Why are people so obsessed with finding the
next LeBron? (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)
All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again. Many of you have heard this phrase in one form or another over the course of your life.
It stems from the idea of eternal return, a concept theorizing that the universe has been recurring and will continue to recur in a similar form for all of time.
It's an idea - with roots in ancient Egypt - that died off with the rise of Christianity but is used quite often in literature and occasionally in science fiction.
For example, in the series Battlestar Galactica - which just finished it's run earlier this year - they often used the phrase "All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again" as a quote from their religious scriptures.
The very first line in Disney's Peter Pan (1953) is "All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again."
Our parents and various historical figures are fond of similar phrases like, "history repeats itself" and "those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Whether you believe in the idea of eternal return or not, life is filled with repetition and sports is no exception.
The beginning is the end is the beginning
His name is irrelevant. He'll be a household name soon enough. For now, he's just a high school kid who plays baseball. He can run, hit with power and has a strong arm. He hit over .500 in his sophomore season in one of the toughest high school baseball leagues in the country. On top of all of that, he has what scouts call "the Good Face." He's a good-looking kid. Insiders call him a "once-in-a-generation player."
The year was 1980. The player, was Billy Beane. And as anyone who has read the book "Moneyball" can tell you, it didn't end well for Mr. Beane - the player. The expectations of him were so high, so insurmountable, that he was inevitably crushed by the weight of them. Of course he found a niche in baseball as a General Manager, but the story of the player is still one of disappointment.
They can't all end like this, right?
Alright, who I really wanted to talk about was this other kid. A young phenom who can throw in the mid-90's though he's still in high school. He will more than likely be the No. 1 pick in the next year's MLB draft. Scouts call him the "next Nolan Ryan," a "once-in-a-generation player."
The year was 1991 and his name was Brien Taylor. A kid who was taken No. 1 overall by the New York Yankees and then held out for a large signing bonus, only to be given it and never reach the majors. He became only the second overall No. 1 pick to never play a single day in the majors.
In 1993, Taylor suffered a torn labrum while defending his brother in a fistfight. As bad luck would have it, he never regained his form. He was released by the Yankees at the end of the 1998 season and pitched for minor league affiliates of the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians before retiring in 2000.
According to his Wikipedia page, as of 2006 he worked as a brick layer, lived with his parents on a street named after him, in a house he built with his singing bonus money. Even Shakespeare couldn't write tragedies like this.
Once-in-a-generation player?
But that's not who I wanted to tell you about either. Who I really wanted to tell the story of was a young kid who started out as a shortstop. In fact, he was the first shortstop taken straight out of high school since a kid named Alex Rodriguez.
In his senior season at Mission Bay High School, this kid hit .450 with 11 homers and 35 RBI while compiling a 9-1 record with a 0.42 ERA on the mound. This 5-foot-11 kid threw a 94 mph fastball with a solid curve and was the overall No. 1 draft pick in the 2004 draft.
He was not considered to be the best player in the draft, but the San Diego Padres believed they would have an easier time signing him. Could he be a once-in-a-generation type player? It didn't start out that way.
Just a little over two weeks after being drafted, the kid - Matt Bush - allegedly bit a bouncer that tried to escort him out of a bar. Bush was arrested on suspicion of felony assault, misdemeanor trespass and disorderly conduct as well as being cited for underage drinking - he was 18 at the time. He was immediately suspended by the Padres organization.
The situation on the field wasn't any better. Bush - after his suspension - went on to hit .192 between Rookie-ball and Single-A short season stops. In 2005, he batted .221 at Single-A Fort Wayne and then missed half of 2006 with a broken ankle. After struggling again in 2007, the organization convinced him to make a return to pitching.
But in August of that year, Bush tore a ligament in his right elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery. He was set to return for the 2009 season but before Spring Training was underway, the Padres abruptly cut ties with Bush after learning of another run-in with the police.
