There was a wire service article about Harper the other day, talking about some young player in the early 1940s who was Mickey Mantle before there was a Mickey Mantle, but he basically beat his body to a pulp by playing too hard. Does anyone know what player that would have been?
Back in the spring of 1982, I remember Bill James wrote a harsh criticism of Red Sox thirdbaseman Butch Hobson, saying that he played too hard for his own good, and for his team's own good. James went on to level that same criticism at two other, much better and more herald ballplayers of that era, George Brett and Paul Molitor. He said that baseball isn't football, and a player shouldn't play each game like there's no tomorrow, because in baseball, with a 162 game season, there are lots of tomorrows, but at that point in their careers, Brett and Militor were already missing about 30 games a year from injuries they incurred by playing too hard.
A lot has been written about Harper in that regard. He crashed into another outfield wall a few days ago. Still, I have to tell you that Harper is a treat to watch play. You can't look away when he is involved in a play, because you might miss something special if you do.