If I only cheered for sports figures who supported my view of the world I'm not sure they could field a team, much less a league.

I was in D.C. last week and actually walked to a game against the Braves on Monday night. First hint, don't walk to this ballpark, I made several "new friends" on the way and found that my my 61 year old legs still run pretty well.

It does appear that massive changes are happening around the ballpark so it should be fine in the near future.

When I walked up to the ticket window I asked what was available and was told $5.00 sit where you want! A cool night in the early season, the stadium staff was wonderful and very accommodating.

I sat near right field to watch Harper and his play was outstanding, a 2 run double and a sliding catch. He interacted well with the fans and to be very honest the walk-up music is just that music, no lyrics. Being 61 I would not have known what the music was anyway.

Not defending him just saying I saw nothing out of line, I stayed until the final out and took a cab back. The park was full of 25-35 year olds much more interested in the many bars throughout the park than the game. Once again, early season.

That is exactly why I have my view on MLB.
I support many things that are not my exact view, but ones that I will not tolerate in my life (see song lyrics), I choose not to support. And I never came back from the '94 strike anyway. We all support or don't support things for our own reasons. It's all good.

I love the game too much to walk away. I look at it like the Ocean. Never going to ruin it no matter how hard people might try.

I love the game too and hope I play softball in the league I am in for the rest of my life. Our oldest guys are over 80. We all love the game. I just don't love MLB. I won't hold it against everyone else as well as I hope it wouldn't be held against me. If you love MLB I am happy for you (and the other 300M in the US that do). I won't try to change anyone or anything. I pray for health, happiness and world peace.

++1

agree with leon ,ever hear of albert belle omg lol

If I only cheered for people who supported my view of the world, I am not sure I could enjoy a decent game of Solitaire.

I met Albert Belle at a Spring Training game against the Marlins in 1993. He signed my ball and was amazingly nice to me. I told him I was from Baton Rouge and my parents graduated from LSU so that could have had something to do with it.

Last night I was at Citizens Bank Park in Philly, 2 hours before game time, sunny and 70, a bar beyond the wall in center field where I sat on a corner stool, drinking a large microbrew, watching the Mets batting practice. Heaven on earth. Just perfection.

To each his own. If we all liked the same thing the world would be a pretty boring place.

Well said Steve. Love the game and love the stars Trout, Harper, Kershaw... :D

Just bumping to note that Harper is now hitting .238. It seems the strategy of not giving him anything to hit for a while got to him mentally. I think the Cubs started that and other teams picked up on it.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy....

Not the biggest fan of Harper......... That said I believe he's the modern day version of A.J. Pierzynski. If he's on your team you love him, if he's not you hate him.

Not to play devil's advocate but when I was his age, I made a ton of mistakes.

Mike Trout is benefiting greatly (IMO) from having Pujols around as a mentor...Harper, whether he'd be receptive to one or not, has never had another great hitter to learn from.

There are enough players in MLB that, if one disappoints me, I just move on to the next 'flavor of the week'.

There will always be some good, high-quality guys out there performing everyday like our opinions matter to them...and that's something to be thankful for.

I can enjoy a spectacular defensive play no matter who does it and no matter who they do it against.

Admittedly, it's a little harder to appreciate a bunch of home runs coming against your 'favorite' team (ex: this past weekend Dodgers doing it to the Braves).

I love a great pitchers' duel, though I do have my favorite pitchers and would prefer that they be the ones who come out on top.

There's a lot to like out there!


.

I blame Baker in part. When they started pitching around Harper with regularity, instead of leaving a slumping Zimmerman hitting behind him, he should have put Murphy there who is the leading hitter in baseball. Hard to pitch around a guy when a guy hitting .390 is next. He eventually did that but it took a long time. In the meantime Harper dropped like 100 points.

The Nationals are my team, but I am NOT enamored with Harper!
Val

The Nationals are a great team, and Harper is an exceptional talent. Having said that, how much does his B.S. affect the other 24 guys on the team??

What BS? Guess clueless fans following from afar typically prefer the behavior of Machado and Ventura.

Not sure what you meant, but my comment pertaining Harper was directly in relationship with his team mates and coaches, not fans. At some point, the talent of one ass hole does not trump the chemistry of the rest of the team and coaches....By the way Ken, my oldest son now lives in Alexandria! Small World....

Ill start with a disclaimer as the Nationals are my team and Harper is a player I like watching.

That said I have to agree with another posters view that he is young and we all make mistakes at that age. Couple that with being a millionaire many times over and not having to worry about your attitude at work having bearing on your job or the fear of losing said job and having to pay bills, etc. I feel old for saying this but its just his generation. If you think its bad now wait until the next out of this world heralded prospect comes along 10 years or so from now.

Unfortunately this is true. Maybe he will grow up with age. Most of us do.

Guess my point is is that he is under a microscope and held to a ridiculous standard.

No doubt about it...But he could do his self a huge favor by doing the right things in the eyes of his coaches and team mates. Forget about the media because they can't stand him. If he does the other things like I mentioned, even they will come around. I just wonder how many of his fellow team mates and coaches really like him and are willing to stand up for him....