High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: BRYCE HARPER IS A PHILLIE

Episode Date: February 28, 2019

THE BRYCE HARPER EMERGENCY PODCAST HAPPENED.  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your teen requested a ride, but this time, not from you. It's through their Uber Teen account. It's an Uber account that allows your teen to request a ride under your supervision with live trip tracking and highly rated drivers. Add your teen to your Uber account today. Your mom hates it when you leave six half-full glasses on your nightstand. It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country. And it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 Plus glasses for just $9.99.

So go ahead. You can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back-to-school at IKEA today. This is the High Hopes Podcast. High Hopes podcast. It's a bunch of baseball nerds. Well, without the computers. Talking about the Philadelphia Phillies. On Radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Ah, we did it!

We did it! Yeah! Bryce Harper is a Philly, ladies and gentlemen. This is the long-awaited, much-anticipated, we knew it was coming, Bryce Harper emergency podcast. Let me tell you something, folks. Jack Fritz and I just spent the last hour talking about all this Bryce Harper nonsense. And even though you might never hear that podcast because it is irrelevant, we did say in it that we still believe Bryce was coming to Philly, but we were so tired of it all.

We said, John Middleton, you had to go get this done. And guess what? Guess what? Jack Middleton it is. Ladies and gentlemen, Bryce Harper is a Philadelphia Philly. I am a. John Middleton slammed it on the table and said, come to daddy, Bryce. As we all expected, John Heyman.

John Heyman broke it because he's been the mouthpiece this entire time. I told all of you that were like, oh, I'm going to block him. Guess what? Mistake. Oh, man. We did it. Oh, my God. It literally did.

I'm going to have so much fear. So we will bring information as it goes. We have no idea what the contract is. It literally just happened. We were in the hallway. I'm in Spike Askin's office getting ready to leave to go pick up my daughter from child care. Zoe, sorry, you're going to have to hang out for a little bit longer. And Spike, I'm talking to Spike he's like hold on

as he turns on the radio breaking news is coming on let's see what this is and oh my goodness Jack Fritz and I ran down the hallway to each other we hugged and we said let's get back in that room and let's record the podcast we've been waiting 18 months to record people are coming through the hallway running in

I see people celebrating the jack jack jackie i never jack doubted him i didn't for what it's worth ask whoever you want i didn't i never bailed i still believe the phillies were gonna get bryce harper from the jump i have said it i stuck with it i believe turtle golden is probably writing me an apology tweet as we speak because this morning he said, you're going to have to write me an apology tweet. And I said, no, I'm not. He's still coming here.

And Jack, he's here. We've got some updates. Jeff Passan for $330 million. $330 million, baby. That's what we call a bargain, ladies and gentlemen. That's what we call a bargain. We did gentlemen. That's what we call a bargain. We did it! The Giants were BS.

The Dodgers were BS. Suck it! It was all the Phillies the whole time. And you know what they did? They said, all right, enough of this BS. And honestly, 330 is the cheapest possible number I thought Bryce Harper could have signed for. Suck it! Would you agree with that?

We all knew he was going to beat Stanton. Or at least that's what Boris was going for. 3.30? Oh, Jackie. 3.30 is nothing. Oh, my God. I can't sit still. I'm jumping.

Oh, my goodness. All right, Jackie. Listen, I'm not going to lie to you, James. I went to Tired Hands this morning and picked it up. I did not plan on having to drink it tonight. I have to wait until 1 o'clock to drink a beer. Are you kidding me? Oh, my God.

We did it. He's a Philly. Bryce Harper, the face of baseball is a Philly. Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? We got the face of baseball. We got the face of baseball in the Phillies. Oh, my God.

I'm going to lose my mind. JT Real Muto, G. Segura, Bryce Harper, Reese Hoskins. Guess what, Matt Klintak? The Phillies have absolutely had an objectively great offseason now, folks. We did it. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my God. I was freaking out.

These last 24 hours have been brutal. Well, that's the thing. It's been the worst 24 hours yet. Jim Duquette comes out two hours ago and says they're at 270 to 300, and we are all literally losing our minds saying there is no way. There is no way they're that low. There's no way they're that low. Jack.

