TORONTO — Dirk Hayhurst isn’t sure he would want to play with Bryce Harper.
Harper, who was ejected Wednesday night for throwing his helmet in anger, needs to control his growing ego if the first-year player wants to remain a good teammate in Washington.
“The way he demonstrates himself on the field and the little sound bites you’ve heard, I don’t know I’d enjoy playing with a guy with that big of an ego,” Hayhurst told sportsnet.ca. “It’s just not that much fun to me. But he’s young and you have to give him the benefit of the doubt that he’ll mature.”
The Nationals’ outfielder has rubbed some around baseball the wrong way in his rookie season with his fiery attitude and approach to the game.
“His ego has inflated,” Hayhurst continued. “There is an entitlement factor there. Once you start establishing yourself in the big leagues and start getting used to success up there — the money and the treatment — then you have justified your behaviour and think you can act however you want because you’re winning … It’s a common saying in baseball: With winning comes privilege.”
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Hayhurst said the 19-year-old needs to keep his emotions in check before he starts hurting his teammates and his status around the major leagues.
“He’s a young player,” he said. “Very competitive and he’s got to keep his emotions in check. You have to keep a young guy like that under control … Baseball is a game of inches. Sometimes you’re going to win some and lose some — you can’t throw a tantrum. It’s dangerous for you and dangerous for his career.
“As long as he’s playing well and he thinks that this fireball attitude of his is the reason he is playing so well then he’s going to continue playing and older players know better. They realize it’s a job and you don’t have to act like a little rock star, don’t have to behave that way to get the job done … You have to make that distinction in your career.”
At the same time, Hayhurst, a radio analyst for BASEBALL CENTRAL @ Noon on Sportsnet 590 The Fan, did not believe Harper should have been ejected on Wednesday night after hitting into a double play and angrily throwing his helmet into the ground.
“I don’t think he should’ve been ejected after that,” Hayhurst explained. “He was angry and slammed his helmet into the ground. You’ve seen players do this before — slam their bats into water coolers and beat the crap out of stuff and they don’t get ejected.
“If you’re going to throw guys (out) for throwing expletives, then every pitcher who’s given up a homer in a tight spot would be thrown out of the game and I would’ve been thrown out of a lot of games then. I don’t think it was fair to eject him.”
While some have suggested that umpires could be targeting Harper to teach him a lesson, Hayhurst does not believe that to be the case but said it would not surprise him at all.
“I think it would be wrong to assume the umpires are targeting him,” he said. “The longer you’re in the game, the longer the umpires recognize your stature in the sport and give you the benefit of the doubt.
“Even to say, ‘That’s a clown question bro.’ That screams know your role son, it’s your first year … I can see umpires taking every opportunity if they wanted to punish him — that’s an absolute possibility but I don’t think they would because umpires are so criticized for everything.”
Hayhurst believes Harper’s teammates are willing to put up with his behaviour now because they are winning.
“That s the funny thing about winning,” Hayhurst added. “If you got a bunch of guys that have monster egos and you hate being around them (but) you’re winning, then you tend to say that’s OK and that’s just a part of us. If this team was losing and (Bryce) was still acting this way, then people would eat him alive like the Red Sox.
“It’s all about perception and winning changes everything. They let them do what he wants. But if you’re not producing, there’s no place in the world for that. You won’t be in the big leagues for very long and guys will get tired of you.”
Entering Thursday’s play, the first-overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft is hitting .250 with 14 home runs, 40 RBIs in 106 games.
