PHILADELPHIA — For years, Bryce Harper hoped to play a baseball game on his birthday. As a National, he never made it far enough in the postseason to achieve that goal. As a Phillie, Harper didn’t reach the playoffs until last year, when his birthday happened to fall on an off-day following the National League Division Series.
An October birthday may come with its perks — crisp fall weather chief among them — but it doesn’t often provide opportunities for on-field excellence.
So when Harper finally got that chance on Monday, he made it count, becoming the fourth player in AL/NL history to hit a home run on his birthday in the postseason. As he crossed home plate in the first inning of the Phillies’ 5-3 win over the D-backs in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series, Harper held up three fingers on his left hand and one on his right, then pretended to blow them out like birthday candles on his 31st birthday.
Citizens Bank Park, as teammate Kyle Schwarber described it, “went nuts” in response.
“It’s pretty cool to play on your birthday when your birthday’s this late,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. “I think that’s a big deal.”
Harper joined Willie Aikens, Evan Longoria, and Kolten Wong as the only players to hit a home run on their birthdays in the postseason. He and Aikens are the only ones to do so in an LCS or World Series, as well as the only players to do it while getting multiple hits.
Harper also added an RBI single in the third inning and a walk in the fifth, reaching base three times and scoring twice. Aikens, a prominent member of the 1980 Royals, still holds the record as the only player to hit two home runs in a postseason game on his birthday.
Thirty-one looks good on Harper. His day started with a midnight text from his wife, Kayla, who made sure to be the first to wish him well. He talked before the game about how excited he was to play on this particular day. Then he went out and made his birthday even more memorable.
In the first inning, facing NL Cy Young Award contender Zac Gallen with one out and the bases empty, Harper smashed a first-pitch fastball to right-center field, where it bounced off a railing and into the home bullpen. As he rounded third base, Harper came up with the candle celebration, which he performed as he touched home plate.
“It’s crazy,” Harper said. “Sometimes I just do stuff, and that felt right.”
In the dugout, Turner thought Harper was signaling his four home runs this postseason with four fingers. The reasoning seemed logical enough; Harper has been one of the NL’s most dangerous hitters in October, with a slash line of .409/.567/.955 in 30 plate appearances, along with seven RBIs, nine runs scored, and eight walks.
Since last year, the Phillies are undefeated in games where Harper hits a home run in the postseason, with a record of 9-0. This has been crucial, as Harper has hit four home runs in his last five games.
“This guy, he’s looking for the moment,” Schwarber said. “He wants it. He’s doing such an incredible job for us. When he steps up to the plate, you just have this feeling that he’s going to do something special every time. Is it unfair to expect that from a player? Maybe. But that’s what everyone is thinking in the dugout: ‘Man, what’s this guy going to do next?’”