It doesn't include any opt-outs. It's over 13 years. Wait, what? 13 years. 330 for 13 years? And no opt-outs. What? From Jeff Passon, Bryce Harper's deal with the Phillies will be for 13 years, 330, and it will not include any opt-outs. What? From Jeff Passon, Bryce Harper's deal with the Phillies will be for 13 years,

330, and it will not include any opt-outs. What? So the Phillies own, in the end, the Phillies owned this negotiation. I mean, 13 years, 330, you take an AAV. I mean, that's a lower AAV than Machado. 13 years. I mean, what's that, 27 point something or somewhere in that range? I'm not great at

25 million a year Wow Wow Clint Tech's a god Dude I am I am floored by this So

It tells us a few things It tells us that That Stanton number Was all that mattered 13 years So like Bryce Harper's Never leaving Philadelphia folks He's leaving my life

For the rest of my life Hey guys Guys Your daughter's gonna be A teenager Oh my god dude This is This is so exciting guys Philadelphia folks. He's leaving my life for the rest of my life. Hey, guys, guys. Your daughter's going to be a teenager. Oh, my God, dude. This is so exciting, guys.

My phone's blowing up. I'm sure your phone's blowing up. We are recording the emergency podcast. Yes, Jack. You'll see this tweet now, and then you'll hear later. You'll be like, oh, that was the tweet. Again, we just literally, Jack, for an hour hour we just talked about how honest to god we have never lied to the people we never lied to the people that i host podcasts we just recorded a podcast for 40 minutes ripping john middleton oh just being like what is wrong with you pay him

right we and and john john you are now jack i am sorry for ever doubting you. That podcast will never be aired. And for good reason. 13 years, no opt-outs? I don't know what to say. No, I don't just got opt-outs. Like, in every year after three, like, I'm floored by this. I can't believe that this is the deal that Philly's got. When you spread that money out over 13 years,

it is just, and look, I know there are a lot of people like, oh, he's 39 at the end of the deal. It's like, whatever. We want to give him 330 over 10 years. Who cares if it's over 13 years? Stretching out, it's essentially deferring money in a way, in that way a little bit. Man, man, man, man. Suck it, Washington.

Write it. Jack, write it. A little more breaking news if you haven't seen it. 13 years. No opt-outs. Turtle Golden coming in soon. Who owes me an apology tweet? I'm sure it's coming. That's what I'm talking about.

So let me just say something very important. This is for one person. His name is SoCal Philly. Now, this is a guy that I was telling you about. So he has been the one keeping me calm. If you follow him on Twitter, it's at SoCalPhilly. He has a very deep connection to this whole thing, and it was just like whenever I was freaking out, he would calm me down,

and he was the one this morning like, it's happening. SoCal. And it's just like, I just cannot believe that Harper Lent is done. Jack Middleton has arrived. I mean, we should have beers right now. I don't know what we're doing. This is a mistake by us not having a beer right here right now. Ah, the Nationals.

Adorable. Thank you for letting us get the face of baseball. Dodgers, adorable four-year offer. I hope. 13 years, no opt-outs. What is happening right now? Do the Dodgers realize that they just let us get the deepest lineup in the NL? Jack, the Phillies are a World Series contender right now, today.

Go sign Dallas Keuchel. Yeah, let's go. Oh, my God. They didn't even spend stupid money. I know. Dude, they spent appropriate money. They spent appropriate money. $25 million a year for Bryce Harper?

Giancarlo Stanton doesn't have a clutch machine in his body, and he got $325 million. You're telling me I'm not going to give it to Bryce Harper. You're telling me I'm going to like, this is a freaking, the sleeping giant has been awoken in Philadelphia. We are not a small market team. We're a big market team. They won the negotiation. They looked at Scott Boris right in his eye and said, Hey, Scotty,

how about 13 years, three 30, no opt-outs. He said, Oh no. Oh no. Let me go get the Dodgers back in. Let me go get the giants back in. Oh my God. And Clint tax said, yeah, no opt-outs. He said, oh no, oh no, let me go get the Dodgers back in. Let me go get the Giants back in. Oh my God. And Klintak said, yeah, come back to daddy, 330, 13 years, no opt-outs. What you going to do, Scotty? The smile on our faces right now, I mean, I wish you could see it. They didn't even get $35 million a year. They got $25 million a year.

