Ryan S. Pugh

The Clarion News

June 18, 2009

Where is the cutoff line when it comes to touting a young talent as the next great athlete without that player ever having played above the high school level?

There was a story a couple of weeks ago in a national publication about a high school sophomore baseball player named Bryce Harper. Harper made the cover of the publication and the feature story went on to detail how he hits the ball over 500 feet, has a 96-mile-an-hour fastball, etc... The article went on to detail how baseball scouts believed he would be a top-five pick in this year's draft if he were eligible.

The problem I had with the article is the fact it puts a lot of pressure on a kid who is barely old enough to drive. It just seems irresponsible to me that a player who has never seen a pitch at the Major League level would be given this kind of media attention.

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