Bryce Harper....remember the name!

The MLB draft has come and gone for the 2009 season. We all heard the name of Stephen Strasburg, and we heard how he would eventually throw the baseball harder and faster than any other human being in the history of the game. He's been clocked at 103mph, but by the time he's through maturing, his velocity could max out at 106 or 107mph. The fastest pitch ever thrown has been highly debated, some say Nolan Ryan, others say Mark Wohlers, and recently it's been said that Joel Zumaya was clocked at 104.8mph. No matter what the answer is, Strasburg should obliterate it in the next few years. However, what if I told you there was a 15 year old kid that could hit a baseball 570ft? What if I said, at age 16, this same kid hit the longest homerun in the history of Tropicana Field? Would you believe me? What if I told you, this kid's bat speed is faster than Mark McGwire's in his prime, that he runs so fast he's scored 6 times on wild pitches this year....from second base, that when he catches he picks off players on his knees, and when he pitches he can throw a fastball 96mph? Incredible huh, but true. Bryce Harper's so good, in fact, he just quit high school so he could get his GED and enroll in junior college to play a higher level of baseball. Not only will the baseball be more challenging, but it will also make him eligible for the 2010 draft and most likely the #1 overall pick. So why is there all this fuss about him leaving high school early, and why is everyone saying his parents should know better than to let him do this? If he's the overall #1 pick he'll make at least $30 million guaranteed, and be set for life. I understand that education is important, but a good education is a means to an end. You graduate high school and college in order to get a better job and make more money for yourself. Why finish college or high school for that matter, if you can make the money before then? Education is a means to an end...Bryce Harper's means to an end is baseball. Let him pursue it, let his parents do what's best for him, and just sit back and enjoy the show.