That's a crazy thing. So he only cares about years. He only cares about, he cared about, he cared about the big number. Scott Morris cared about that sticker price, $330 million. The Fleets were able to stretch that out over 13, a lower AV per year. I mean, that is masterful. Dingers, dingers, dingers, dingers, dingers, dingers. Jack, can we take a second here?

And pat ourselves on the back? Yeah, why not? I mean, we've talked about this since this podcast started. You and I have talked to each other about Bryce Harper being a Philadelphia Philly for 18 months. We talked about this for over a year on this show, all offseason. A lot of people jumped off. A lot of people thought, oh, he's not coming here. He doesn't want to be here.

All this BS. Not us. Not this squad here. No opt-outs. No opt-outs. Come to daddy, Scott Boris. Can we just step back a sec and really think about this when I say it.

I know we've said it multiple times, but Bryce Harper, the face of baseball, is a Philadelphia Philly. James, hold on. Oh, buddy! Can I say something? This is the best moment of our lives.

Can I just dunk on people for five seconds? No, please. Bryce Harper didn't want to play in Philly, but just signed up for 13 years with no opt-outs. Yeah. He can't go anywhere. He must really hate Philadelphia.

Bryce Harper must really hate Philadelphia. We did this in our last show. We talked about all the absurd narratives that were going around. That was my least favorite. The, oh, he doesn't want to play in Philly of it all. Like, first and foremost like the idea that when we're talking about a baseball player setting a record-breaking contract that he's gonna decide to go somewhere for a significant amount of less money or less years

because he doesn't like philadelphia was such an asinine thing to say it was such an asinine thought to have of all the boris tactics that's the one that at least for me worked the least on me. It did work on this fan base a little bit, but I mean, Jack. Was it all worth it? Like, going through it, it was all worth it. But like, this last two days have just been, oh my god,

they're gonna lose it. Jack, we just yelled for 40 minutes. Like, literally 15 minutes ago, you and I were yelling, where is Jack Middleton? End this, Jack. This is on you John Middleton. You have the power. This is what we said. The Phillies had the power to end this whenever they wanted and they

Well, I mean they didn't really. I mean they didn't really end it whenever they wanted. They made Scott Boras come back to them begging for the 13 years no opt-outs. I mean they sat there with their offer and they made Scott Boras come to daddy. I guess who's daddy now? Matt Klintak's daddy.

Again, I'm floored by the no opt-outs. I'm floored. I mean, it doesn't happen anymore with these types of big deals. Even Machado got an opt-out. Hold up. Did Dan Lozano do a better job than Scott Boras this offseason? No doubt about it. I think he did. Shout out to Dan Lozano. He got $30 million a this offseason? No doubt about it. I think he did.

Shout out to Dan Lozano. He got $30 million a year, and he got an opt-out after five years. $25 a year. Bryce Harper's going to be like the 30th highest paid player in baseball. What are we talking about? Or 20th highest paid player in baseball on a year-by-year basis. It's just so crazy that he hates Philadelphia so much that he's 13 years no opt-out.

Oh, my God. Guys, guys, Bryce Harper is a Philly. Bryce Harper is a Philadelphia Philly. Let's go. He hates it here. Oh, well, not anymore, baby. We're going to have Bryce Harper in our town. We're going to have Bryce Harper in our town for 13 years.

We're going to – our children are going to grow up with Bryce Harper. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. I left my child in daycare extra today. Here's the thing. The DH is coming to the NL, and the only reason why I'm semi-happy about it is because Bryce Harper is not going to play right field until he's 39. Yeah.

No. See, look at that. Now you're on my side with the DH. Man. Dude. Jack. Dude. Jack. Jackie. We did it.

We did it. James, we did it. We did it. We did it. It's over. It's over. We can stop shaking. I've been shaking.

John, come on in, Johnny. John actually came in at the end of the last podcast we recorded. John was with me. John was like, he's coming here. It's happening. Well, if you would have waited an hour, I might have changed my mind on that one. One second, one second, one second. Ken Rosenthal just tweeted, source, no op dots.

Harper didn't want one. Hates Philadelphia. Oh, they're spinning it. Oh, baby. So here's what I've learned in the few minutes since this came out. That the Giants and the Dodgers were nowhere near anywhere close to what the Phillies were offering in years or dollars. One. Two.

