Harper named NL Rookie of the Year
November 12th, 2012 | 
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The Washington National’s Bryce Harper has been named the 2012 National League Rookie of the Year. Harper was selected over fellow finalists Todd Frazier of the Cincinnati Reds and Wade Miley of the Arizona Diamondbacks, both of whom had strong seasons through most of the year but struggled in the final months. In contrast, Harper struggled in July and August and then finished very strong in September, helping his team make the playoffs.
The award is just the latest in what seems a charmed baseball life for Harper, from his appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 16 to gaining popularity for his off-hand “clown question” putdown of a Canadian reporter and becoming the youngest player named to an All Star team.
Of course, a rookie year is just a start. We’ll see what happens to Harper in the long run. But, he somehow keeps producing and keeps making news. And, while struggling at times, he still manages to become a hero. What a charmed life.
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Harper is the second Mormon National League Rookie of the Year. Ken Hubbs won the award in 1962, playing for the Chicago Cubs.
The National League gets a great Mormon rookie every 50 year. The American League is still waiting, I guess. Sorry, Wally, Harmon and Eck.
You’re right, Willis. Hubbs’ early death cut short what could have been a fantastic career — one I would have liked to see.
Unfortunately, I think that Mormon players are perhaps harder to come by as a proportion of the Mormon membership because of the relative decline in popularity. That may account for why it took 50 years to come up with another Mormon Rookie — or, perhaps more likely, its just hard to be that good.
He also was fortunate to be playing in the national league where Mike Trout is not playing.
Indeed. Trout performed much better than Harper did this year.
Remember that Harper is actually younger than Trout by almost a full year, which is a pretty big deal. Trout no doubt had a much better year than Harper this year, but I’ve seen plenty of smart baseball people who think Harper has a higher ceiling than Trout. Only time will tell, of course, but Harper could put up some MVP-type years in the near future.