Bryce Harper met one of his biggest fans this weekend.
Prior to Saturday’s matchup between the Red Sox and the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, the two-time National League MVP met up with long-time admirer Masataka Yoshida. How big of a Harper fan is Yoshida? Well, the Boston outfielder named his dog after the seven-time All-Star and wore No. 34 while playing in Japan.
As one can imagine, the meet-and-greet and the gifts exchanged meant a great deal to Yoshida, who enters Sunday as one of the hottest hitters in baseball. But the pregame moment was signficiant to Harper, too.
“Yeah, it’s really cool,” Harper told reporters, per MLB.com. “When you’re younger, you try to look up to guys or emulate guys. For me, that’d be my dad. I remember him working his tail off just to provide for us. To be able to have that impact on other people, it’s pretty cool.”
Harper added: “”He’s been able to come over here and have major success in his first couple weeks. Especially in that market in Boston, you guys know how tough it is up there, for him to do that at this point, it’s really cool.”
Yoshida had a front-row seat to Harper’s first home run of the season Saturday, but the solo shot wasn’t enough to help Philadelphia halt its losing streak. The Red Sox will go for a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon when the sides meet one last time in the City of Brotherly Love.