The Phillies probably were offering 10 for 270 based on them having to go 13 years to get 330. Yes. $25 million a year. It's unbelievable. I mean, it's – I literally couldn't be more shocked just at that right there to where we knew the 330 number was important to them. I would have never thought in a million years that they were going to go to 13 years to get it. 13 years, neither did I. When we heard 330, we just assumed it was 10 years.

I'm not going to tell you that we all did. I'm not going to tell you that Matt Klintak, Scott Boris is going to call Matt Klintak his daddy. Jack just did. But Matt Klintak just owned Scott Boris again. When you go 13 years, it's tough to say that you got owned. He owned him with Arrieta

last year, and he owned him with him again this year. He really, really did. Hey, we gave the Phillies a lot of crap for misreading the market. Guess what they didn't?

They read the market. They read it perfectly. Hey, you know what this means? Johnny Marks. Tomorrow night, striking out cancer. We're going to be there. It's going to be awesome.

Hey, hey, hey. You know what this means? You know what this means? What does it mean? Plenty of money for Mike Trout. Oh, buddy. Let's start it up now. Let's go.

What am I giving up for Trout Lent? Sign me up. Sign me up. $25 million a year? It is crazy. They're going to finish their careers together. Bryce Harper and Bryce. I'm saying this right now.

What is today's date? What is today's date? February 28th, 2018. 2019. Bryce Harper and Mike Trout are finish their careers together. Bryce Harper and – I'm saying this right now. What is today's date? What is today's date? February 28th, 2018. 2019. Bryce Harper and Mike Trout are finishing their careers together here. They're riding off into the sunset with John Middleton's money and me and James Seltzer running this town from the Philly standpoint. I love that you just got the year wrong.

You're so excited. 2019, but yes. I don't care. It's always 2018. Until at least April, it's never really 20. It's never really the next year. Oh, my God. To that point, though, look.

We're going to Washington with the write-it. We're going to Washington. Matt Klintak and this Philly's front office, after all the bitching we did, they read this market perfectly. And they played it perfectly. They didn't get scared like we all did. This fan base this market perfectly and they played it perfectly they didn't get scared like we all did this fan base got terrified and they didn't they held their ground i mean this is a a massive win for this we're actually doing the emergency podcast this

thing that we've talked about for 18 months is happening we talked about doing this podcast 18 months ago we did the brace harper emergency podcast the months ago. And we're here. We did the Bryce Harper emergency podcast. And the funny thing is, like, we were three minutes away from me being in my car and having to turn back around or do whatever. Like, we were, it was that close. Like, we just finished recording. When I first heard it, I was like, did he leave? Did he leave?

Did James leave? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. We literally just spent 40 minutes talking about how, like how frustrated we were and getting the catharsis out and now it's here. It's happened. Dude, no opt-outs.

Does anyone understand this? For 13 years, he's going to be ours. Bryce Harper is ours. He's ours. Bryce Harper is our new baby. We have a blue chip talent. We are freaking World Series contenders. Immediately, right now, you're the favorite for the National League East.

You might be the favorite for the National League now. You're certainly right there with the Dodgers, maybe the Cubs, those types of teams. You're right there. We are World Series. Oh, my God. Playoff baseball at the bank. They're going to be playing playoff baseball at the bank again. We are going to have a freaking pennant run.

We're going to have a pennant run. We're going to have a pennant run. We're going to have a pennant run. Oh my God. How much in the last hour has your excitement for this Philadelphia Phillies season changed? We would have gotten around if they had somehow goofed this up. And look, seeing that he signed a $330 million deal over 13 years with no opt-outs means that they probably weren't going to. It means that the Phillies really were in the driver's seat.

They figured out what they needed to just end this, and they did it. It was all worth it. It was all worth it. But, again, like, just thinking about where this team is and the excitement, like, this team is a legitimate World Series contender. The odds are out already. They're 12-1. Oh, buddy.

And guess what? This is the beginning of something. That's the beautiful thing. Bryce Harper's 26 years old. JT Romero's 27 years old. Reese Hoskins is 26 years old. I mean, this is a team that has young talent

moving into their primes together. I mean, this is beautiful. We're going to grow old together. Oh my God. I'm going to be in my 30s with Bryce Harper. I mean, this is beautiful. We're going to grow old together. Oh, my God. I'm going to be in my 30s with Bryce Harper. I'll be in my 80s by then. You're going to be in your 60s. This guy's been the LeBron of baseball since he was 16. Oh, my God.

