Birthday Blast

Bryce Harper had a heck of a birthday celebration -- with 45,000 of his best friends joining him!  On the night he turned 31, the Phillies 1st baseman (seen here at the opening ceremonies for NLCS Game 3 in 2022) homered in the bottom of the 1st to further ignite the Citizens Bank Park crowd -- and make a little history -- en route to a 5-3 opening game win over the Diamondbacks.

According to baseball-reference.com, Harper became just the fourth player ever -- joining Kolten Wong (2015 NLDS, Game 2), Evan Longoria (2013 ALDS, Game 3) and Willie Aikens (1980 World Series, Game 1) to homer on his birthday in the post-season.  

Call it a unique and incredibly rare combination of talent and luck.  Hall of Famers such as Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron (born in February), Reggie Jackson and Yogi Berra (born during May) never had the chance to do so.  But with Harper -- born 10/16/1992 -- having already claimed a place as a post-season difference-maker, his feat Monday night surprised absolutely no one.

Joining teammates Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos in the home run parade --and backed by six terrific innings from Zach Wheeler, the Phils have now won the first game in each of their first October series this year.  Including the one on Harper's birthday!



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