Watch: MLB star channels Barry Bonds, blasts 406-foot broken bat HR
Despite the distinct possibility that it was steroid-induced, there is no arguing that Barry Bonds the baseball player was one of the strongest ever to swing the bat.
One of Bonds’ most iconic home runs, No. 601, came in a game against the then-Florida Marlins in 2002 off of a broken bat.
Hitting a major league home run is difficult enough, but the precision and strength needed to belt a homer are amplified when dealing with a splintered bat.
Fast forward 16 years, and Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper channeled Bonds in Washington’s thrilling 8-6 win over the New York Mets on Monday.
Early in the game, Harper went to the plate and faced down Mets ace Jacob deGrom. It didn’t take long for him to add to his MLB-leading seven home runs.
Bryce Harper broke his bat on this swing and he STILL hit a homer 😳 pic.twitter.com/2vnEP8bncw
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 17, 2018
A slow motion angle of the home run shows just how cleanly the bat split.
Bryce Harper just…… broke his entire bat off
And hit a HR. pic.twitter.com/Sh0YflZcP6
— The Big Inning (@big_inning) April 16, 2018
“Barreled it pretty good,” Harper said after the game, per ESPN. “It just broke and kept going.”
“Yeah, that was pretty shocking,” deGrom said about Harper’s home run off of his 95 mph fastball. “I heard the bat break, and then I looked. I saw [Mets outfielder Brandon] Nimmo, he just kept going, so I was like, ‘Oh, well, I guess that’s out of here.'”
Harper, very much aware of how much power it takes to hit a broken bat home run, lightheartedly flexed his muscles as he was rounding the bases.
“He started to flex when he came back. I said, ‘Yeah, you’re strong,'” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
Even Harper’s teammates were astounded with the feat, though they couldn’t help but poke fun at Harper.
“It was impressive,” Nationals shortstop Trea Turner said “There’s rumors that it was already broken beforehand. So I’m curious to see the tape to see if he hit it on the barrel or off the end of the bat, whatever it maybe. But nonetheless, impressive.”
Harper, 25, has 158 career home runs going into Tuesday night’s game against the Mets.
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