I'm so excited. I'm so excited. We're not even making sense, and I don't care. No, we're just yelling and stuff, but you know what? I feel like that's what we all feel right now, right? It's just this overwhelming sense of obviously joy, but also just like, I feel like you said on the, you said this on the first pod. At the end of the pod, you said, I just wanted this to happen so I could breathe again.

I feel like I can breathe again. I know we haven't, but I feel like I can. I feel like if I want to, I can breathe again. I can feel again. I mean, it is just. Dude, I'm not saying they have to do this. I'm just saying that if you sign Keiko and Kimbrell, it's game over. Well, then you're far and away the favorite from the National League all of a sudden.

You're right there with the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Astros as the favorites in all of baseball. I just unbelievably signed up for 13 years and hate Gabe Kaplan. How about that? Willing to sign up for that? Hey, Randy Miller, let me read your tweet from a couple days ago. For what it's worth, my tour is close to Bryce Harper. It tells me Dodgers and Cubs are first choices all along. He prefers not to sign with the Phillies.

I've been hearing all winter that Harper does not want to play for Gabe Kaplan due to analytics and quirky personality. Yeah. First of all, that tweet was so asinine because he mentions the Dodgers and Cubs, who may be more analytically inclined than the Phillies, for Christ's sake. The Dodgers are the most analytical team in sports. What a J-O. What a J-O.

What a J-O. My God. Oh, Andy Martino, suck it. Randy Miller, suck it. John Heyman, we love you. John Heyman, where's Philadelphia's stance on John Heyman? Guess what? All in on John Heyman or out?

I'm all in on John Heyman now. My man told me Bryce Harver's coming to the Phillies. Nightingale said thank God. All good. Nightingale, you're back in our good graces. Buster Olney gets to keep the family farm. Yes. Yes.

Olney gets to keep his farm. Man, man, man, man. And that was what we talked about in the now never to be listened to pod that we did for 40 minutes. But we talked about how it felt all along like it was the Phillies. And we felt like nothing had changed. It just was getting really frustrating. It was getting really just tough to bear all this new information that was coming out. Did he sign up?

I don't know why I just thought of this. Did he sign that deal because he knows Trout's coming? Well, I mean, I'm sure it played a role, right? Did they sign that deal knowing they're going to ride up into the sunset together? Only follows one guy on Twitter. We know who that is. Stupid money. We no longer have to –

Oh, thank God. That would have gone down forever. He was so close to being the laughingstock of Philadelphia. And now he's a hero. And now he's a freaking. He's our hero. He is our collective daddy. He's our leader.

He's our man. He's our guy. Like, Phillies baseball is back, James. Oh, my God. James, I was in high school. I hope you can understand this. Like, I can't even. I feel like we're not being coherent.

It's like the J.T. Rom uh, re, uh, emergency pod. We did on steroids in terms of, we have no idea what we're saying. We're just pure. No trade clause. What? Suck it. Scott,

Scott, what is Scott? Scott Boris even involved in this negotiation? Was he there? What happened, buddy? Scotty, Scotty, Scott,, buddy? Scotty. Scotty.

Scott Boris. What happened? Scott Boris. You got Klintacked. Oh, my God. You got Klintacked. I feel so. The best GM in the city.

I feel so. I feel so. He got Klintacked. I just feel like righteous. I feel like we've been talking for so long about believing in these guys and I feel like they're finally back in a subject. Just when I started to doubt them.

Just when we're like, oh, this doesn't happen. I want them out the freaking building. Listen, man, I'm just saying that just when I started to doubt them, they come back with they didn't want that podcast to get out. They didn't want that podcast to get out. They heard it was being recorded and that it was a cathartic type of podcast. There would be some anger.

Again, though, and I swear on my daughter Zoe's life. You'll never hear the podcast, but I swear on my daughter Zoe's life that the main takeaway, we came at the end, we said, listen, we still think he's going to be a Philly. We're just really upset with all of this stuff. And, hey. All right. So from Ken Rosenthal just just more examples of of of boris being clint act through one source says harper did not want opt out others around

game say philly's likely refuse to give him one if they're going to award him record guarantee relatively low aav will help philly's a future luxury tax threshold of course no deferrals as others have reported well of course i mean if they had said deferrals there would have been like all right did scott boris die at some point there was someone standing in for his negotiations like a weekend at bernie's type of thing um man man man man man man man thursdays by the way thursdays what thursdays again how about that like we talked about last week we're like oh all the things happening on thursdays pretty good day to record the high hopes podcast and it was this close. I was almost out the door. Oh, man. Bryce.

