This Is the Hardest Bryce Harper Has Hit a Ball in the Major Leagues

Bryce Harper has hit thousands of balls solidly since making the majors in 2012. They’ve led to Rookie of the Year and MVP honors and allowed him to become one of the biggest power threats in the game.

But he’s never hit one as hard as he did last night in Queens against the New York Mets. Harper’s first-inning home run achieved an exit velocity of 116.3 mph and thankfully didn’t injure a distracted paton upon impact.

A tenderhearted person could be forgiven for wavering a bit on the correct stance of not allowing adults to bring baseball gloves to games when such a rocket is scorched. But then one remembers how silly it looks.