Not many baseball pundits or fans would mention the Houston Astros’ Alex Bregman and new Philadelphia Phillies billionaire Bryce Harper in the same sentence.

Sure, Bregman’s a rising star who lifted himself into the AL MVP discussion in 2018 and will likely do the same thing in 2019. Heck, he may even win it; many are predicting just that.

But, Harper is usually pitted against baseball’s newest mega-millionaire, the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout, as the game’s best player. Harper’s only about 18 months older than Bregman, but had the luxury (and blinding talent) of beating the Astros’ third baseman to his MLB debut by four years and three months.

Wild Boor?

Harper has managed, though, to develop, however rightly or wrongly, a reputation for arrogance and occasional indifference. “But, not since Lenny Dykstra and his shaggy collection of testosterone-rich miscreants went to the 1993 World Series have the Phils employed a player with Harper’s degree of don’t-give-a-damn,” spat the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Marcus Hayes as accurately as anybody would dare within a left fist’s reach of Harper.

Bregman, at least to this writer, looked like he was stepping into Harper’s boorish spotlight with his “are you kidding me?” tantrum to his first team extension… you know, the paltry $640,500 extension a couple weeks prior to the more recent multi-year deal. This was after informing the Astros he’d be fine with the league extension minimum ($555,000), and then telling MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart he was “disappointed” with his agreed-upon deal.

Great, another greedy, loud-mouthed ballplayer. The sport is littered with them. The days after Bregman’s rant were spent with me actually telling more than a handful of Astros fans I ran into that the 2018 All-Star Game MVP had dipped in stature a little in my eyes.

Most of us have experienced times when our heroes, ballplayers or otherwise, have let us down. What’s one more?

Wild Tour?

On the same night the Angels reeled in their prized Trout for what the kids today would call “stupid money,” Houston made reliever Ryan Pressly Bregman’s opening act on the team’s “2019 Extension World Tour” (Justin Verlander joined the Houston bonanza bandwagon on a two-year extension, March 23).

Now, Bregman is signed to Houston through the 2024 season, at an average $28.5 million for 2023 and 2024, in what is technically a five-year, $100 million extension. He’ll receive $11 million for each of the 2020 through 2022 seasons, while his original 2019 extension amount will stay in place. A signing bonus of $10 million was thrown in, nearly unheard of in a pre-arbitration year contract extension.

Clearly, the Houston Astros want Alex Bregman to be a major part of their team going into the century’s third decade.

We’ll get to Bregman’s reaction to all that new-found cash, but it’s important to zero in on Harper’s reaction.

Enjoying Diary Products

Fans who thought the bearded former Washington National was a heartless, money-grubbing blowhard may find it reassuring he’s pretty much a “regular guy” just looking out for his family:

“I wanted to be able to go through the ups and downs with a city,” Harper explained to The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal. “I wanted to build my family in a city. I wanted to be instilled into a city, the community, and really let that city know that I’m part of them.

“For Philly, it means something to put ‘Phillies’ across your chest. They understand it.

“The people of Philly really understand the players, they try to on a personal level. I love that. That really fires me up, makes me want to play hard for the city and do something special for it as well.”

Suddenly, Harper now seems like a gentler soul, a willing participant in the bigger picture, unafraid to wear his heart on his sleeve. Now, Harper is one with Philadelphia and the goal of the team and its fans to bring a ring to the City of Brotherly Love.

Then this happened:

With a soul laid bare, Alex Bregman professes his love affair with the city he knows freely returns the adulation.

Go back and watch his Game 5 walk-off single that brought Houston that much closer to a championship in 2017… and more importantly, that much closer to the healing from the gaping sore a raging monster called Harvey ripped open.

It’s clear, now, Alex, why you were “disappointed” with your original extension offer.

Recalling the 1980s Pantene shampoo commercial, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” tagline, don’t hate Alex Bregman because he’s talented. Or brash. Or outspoken. Or paid well.

His heart’s in the right place. He’ll win that MVP trophy; maybe not this year, but soon. He’ll lead the Astros to another World Series championship; maybe not this year, but soon.

You’ll see.