WASHINGTON — As the makings of a historic season solidified, a 22-year-old Bryce Harper took a swing that still sticks out in his mind. It was still early into the young, then-Nationals superstar’s first MVP campaign when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied against Atlanta reliever Cody Martin on May 9, 2015.
Harper, gripping his bat with a red glove on his right hand and a bare left palm, kicked his leg and golfed a low pitch over the fence for a game-winning blast. The phenom’s sixth home run in three days sent Nationals Park into a frenzy that afternoon, one of many times Harper delivered on his way to a unanimous National League MVP award.