Bryce Harper beat the Nationals until he heard applaud

If there were any questions about how National fans would greet Bryce Harper when he returned to Washington, they would be told well before the first presentation. A tribute video – the thing that usually inspires hot fuzz, before the start of resentment – was broadcast on the bulletin board and was whistled. Then Harper himself was booed. And booed and booed and booed.

"I heard the rumors," said Harper, and I just remembered that 45,000 more people in the city of Philadelphia were screaming at the applause of their televisions. "Some Philly fans were not in front of their TV, however, or even in Philadelphia.A number of them, maybe a few thousand, were in the National Park.You could see them in the crowd looking too closely, but you could not hear them yet, not on the boos, but they could wait.

The rain helped, delaying the match by 41 minutes and pushing the final by the time the subway stopped working. The Phillies' offense took the lion's share, chasing Max Scherzer after five goals and beating the scorer for an 8-2 win over the Phillies. And Harper? Yeah, he can hit DC (we already knew that). Harper had 3 on 5, including a circuit and three RBIs.

It was Harper's first run in six innings that allowed the game to win 6-0 and sent a bunch of soggy and downed fans to the Nationals heading for the outings. So, when Harper jogged on the right court for the low end, most Phillies fans were left to greet him.

And in the eighth, when the stadium was even emptier for Nats fans, Harper's two-point dinger sounded like he was in front of an audience.

How about this excellent bat flip? "It's the emotion of the game," said Harper. "That's all, that's about it."

At the final exit, the remaining crowd was even more slightly mixed. It was just Phillies fans chanting MVP, and the Phillies were shaking hands after the win, and Harper was on the field again in Washington, but this time in gray road, it was the first of many times over the next 13 years.