‘I was a little nervous meeting him’: Masataka Yoshida finally got to meet his favorite player, Bryce Harper
Harper gifted Yoshida two bats and a pair of cleats.
Saturday marked a special occasion for Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida.
The Red Sox rookie has long admired Phillies star Bryce Harper, calling him his favorite player in the past and even naming his French bulldog “Harper” after him. He also wore the No. 34, Harper’s number with the Nationals, when he played in Japan. With the Red Sox in Philadelphia for a three-game set against the Phillies, Yoshida finally got to meet his baseball hero.
Harper came to Saturday’s meeting bearing gifts for Yoshida, giving him two bats and a pair of cleats. One of the bats was from last year’s NLCS, which Harper helped the Phillies win. The bat was inscribed to say, “To Masataka, MVPX2, GU: NLCS bat.” The other bat had a small cartoon image of Harper’s face on it.
A smiling Yoshida told reporters via a translator that he “enjoyed the time with Bryce.”
“That bat, that’s going to be my treasure,” Yoshida said of the bat from last year’s NLCS. “I was a little nervous meeting him for the first time.”
Yoshida, who’s 29 and is less than a year younger than Harper, said that he became such a big fan of Harper when he was wrapping up college, saying that he feels Harper’s “an obvious superstar.”
“He has a great swing, and that’s why I became his fan,” Yoshida said. “He’s one year older than me, but he had already played really well in big league games and that’s the reason I became such a fan of his.”
Harper called it “cool” and “humbling” to have an admirer like Yoshida, recalling how he admired multiple big leaguers along with his dad growing up.
But Harper also has respect for what Yoshida has done in his first month-plus in the majors. Yoshida’s in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak, giving him a .315 batting average with a .837 OPS to go along with six homers and 24 RBIs.
“He’s been able to come over here and have major success in his first couple weeks,” Harper said of Yoshida. “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.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com