Philadelphia – Bryce Harper is going to do another swing with his father – and he did it with the blue bat.
The Philadelphia Phillies slugger used the blue bat in the appearance of the first plate of Monday night’s match against San Francisco as part of the gender of his fourth child.
Harper, the two-time NL MVP, announced at the team meeting that his family is expected to grow. He later sought All-Star shortstop Trea Turner for his most unusual public assist.
Harper ordered two custom-made bats (one of the bat manufacturers that produced torpedo bats) from Viktus Sports.
“He’s a pretty creative guy,” Turner said. “He was kind enough to ask me to do it and I thought it was a good moment for him and his family.”
Harper and his wife, Kayla, already have three young children. The Harpers have a son named Crew and two daughters, Brooklyn and Camlyn. Harper couldn’t comment immediately after the Phillies lost 10-4.
“I know whenever I have kids, I’m fourth, but it’s still pretty cool,” Turner said.
Turner had pink and blue bats in the dugout before the Phillies hit the first innings. Turner teased Harper with a pink bat and pulled it back to trade it for blue.
“He thought he had a girl, so I had to ruin him a bit,” Turner said. “Of course it was a boy. I gave him something blue and he was pretty happy.”
Harper hit with a blue bat. He resumed swinging his normal bat for the rest of the game, finishing 1 at 5.
“I think he was excited either way,” Turner said. “Now he has two each. It already feels like a complete family, but whenever you can add another person to your family, I think it’s special. I think he’s very excited.”
