Bill Maher wears a number of hats as a comedian, a political commentator and a TV host. He’s also a minority owner of the New York Mets and a professional wiseass, so perhaps it should come as no surprise that he doesn’t like Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper.
Maher was asked about Harper this week during a radio appearance on WOR-AM in New York, and he pulled no punches in his criticism of the 23-year-old reigning National League MVP.
“I’m not a big Bryce Harper fan,” Maher said. “There are a couple of words that I really can’t say on public radio that I think apply to him. But next to those words in the dictionary, I see a picture of Bryce Harper. I really do. I just don’t like that guy at all. It’s not surprising to me that he’s flirting with Donald Trump’s candidacy.”
The Trump connection stems from Harper wearing a “Make Baseball Fun Again” hat — a play on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” presidential campaign slogan — following the Nationals’ 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day. The statement is similar to one Harper made last month in an ESPN The Magazine article detailing the three-time All-Star’s attempt to make baseball — “a tired sport,” according to Harper — more entertaining.
Of course, Harper’s stance hasn’t been without criticism, which is to be expected. Harper has a knack for rubbing some people the wrong way. Maher evidently is among the haters.
“He’s a (d-bag)!” Maher said. “He looks like a (d-bag)! I just don’t like him.”
Maher might want to be careful. As it stands, Harper is slated to become a free agent after the 2018 season, and one would imagine that every team in Major League Baseball, including Maher’s Mets, would kill to have the 2010 first overall draft pick patrolling its outfield.
Right, Bill?
“Of course if he was a Met, I’d love him,” Maher said. “I could learn to love Bryce Harper, let’s put it this way. In a few more years, Bryce Harper, I think, will mature. When you’re that good, when you’re that young, you’re going to be a (expletive).
“There are villains, and there are villains,” he added. “Just something about him that is very arrogant, and of course that’s important when you’re facing a 100-mph fastball, you have to have that. But some guys, the confidence, which is the element we’re seeking, tips over into a kind of unattractive quality.”
Unattractive, unless those guys are wearing your uniform, I suppose.
Thumbnail photo via Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports Images
