things work with those who possess superior gifts. A 17-year-old girl wins “American Idol,” and we marvel at her grace and maturity and extraordinary talent. The next young Nickelodeon sensation appears on television, and we don’t blink. Tennis and golf and swimming and gymnastics phenoms not old enough to vote compete for major championships, and no one gives it a second thought. Latin baseball stars at 16 sign multi-million dollar contracts with our favorite team, and we rejoice.
Harper’s choice to depart high school two years early should be greeted with the same acceptance. It has been said those outstanding at something have one thing in common — an absolute sense of mission.
This is what he does.
This is his mission.
“It was not some off-the-cuff decision,” Chambers said. “This was carefully thought out by the family for months. It was a decision to make a move and get him draft eligible and let him do his thing. They didn’t want him to become disinterested at the high school level.
People don’t pitch to him much there anyway. This is a special player who comes around once every 10, 15 years. Not many people know what it’s like to be him.”
The physical part won’t be an issue at CSN. Harper always has played up in age. He is a projected No. 1 overall draft pick, which means he’ll hardly be overwhelmed by the Scenic West Athletic Conference and probably should get used to the idea of one day soon catching Stephen Strasburg in Washington.
But he also is just 16, and even for a kid whose life is said to be dominated by the next lesson, the next practice, the next game, the next flight to a tournament, adapting socially outside high school walls is a process.
Harper has his family to help with that, including an older brother, Bryan, who has left Cal State Northridge after one season and will join Bryce at CSN as a left-handed pitcher. He also has Chambers, whose reputation locally is incomparable for how he develops players.
This isn’t the correct path for everyone. Hardly. It is for the exceptions among us. Like 17-year-old Jeremy Tyler, who is leaving high school in San Diego a year early to play basketball professionally in Europe as he awaits NBA draft eligibility, Harper exists within a minute portion of athletes capable of facing what once was viewed an implausible test. It is on him alone to pass or fail, to prove capable of dealing with the intense pressures that accompany such promise.
The best thing about this decision is its frankness. No one is suggesting it is anything other than what it is. The kid wants to be a big leaguer, and he wants it sooner rather than later, and no one outside his home has the right to decide which channels he follows to get there.
“This is a smart kid with a 3.9 GPA,” Chambers said. “He will definitely be able to handle this move. I really believe he could be in the big leagues by age 19. I believe he’ll be the No. 1 pick, that he’ll be drafted as a catcher, but his bat will play him into third base or the outfield.
“I’m pumped. I’m pumped about coaching him and his brother. The family is already overwhelmed, and it really hasn’t even been out there yet. That’s my job now. It’s time for him to just play and not worry about all the other stuff.”
There is no pretense to this, and that is refreshing.
Whether it’s the correct move or not is debatable, but this isn’t: The move is Bryce Harper’s to make.
His talent has earned him the right.
Wow! Sports certainly brings out the best and worst in people. I wish the kid all the best. It's sad commentary with all the neglected utes in america, that anyone thinks a parent is too involved like this kids.
Congrats to his family. Sounds like we need more kids and families like these.
I've always said that if a kid with baseball talent would spend even half the time as a 14 year old olympic hopeful girl gymnast spends at her passion , they'd be incredible.
To Angry mom. Is your name Nancy Pelosi? Life is short and it won't be long before we have all taken our last breath. Don't be small, petty and bitter.
To angry mom........hahahahahahaha omg your son struck him out, this is baseball lady and kids strike out....call me when Harper is a millionare and your son is playing at a JUCO in Rhode Island...what a joke!!
I had the oppurtunity to see bryce show his talents last year in utah he would have the pitcher walk the runner than gun him trying to steal. Double pumping once waiting for the fielder to get there then beating him by 5 to 10 feet. Phenominal. Was worth my time and ticket.Good luck kid. Give em hell and dont look back.
The three major sports in America baseball, football, and basketball are the only ones that do not allow American kids to leave their homes. My buddy was a hockey player and left his high school when he was 15 to go play in the ohl. The talent level in high school was nowhere close to that of his. In 04 i played against a top ten pick outta high school. It was a joke to him. Anyone on base walk if bases loaded nothin in the zone. Bryce sounds the same way. Two years of high school was a waste of time. Some stupid high school kid gets jealous and hurt him on purpose. Let the kid go. I love how the only people who dont like it are parents. Jealous jealous jealous the kid is gifted yours wasnt. Let the kid follow his dream.
The people that bash the Harper family and Chambers are just jealous. There is a baseball school program for every kid that wants to play. CSN is a great place to grow, not the only place, but a great place. Striking out is a part of baseball and a part of Life that builds character. Apparently Bryce has grown from striking out on occasion. How else do you appreciate the home runs without striking out once a while. GO BRYCE !!! GO CSN !!!
If he's such a big deal, why did my son strike him out at least twice this year? I hope the rest of the kids at CSN realize that Chambers is taking care of Bryce and that's it. I am beginning to see how lucky my son really was. He will find another school to play at. He already has 3 wanting to see him. This turned out to be a good thing after all.
Y'know, not for nothing but the kid did play in the worst division in the city. Can we all catch our breath?
Ed Graney, you say this KID's talent has earned him the right? The parents' push to help this KID get to the level he is has resulted in his higher-than-normal skills. Countless hours of grudgery that the normal human being isn't willing to put in and hours upon hours upon hours of disciplinary actions. If it wasn't for the persistent pushing and pushing and regimentary drills of this child to hurry up and get better then we wouldn't have this as a topic. Harper would be another talented and skilled KID that would be looking forward to next his junior and senior years and the proms and homecomings and looking forward to dating a normal young lady just like the other KIDS. The two sons running 2 miles a day before they went to school is a minor example of the sacrifices they have been through. Parents that know what it takes to get the most out of their children to get the most out of their children. 99.9% of others are beneath this.
Tyler Sam Houston (born January 17, 1971 in Long Beach, California), is a former professional baseball player who played third base and catcher in the Major Leagues from 1996-2003.
In 700 games, Houston tallied 479 hits, 63 home runs and 253 RBIs for a .265 batting average.
In the 1989 MLB June draft, Houston was drafted second overall (first was Ben McDonald) and was the first high school player chosen. He graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
On Sunday, July 9, 2000, Houston hit three home runs against the Detroit Tigers. Willie Blair pitched for six innings and gave up Houston's first two home runs. Jason Bere gave up the third (440 ft). It was the first time in Brewers' history that a backup catcher received a curtain call.
no one knows who tyler houston is.. everyone knows who bryce harper is
Tyler Houston ring a bell? Who cares what this kid does! He is a great talent, yet I think the 16 year old chemistry guru in the lab who is the next Einstein is a little more important than the next Babe Ruth. I have seen all of the 1st rounders Houston, Hermansen, Krynzel , and on and on and none of them came close to the HYPE that was around them- I am saying that this kid will follow that path.
I've only seen Bryce play one time, and that was when he was a eighth grader, and a Calif. team intentially tried to walk him but Bryce hit it to left field, right off the fence, right then
I knew this kid was was going to be very good. "Good luck Bryce"
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