Bryce Harper, a slugger for the Philadelphia Phillies, blasted his 300th career home run on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, making him the 158th player in big league history to do so.
For his 15th home run of the year, Harper launched the historic shot off Matt Moore in the eighth inning. In his 1,481st game, Harper’s two-run homer gave Philadelphia Phillies the advantage 8-7. But the Angels came back to score three runs in the eighth to win 10-8.
For the second time this month, Harper hit three consecutive home runs, giving him a total of 10 for the month. 2012’s top prospects according to Baseball America were Harper and Moore, the 224th pitcher he has homered against.
“There are bigger numbers in my head, but 300 is pretty good,” Harper said. “I wanted to do it at home because I love being a Phillie. It’s something I’ve dreamed about. This city … I love them. I’m part of their family and they’re part of mine as well. There’s just nothing like it.”
A year after helping the Phillies win the World Series, Harper, 30, has propelled his team to the top of the National League wild-card standings. With a career ranking of 300, Harper is tied with Chuck Klein.
On May 14, 2012, while playing for Washington, he hit his first professional home run. Before signing a free agent contract with the Phillies before of the 2019 season, Harper hit 184 home runs in seven seasons with the Nationals and won the NL MVP in 2015. With the Phillies, Harper has hit 116 home runs, earned his second MVP award in 2021, and was the NLCS MVP last season. Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract.
“There’ve been a lot of great people who have come in and out of this clubhouse who have helped me in my career,” Harper said. “I value playing every day. I value going out there and working and grinding each day. I love this game. I love playing with ‘Phillies’ across my chest and I love playing this game every day. It’s all I want to do.”
As of right now, Harper is the 12th player to reach 300. Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers ranks 510th on the list.
In 2015, Harper led the league with 42 home runs while playing for Washington, and he also hit at least 30 other times. On the short list of outstanding events in Philadelphia sports history is Harper’s two-run home run in the eighth inning of a Game 5 victory against San Diego in the NLCS from last season, which advanced the Phillies to the World Series.
In May of this season, only 160 days after having surgery on his right elbow, he made his comeback. This season, he was forced to switch from right field to designated hitter and first base due to his injury recuperation, which diminished his power early.
In August, Harper and the Phillies rediscovered their rhythm. The Phillies had 57 home runs as of the start of the game, the third-most in MLB history for a team in a single month.
Harper has never had a season with fewer than 13 home runs, and one of those seasons was the 2020 season, which was cut short by COVID-19.