Bryce Harper days

It’s Bryce Harper days until Opening Day.

Bryce got his GED in 2009 after his sophomore year in high school so he could be eligible for the MLB draft in 2010. Needing something to do for the year, he enrolled in a junior college in Nevada. He was drafted by the Nationals in 2010 and never finished college. He is currently in the midst of a $9.9 million contract; the only non-financial term of his contract is that the Nationals will pay for eight semesters of college for Bryce.

Getting drafted at such a young age enabled Bryce to make his Major League debut at age 19. Nolan Ryan also made his debut at age 19 and also wore #34. In fact, his #34 was retired by both the Astros and the Rangers.
When I think of Nolan Ryan I think of seven no-hitters and a billion strikeouts. He was also a dreadful hitter. He had a career .148 OBP. In 14 years in the NL (and one pre-DH year in the AL), he struck out 371 times -- 12 fewer strikeouts than he threw in 1973.

Ryan did hit two home runs in his career: the first off future Hall of Famer Don Sutton, and the second off no-name Charlie Puleo, who at one time was traded (among others) by the Mets for former Ryan teammate Tom Seaver.