You may not realize what a great season Bryce Harper just had

You may not realize what a great season Bryce Harper just had

Oh, sure you know he was one of the youngest players ever to hit 40+ homers, etc, but it's worthwhile to note that his 1.109 OPS is truly spectacular. The steroid years and Coors Field sort of changed our perceptions of offensive stats, but we need to look beyond that. From 1931 to 1992, a span of 62 seasons, only one NL player ever exceeded a 1.109 OPS - and that was Stan Musial's legendary 1948 season when he pretty much led the league in everything. Even in that year, when Musial hit .376, led the league in doubles and triples and missed the homer crown by one, Stan the Man still had a lower on-base percentage than Harper did this year.

Helluva season, and he is only 22. Even Mantle was a bit older before he started putting up numbers like that, although Harper will have a tough time matching the season Mantle had at age 24. (.353, 52-130, 1.169 OPS). Their careers have been similar. They both started at 19 with great hype, and took a while to develop, finally earning their first black ink at 22, when they each led their leagues in run scored. (Of course, Mantle won no other categories that year, while Harper also led in HR, OBP and slugging.) Could their connection be astrology? Harper was born on October 16th, Mantle October 20th.

And yes, I did just dare to compare him to Saint Mickey.

Favorably, I might add.