Harpers are case of brotherly shove
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HENDERSON, Nev. -- They played together in T-ball, though there were neither pitchers nor catchers in those days.
They played together at Las Vegas High, big brother the senior pitcher and little brother the freshman catcher.
They played together at the College of Southern Nevada this season, Bryan Harper a sophomore starter and Bryce Harper a freshman star.
Do these brothers wish to continue together in pro ball?
"Look at the LaRoche brothers," Bryan Harper said of the Pirates' Andy and former teammate Adam. "You got the Hairstons in San Diego now. The Gileses were in San Diego for a while there. ...
"But I think it would be funner to face him."
Wait, doesn't big brother realize that little brother -- 17-year-old Bryce Harper, who left high school two years early to become the much-anticipated No. 1 pick of the June 7 major-league draft -- hates to face him?
"Yeah," big brother said with his mustache curled into a cheesy smile. "I know. He's told me that."
Bryan Harper, a 6-foot-5, 195-pound left-hander, was three classes ahead and could well fall three rounds or more behind his younger brother come next week.
Reunited after he transferred home from Cal State-Northridge after one season there and his brother passed the GED to join him in the local junior college, the Harpers fueled Southern Nevada (49-14) to the Junior College World Series that opened Saturday.
The elder, who wore No. 33, one number ahead of his 6-3, 205-pound younger brother, started 10 games and pitched in 15 overall thus far. He entered the Grand Junction, Colo., national championship competition with a 10-1 record, a 2.18 ERA, 88 strikeouts in 572/3 innings, a .194 opponent's batting average and a catcher who really seemed to know him well.
It wasn't quite a twins thing between them, but "he has it with me," big brother said.
"When I want something, he knows what. It's an easier transition for me to know who my catcher is. And he knows what I do."
It didn't help little brother's batting adjustments last fall.
"It wasn't really, 'Was I worried?' It was: 'Was I ready?' " Bryce Harper said.
"Facing the guys we have -- Donnie Roach, he's 94, 95 [mph]; my brother, he's 91, 92. Joe Robinson, he's up there, also -- I had to sit back and say, you're facing the best staff, and they're on your own team."
He adjusted pretty well, too: 29 homers, 89 RBIs and a .442 average to date. Little brother was named the Scenic West Athletic Conference MVP and first-team catcher; big brother made the second-team.
First Published May 30, 2010 12:00 am
