Bryce Harper and Oliver Perez continue to make baseball fun again

The Washington Nationals suffered a tough one-run loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night, but Oliver Perez and Bryce Harper both found their own way of making baseball fun again.

Either Oliver Perez has a weird/special way of preparing to pitch (he’d take the mound in the seventh inning), or he was just plain bored, because he spent a significant amount of time in the third inning unraveling a styrofoam cup with his teeth and wrapping the string around his neck like a very skinny scarf. The Nats announcers described it as a “slow motion can opener,” which is pretty on the nose.

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It’s no secret that spending every game sequestered in the bullpen, whether you pitch or not, can be pretty boring. And the Nats announcers said “this is taking boredom in the bullpen to a whole new level.” But it’s nice to see him – or anyone – having fun during baseball’s slower moments.

Of course, we all know that Bryce Harper approves of fun in baseball, and he continues to show it to the world. In the bottom of the fifth, the Nationals were down 3-1 when Harper came to bat. With runners on first and second, he hit an RBI single to left and cut the Phillies lead to just one run. He celebrated thusly:

All the kids will be doing this tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/TnAZQNEQN2

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) April 27, 2016

I hope that catches on and soon everyone is doing the Bryce Harper dance every time they get a hit.

The Nationals would tie the game in that inning, but they would score no more. The Phillies managed to get one more run in the seventh inning, and they held on to that lead for the win. Harper could have won the game in the last at-bat with a homer, but it wasn’t meant to be – he ground out to end the game. The Nats may have lost, but making baseball fun again (or weird, if you’re Oliver Perez) can happen whether you win or lose.

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