May 27--For many of us who survived the 1970s, our first experience with hanging chads came while voting on those rectangular ballots for baseball's All-Star game.
Punching holes for your favorite players with a No. 2 pencil never went smoothly, and inevitably you'd have to pull the chads off with your fingertips before handing the ballots to the usher between innings.
Kris Bryant never had that problem. He didn't cast any All-Star ballots as a kid.
"I never did vote, no," he said. "I've seen paper ballots. When did they start voting online?"
Back when they invented the Internet, I guessed.
Either way, this year Major League Baseball ditched paper completely and made it online-only voting. The first results for National League players were revealed Wednesday, and Bryant was second to the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter, despite starting the season at Triple-A Iowa.
Whether he starts or not, Bryant seems likely to make the NL team, along with Anthony Rizzo, who is second to the Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez at first base. They also probably will be participants in the Home Run Derby at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, a launching pad even when they're not throwing batting practice pitches.
And Bryce Harper, the leading NL vote-getting, figures to be there as well, adding to the Bryce-Bryant storyline that began when they were kids growing up in Las Vegas and continues with their duel this week at Wrigley Field.
Heading into Wednesday night's made-for-Twitter matchup of Jon Lester vs. Max Scherzer, the Cubs and Nationals are tied at a game apiece in the series, while Bryant has the advantage in home runs over Harper, 2-1.
Harper and Bryant conducted an interview together in the Cubs' dugout for ESPN before Tuesday's game, when Harper revealed what he told the Chicago media on Monday, that Bryant's nickname in Vegas was "Silk." The two then put on a show, both homering in the Cubs' 3-2 win.
Bryant's 477-foot home run was Kingmanesque, reportedly hitting the top of the jumbo-sized video board in left. Dave Kingman hit a shot in 1976 with the Mets that hit the porch of the third house on Kenmore Avenue, and is considered the longest at Wrigley by most observers at around 600 feet.
Bryant's dad, Mike Bryant, said before his son's debut in April that his kid would hit one longer than Kingman's legendary shot, and longer than Glenallen Hill's tremendous rooftop shot in 2000. The new video board, however, prevented us from seeing how far Kris Bryant's shot would've gone.
According to StatCast, it was only the fourth longest this season, behind Nelson Cruz (483 feet), Josh Donalson (481) and Giancarlo Stanton (478).
Harper's home run was a pop fly that carried into a cool lake breeze and over the left field wall, a classic Wrigley wind-blown home run. Harper even threw his bat down in disgust before watching it sail into the bleachers. The homers were as different as their personalities, but both counted for only one run.
Bryant's patience at the plate already has been well established. Since being called up April 17, he has seen 709 pitches, according to baseballsavant.com, which is more than anyone in the game in that span. The grinding approach under new hitting coach John Mallee is apparent, with Anthony Rizzo ranking fifth in that span (667), while Dexter Fowler was 13th (652) and Jorge Soler was 14th (650).
Harper already ranks among the game's best players at 22, and has a chance to put up some monstrous career numbers if he stays healthy. With a three-year head start, Harper is ahead of Bryant 72-7 in home runs, including 17-7 in 2015.
Imagine if Bryant had come up at the age of 19 like Harper. Would he have progressed at Harper's rate?
"I don't know, I mean that's hard to say because I didn't do that," Bryant said. "We both took our different paths. His was kind of the unconventional route, but it worked really good for him and I'm happy to see that work for him. But for me, it was the right thing to go to college and do my thing. It's kind of cool we both ended up in the same spot."
Bryant said after Tuesday's win that he and Addison Russell have felt comfortable since arriving the same week.
"You've got to credit them for making us feel wanted," Bryant said. "All the older guys are awesome people."
When players that young get so much attention it can cause jealousy and resentment in the clubhouse. But Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Bryant has blended in easily with his teammates and doesn't seek attention.
"I think they've done great, because he handles it so well," Maddon said. "I think it's up to the guy receiving all the attention to set the tone for everybody else, and I think he does. He's very likeable, he's very professional. He doesn't draw it to himself. It just comes to him. I think he's done everything absolutely the right way."
Smooth as silk.
