ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Bryce Harper fulfilled one of his destinies on Thursday with the announcement that he had won the National League Most Valuable Player award.
Ironically, though it was expected that Harper would someday be a Major League Baseball star and MVP award winner, to meet those expectations is still quite an achievement. The path to excellence can often be a bumpy one.
Harper is just the second player who won the Golden Spikes Award — the highest honor given to amateur baseball players — to win an MVP award. The other was San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, who won it in 2012.
You have a feeling that he’s not done yet, either.
At the age of just 22, Harper had one of the all-time seasons in the post-steroid era of baseball, batting .330 with 42 home runs, 99 RBI, 118 runs and a .517 slugging percentage.
SEE ALSO: Nationals’ Bryce Harper named unanimous National League MVP winner
If he can stay healthy — an issue the previous two seasons — Harper will likely add to the hardware, perhaps matching his Russian hockey contemporary in this town. Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP three times in his first 10 seasons, the last coming two years ago when, in 48 games in the lockout-shortened season, he had 56 points — 32 goals and 24 assists — as the Capitals, who won the Southeast Division title, lost to the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Of course, there are no Stanley Cups to go with those Hart Trophies. That’s not something Harper wants to match.
It is a nice consolation prize for Nationals fans to be able to say one of their own was the best in the game. But, without the world championships, it can serve as a reminder of wasted opportunities by teams with the best players in their respective games. Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann once said, “Forget about being MVP, forget about being in the Pro Bowl. Those things are nice consolation prizes if you don’t get a Super Bowl ring.”
Like world championships, MVP awards have been rare in Washington. Redskins players have won the award three times since the NFL began giving out the honor in 1957, though quarterback Sammy Baugh won a “player of the year” award in 1947 and 1948 and defensive end Gene Brito won it in 1955. Running back Larry Brown was the first MVP winner in 1972, when, over 12 games, he rushed for 1,216 yards and eight touchdowns as Washington won the NFC championship. It would go on to lose to the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII.
Perhaps the most remarkable MVP season came in 1982, when Redskins kicker Mark Moseley won the award — the only kicker in the history of the league to be named MVP. It was, of course, the memorable year when Moseley seemingly made every big game-winning kick — 20 out of 21 field goals attempted — in a strike-shortened season on the way to the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory.
The following season, it was Joe Theismann, who threw for 3,714 yards and 29 touchdown passes with 11 interceptions, leading a historic high-powered offense that fell short of repeating with a forgettable 38-9 loss to the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII.
Then there are the MVP awards the Washington Wizards and Bullets have collected: Zero.
The one MVP award the franchise has was when it was in Baltimore in 1968. Wes Unseld became just the second player in NBA history to win both rookie of the year and MVP honors, averaging 18.2 rebounds a game while leading the last-place Bullets to a 57-25 record and a division title. Since then, it’s been an MVP wasteland for basketball in this town.
As for Baseball? Harper’s MVP is the first in Washington since Senators shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh won a version of the award in 1925, his 15th major-league season. He had a less-than-impressive season — a .294 average in 126 games, with 124 hits and 67 runs — but it technically it wasn’t called the MVP. It was the “League” award and given to the player who “is of the greatest all-around service to his club.” Previous winners were not eligible for the award. The year before, Senators pitcher Walter Johnson won the award when his team won the World Series.
In 1913, Johnson had won the “Chalmers Award,” given by the Chalmers Automobile Company to the “most important and useful player to the club and to the league.” Johnson had gone 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA and 243 strikeouts in 346 innings.
Lest we forget the Nationals are technically the relocated Montreal Expos, Harper’s MVP is also the first one for the franchise. Andre Dawson finished twice in MVP voting in 1981 and 1983; he won the award in 1987 with the Chicago Cubs. Vladimir Guerrero finished fourth in the 2002 voting; he won the American League MVP with the Anaheim Angels in 2004.
• Thom Loverro is co-host of “The Sports Fix,” noon to 2 p.m. daily on ESPN 980 and espn980.com.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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