Scott. Thank you. They did not want that podcast to reach the airwaves. Matt, I can't do that. It's just so beautiful. Oh, I'm so happy. It's so beautiful. I'm so happy right now.

James, we are a Nick Pavetta breakout from being legitimate World Series contenders. Hey, Jake Arrieta, figure out your stuff and be our legit number two. Dude, if Arrieta, if there's anything to the torn meniscus and the second half and all that, if he's healthy and it makes a difference, that could be a really big thing for this team. If Jake Arrieta could even be a three for you, you know, for all intents and purposes, that would be monster for this team. Hold on. Close your eyes for one second. would be monster for this team. Hold on. Close your eyes for one second.

They're close. All right. Catcher, JT Real Amudo. Yeah. First base, Reece Hoskins. Oh, buddy. Second base, Cesar Hernandez. Hernandez.

Shortstop, Gene Segura. Real quick, I feel like these are Major League Baseball players you're saying right now. Third base is Michael Franco. You can open your eyes for that one. Hey, real old Scott Kingery in there. We'll mix it. Left field, Andrew McCutcheon.

Oh, he's a major league baseball player. Center fielder, Adilbo Herrera. And right fielder. Who's in right field? Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper is in right. Bryce Harper is the Philadelphia Phillies right fielder. Like, he's, what is happening right now?

The face of baseball. Jack, the face of baseball is a Philadelphia guy. Now batting for the Phillies, right fielder, number 34, Bryce Harper. Tell him, Dan. Tell him, baby. What is opening day going to be like? Opening day, it's going to be what? 37 degrees out, and I'm going to be freezing my ass off, and I don't care.

Oh, I can't wait. Imagine the reaction when he first steps to the plate. Like, I honestly hope that everyone that was like, oh, F this guy. Oh, get over it. All you people, anyone who complained, anyone who said, I don't want him here because he doesn't want to be here. Because guess what? It turns out he wanted to be here certainly enough to spend the next 13 years here potentially. Hates Philadelphia.

All the people out there, listen, this is that time. Okay? This is that time to get off your pulpit. Get off whatever take you had that has been proven wrong now and say, hey, Bryce, welcome to Philly. We're so happy to have you here. Because, again, don't do that crap where we hold it against him that he signed a $330 million contract or whatever. This guy is a superstar who's coming to our city.

Let's be excited about it. Let's be happy. Let's be geeked about this. Like, please, please welcome this guy with open arms because he's going to bring us a lot of excitement, a lot of joy. And guess what? He wanted to be here. He signed here for 13 years. Even if he preferred the West Coast because he's from Las Vegas, which is understandable, he wanted

to be here enough to sign on for 13 years no opt-outs. 13 years no opt-outs. He can't leave unless he trades up. Think about this. He's 26 years old. Bryce Harper just signed up to stay here for half of what his life has been already. Seriously, it'd be like if he moved here when he was 13 years old and then left now.

That's what Bryce Harper just did. His kids are actually going to Malvern Prep. They are. That's going to happen. That joke is real. He's going to have the kids now. Kayla, thank you. We love you. We'll be nice to you. Everyone here is going to be nice to you. And Kayla, thank you. We love you. We'll be nice to you. Everyone here is going to be nice to you.

We're so happy you're here. Welcome to Philly, Kayla. Harper Lent's over. He's a Philly for life, James. He's a Philly for life. Bryce Harper's going to finish his career in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform. James, he's going to go into the Hall of Fame as a Philly. Oh, let's go.

Bryce Harper's going into the motherfucking Hall of Fame as a Philadelphia Philly. He's going into the Hall of Fame as a Philadelphia Philly. He is bringing us two World Series. I feel like I'm hyperventilating right now. We get to see playoff NOLA. We get to see playoff, which was the most important thing of all of this. The only thing I cared about. Bryce Harper's adorable, but can we talk about playoff MOBA for a second? We're going to get Joe Buck announcing baseball in our town.

A Bryce Harper deep drive right field into the night. Let's go. Harper sends one into the night. Let's go. Wow. Wow. Wow. I feel like I'm finally like.