This time, Bush was involved in a drunken assault involving boys lacrosse players on the Granite Hills High School campus in San Diego. A witness, who at the time requested anonymity said Bush was drunk, threw a golf club into the dirt, picked up and threw a freshman lacrosse player and hit another one. Bush also - according to the witness account - yelled “I'm Matt (expletive) Bush,” and “(expletive) East County,” before driving over a curb in his Mercedes when leaving the campus.
Despite his habitually poor personal choices, he was given another chance when he was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays. But less than two months later - still before this season even started - the Jays released Bush after another incident. This time it was at a party in Florida where a young female alleged that Bush threw a baseball close to her head and pounded on her car window after the female allegedly drew on Bush's face.
The Jays released him saying only he failed "to comply with team guidelines that were set out for him." If Bush ends up never making the majors, he will join Brien Taylor and Steve Chilcott (1966) as the only No. 1 overall draft picks to never make the majors.
This has all happened before and it will all is happen(ing) again
Alright, you caught me. That's not who I wanted to talk about either. By now you may have figured out who this story is circling around. Perhaps not. You see, there is this kid. He is a physical specimen, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 205 pounds. He's only 16-years old but can hit 500-foot home runs. According to a Sports Illustrated story that has elevated him into the public eye, when he pitches he throws 96 MPH. When he catches he throws out baserunners from his knees. He also does volunteer work and holds down a 3.5 GPA.
But where this story differs only slightly from the others, is that Bryce Harper has left high school after his sophomore year and has enrolled in a community college to earn his GED and play against older players. He will more than likely enter the 2010 MLB draft and be a top pick, if not THE top pick.
And why not? Harper hit .626 with 14 homers, 55 RBIs and 36 steals last season for Las Vegas High School and made national headlines when he donned that cover of Sports Illustrated in a story titled "Baseball's Chosen One." He has been called "the next LeBron" and a "once-in-a-generation player." But in all of this hoopla surrounding his rise to national prominence and his enrolling in college, one simple fact gets shoved aside - HE IS A KID.
Of course he wants to get out of high school and play baseball, he's 16. While I will not sit here and spout off to Bryce's parents that they are making a grave error in allowing this - and in fact encouraging it. I will say that if history has taught us anything, it's that the expectations are being piled on this kid by the ton and he may not be able to shoulder them all.
I'm not second-guessing his decision to leave high school and earn his GED. It happens every day in this country for a variety of different reasons. I am however second-guessing his decision to not earn a college degree before moving on to MLB. Something I believe should be required of all athletes in all sports.
If history is indeed repeating itself, Harper could very well find himself in a very similar situation that Brien Taylor, Matt Bush or countless others have been faced with in MLB, NBA and NFL when the playing career is unexpectedly cut short and the athlete is now forced to join the working world with little to no education.
Why is it that to get most good-paying jobs in this country, you need to have a college degree, but to earn millions of dollars for a professional organization one need only have a good arm and a killer smile? But that is a whole other argument. The matter at hand is this kid. Why is a 16-year-old kid allowed to make this decision? Put simply, his parents are FOR the decision.
Harper's father was quoted after the announcement of his son's enrollment in college saying, "People question your parenting and what you're doing. Honestly, we don't think it's that big a deal. He's not leaving school to go work in a fast-food restaurant. Bryce is a good kid. He's smart, and he's going to get his education."
When? During the offseason? When he's attending winter leagues and training with other teammates and doing all of the little things that ballplayers do now-a-days to stay in shape and on top of their game?
No, Mr. Harper, your son is not dropping out of high school to get a job at McDonalds. But that is where he may end up if he is crushed beneath the weight of the astronomical expectations that are being thrust upon your 16-year-old kid. Think about that word for a minute....kid. What were you doing at 16?
Call it history repeating itself, call it eternal return, call it whatever you want. I just hope for this kid's sake, he can handle the pressure and deliver on the expectations to be the best he can be. Because at the end of the day, isn't that what we all want for our kids?
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