Take it ‘Til You Make it: Why Didn’t Bryce Harper Disobey His Manager and Hit in the Bottom of the 9th?

Take It Til You Make It is typically reserved for the scorching hot takes we see on social media, in the papers, and on the airwaves. This one comes from WIP’s Tommy Kelly. He wonders why Bryce Harper didn’t just grab a bat and walk up to the plate Sunday in the 9th:

How is Bryce Harper not catching any heat for yesterday? You’re the leader. You have a chance to win the game. Grab a bat, tell Topper you’re hitting and go to the plate. Topper is not gonna say no. Lack of leadership completely from the face of the franchise

— Tom Kelly (@TommyKelly44) August 19, 2024

“Is Bryce Harper a bad teammate because he didn’t take 33 inches of sanded down maple to Topper’s skull and then hit a second deck bomb?” The people are wondering.

What a take. You know Tommy Kelly was racking his brain since the game ended, wondering how was he going to insert himself into the drama. You know how I know that? It took him until 2 p.m. to release this. Almost a full 24 hours since Topper’s brutal decision. He probably spent all morning writing out and deleting takes on Twitter that would stir the masses up waiting for the best one to come to mind. His internal monologue had to be racing.

“This is the worst game Rob Thomson has managed since he got to Philly!” Strong. But not shocking enough. People will agree with it and it won’t get enough replies to make the algorithm purr. We’re looking for numbies.

“Rob Thomson should be fired if the Phillies don’t make it to the World Series.” Now you’re talking. There’s nothing like calling for the head of a guy who has been nothing but successful so quickly. But not right now. You can get more life out of that one when they’re down 2-1 in the NLCS against the Dodgers in a couple months. Tuck that away in drafts. It’s your “Break Glass in case of Emergency” tweet.

He had to be fretting until the light bulb went off.

Everyone is zigging. Why doesn’t he zag? Screw blaming Topper. Blame the best player on the team. Make him the pariah. And that’s what he did. TK knocked one out of the park, unlike Bryce Harper. It has to be what DaVinci felt like after he completed the Mona Lisa.

What’s even better is that the entire playbook was perfect. After he took some heat he made up a hypothetical scenario out of thin air using an iconic Phillies player as an example that no one can actually ever answer:

Say it’s August 18, 2008. Phils down 2 tying run at the plate, no outs, Eric Bruntlett at the plate with Chase Utley getting a day off before a scheduled off day tomorrow. Do we really think he’s not going to Chuck and saying he’s good to hit? https://t.co/J6rWXFS5eA

— Tom Kelly (@TommyKelly44) August 19, 2024

That’s what gets you on the Mount Rushmore of Take It Til You Make It.

UPDATE: Turns out it’s not a hypothetical scenario made up out of thin air because this exact situation happened with Chase Utley in 2008. This is amazing stuff from Tyler Browne:

It’s June 21, 2008. Chase Utley has the day off. 2-2 game, go-ahead run at 2nd with 2 outs in the 7th. Manuel lets Bruntlett hit instead of pinch hitting Utley. Later, leading off the bottom 8th, down 4-2, Manuel has Dobbs PH for the pitcher, not Utley. https://t.co/ThptjCIm0a

— Tyler Brown (@TylerBrown_42) August 19, 2024

Was Bryce Harper or Chase Utley a worse leader? 215-592-9494. The phone lines are open! taking your calls now.

Tyler Browne:

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