Is it setting in yet? Breathing. No. No, it's not setting in yet. Well, that's a funny thing. And I think I said this to you a few times, but the idea that even though we've known this, again, for years, like you and I have talked about this for years now, like literal years.

We have talked about Bryce Harper being a Philly in this offseason, and it's one of those things where even though we knew it was going to happen, even though we believed it was going to happen, even we saw through the smoke and all that it's still surreal to think that this guy who is the most famous player in the sport and a future hall of famer who has again more home runs by the age of 25 than all but like 10 people ever and they're all hall of Famers and Alex Rodriguez. I mean, this guy is here now. He's ours. Like, we, every time

Bryce Harper steps to the plate, we're rooting for him. We're pulling for him. We're on the Bryce Harper team. Bryce Harper's our guy. He's our guy. I can't even speak words. There's no noises. That's how excited I am. It's just crazy.

He's going back to the Nationals. He hates Philadelphia. Only wants to play on the West Coast. Ride it! Oh, my God. Let's go to Washington. Let's go down there. We're wearing Ride It shirts.

We're shoving it in their faces. CDB South is back, back. We're all back. Citizens Bank is back. Does the rest of baseball understand what just awoken? This is a team, a big market team that we never thought was going to act like a small market team again jack they're a big market team again they had a payroll over 180 like six years ago guess what we're back um like they have a lot of money left to spend 25 million a year what are we talking about like 25 million a year 25 million a year

it's it's it's it's asinine it's i don't get it like i don't understand it like it's just so you just hate to see scott boris just absolutely played like a tea by by king klentak king i like that king klentak i can't all the people who've been ripping klentak all the number crunchers. Oh, man. Do you know how snobby he's going to be now? Oh, I can't wait. Guess what? Strut it.

Just like Howie. When Howie won the Super Bowl, Howie started strutting, and guess what? He earned it. Klentak has earned the strut right now. You have the right to say whatever the hell you want, buddy. He's going to be. You want to call Howard Eskin a dinosaur? Go for it. We got your back.

Do whatever you want, brother. I'm so proud. I'm so proud. I'm so impressed. Today I'm proud. I'm proud to be a Philadelphia Phillies fan today. I'm proud of this. This is the World Series. This is Cliff Lee on steroids.

This is what it is. They're back. The Philadelphia Phillies, the team that that five-year run that we all thought they should have won another World Series at least, that it was amazing in a way, but that it felt like we just missed what it could have been. We're back. It's just like I blacked out.

We are back. When I saw Heyman tweet out Bryce Harper's a Philly, I blacked out. See, I heard it on WIP. I'm in Spike's office, and I'm literally just talking to Spike or goofing around before I walk out, and he hears the breaking news. He's like, oh, let's see what this is. heard it on the uh on WIP I'm in Spike's office and like I'm literally just talking to Spike we're goofing around before I walk out and he hears the radio like the breaking news he's like oh let's see what this is he turns it up boom all right go pick up your daughter boom yeah all right yo everyone seriously real quick real quick real quick because I've talked to a lot of people and

I know there are a lot of high hopes listeners who call into the midday show just to talk to me when I'm when I'm working all the time the main thing that I've heard from all of you was the belief in our belief that Bryce Harper was going to be a Philly. I know you people called in to WIP and said, don't believe all the BS. Don't fall for it. I just want to say how awesome it is to be able to share this type of moment with you guys, with guys, the gals, the awesome people who listen to this podcast because with HarperLent we saw it, with the t-shirt giveaway, it really feels like a community to us, this group of people. That's why we want to have a high upside at the ballpark.

We want to meet you guys. We want to make it a community. But to be able to share this whole thing with you and to be able to voice our pain and voice our scared and voice our beliefs and to know that it was this trust-free community, as Jack would say, you all rule. And we love you and we are so excited to talk about the National League favorites, baby, this season moving forward.

I think I'm getting emotional. Jack, can we say we got high hopes, baby? We got some high hopes again about this baseball baby? We got some high hopes again about this baseball team? We got some high hopes about this baseball team? Can I just say what's going to happen tonight when I go home? Yeah. Jill's going to be passed out, like asleep. I'm going to get home around 1230. Pounding beers.

