Wrigley Field got the best of Bryce Harper on critical misplay

Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper had a moment he’ll want to quickly forget on Saturday, and it happened at the most critical point in Washington’s 8-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Harper, who was lined up in his customary spot in right field, found himself battling Wrigley Field’s cramped quarters and even the forces of nature as he chased down, but ultimately dropped Addison Russell’s slicing fly ball.

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We say cramped, because there’s not a lot of room along either foul line the deeper you get into the outfield at Wrigley. Harper had to run a long way on this particular play, he had a lot of momentum behind him, and on top of that he had to measure the amount of room he’d have to make the catch without hitting the brick wall.

(Getty Images) Now granted, those walls are padded, but they can still do some damage to an outfielder’s wrist or ankle if they hit it the wrong way.

Then, there was nature’s role in this. The Wrigley Field seagulls were out in force, and many of them were settled in behind Harper before this play developed. Then, as Harper moved and the ball neared, they all scattered, which in some way had to be a distraction. Maybe they didn’t get in Harper’s line of vision, but he had to know they were there and he probably didn’t know where they were going next.

As noted, there was a lot riding on this play. Chicago had the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh inning of a then tied game. If Harper catches it, Washington escapes. There’s also the question of had Harper not touched the baseball at all, would it have landed fair or foul? It would have been close, but we’ll never know for sure.

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Replay did confirm the baseball hit the chalk after deflecting off Harper’s glove. The official scorer credited Russell with a two-run double, and the Cubs went on to win again, improving to an MLB best 23-6.

As for Harper. Well, he can count on thousands of tweets just like this one.