I am going home. I am blasting high hopes and I'm getting so drunk. Except I got to wake up early and come in and do your show tomorrow. So I'm not really looking forward to that. Jury duty should be fun tomorrow. A lot of Bryce Harper talk.

You're not even going to focus on the case. This guy could be on for a double murder trial. And Bryce Harper is a Philly, so I think we should let him go. That guy's not going to be allowed in. I'm literally going to say you can't put me on a jury because I can't think of anything else but Bryce Harper. You have the ability to lock that guy up for the entirety of Bryce Harper's contract because he has no opt-outs and he's here for 13 years. I don't think I'm actually going to be on a case tomorrow.

I don't know, man. You could be. You could be. Bryce Harper's a filly. Bryce Harper's a filly. We actually got to record the emergency. We're doing it. We actually did the emergency podcast.

And it was incoherent and yelly and the best thing ever. I'm so happy. He's a Philly. He's a Philly. I cannot believe that our son is a Philly. Baby. We have the face of baseball. We have the face of baseball and Mike Trout, there's plenty of money for you, baby. There's plenty, plenty of coin left for you, my friend. Jack

Middleton. Oh, King Klintzak. Hero. Heroes. We fucking love you guys. I never doubted him.. We fucking love you guys. I never doubted them. Oh, we love you guys. I never doubted them. Alright, Jack. Is that it? Are we done? I mean, I'll keep going. Should we do another podcast tomorrow? Yeah, you want to? Maybe. Look, yo. Bryce Harper's

a filly. I know. We've talked about doing this emergency pod for years. And now we're actually doing it. We are sitting in a room, looking at each other, not talking hypotheticals, not talking when, not saying when Bryce Harper's a Philly. We're saying Bryce Harper's a Philly. Right now. Cocky Philly fans are back, baby.

I missed. Listen, listen, this is for all of you that have jumped off the Phillies. I don't blame you. It's been a tough time. Welcome back. I will welcome back Phillies fans with open arms. I don't care if you left baseball. I understand it's not the easiest thing to watch when your team is bad.

James, three years ago, Cedric freaking Hunter was our left fielder on opening day. It's all worth it. Again. Dude, I can't get So,

you know, do you remember when Bryce Harper was done with the Washington Nationals and he bowed to their fans? Oh, yeah, he said on the Instagram, too. I need him to do that here for that first time when he jogs out to right field. All right, close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close your eyes.

The Phillies are at home. Home opener. The 2019 Philadelphia Phillies are taking the field and you see Bryce Harper making that jog out to right field what is the fan reaction gonna be uh at standing ovation it's gonna be like grown men weeping I'm gonna weep I'm gonna the tears are gonna be pouring down my face I'm gonna die I might even cry as soon as I just see him in a uniform like that whatever picture they put on the website first spring training game oh i'm gonna cry right now jag like i'm i'm so again like we said it feels like such a weight off of my life of my soul is what i feel like a weight has been lifted off

my soul and i can breathe and i can finally be happy again all right i think I think we're done. All right, Zoe, I'm coming for you. One more time. Zoe, which is more important in your life right now, Zoe or Bryce Harper? It's Zoe, but it's really close. It shouldn't be this close. Get that onesie. Yeah, but now Zoe's getting a Bryce Harper onesie. That was the deal.

Bryce, done. Done. Does Bryce Harper ring the bell on Saturday? Ooh. Let him go to the Sixers game first and then get to spring training. Oh, my God. I'm so excited. Let him do that.

Bryce Harper's going to be a part of Philadelphia. Bryce Harper is one of us. Like you said. Carson, Harper, Embiid, Simmons, Carter Hart. How about this? How about this? Eagles opener. Mike Trout sitting next to who?

Sitting next to who? Bryce. Oh, let's go. Let's go. Oh, my God. I feel like I... I'm so happy, man. I'm so happy.

I love you all. High Hopes Nation, we love you. The first trip to D.C. is April 2nd. Done. Let's go. We're going to D.C. Oh, man. All right.

Let's get this up. I want to get it up. I want the people to listen. Yo, Bryce Harper is a Philly. Jack Middleton, Matt Klentak, you are our heroes. We love you. And the High Hopes, beautiful people who kept us sane through all this, who listened to us, listened to us, talked, stuck with us.

Thank you. So much more excitement coming on the line. Yeah, High Hopes, baby. All-Star Closer. Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game.

It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact. So jump aboard the BIB Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage

on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.