Bryce Harper clears yet another high bar

It was no surprise to locals that baseball phenom and Las Vegas native Bryce Harper, the Washington Nationals outfielder, won National League Rookie of the Year honors this week. The hype surrounding his athletic gifts has led to huge expectations at every step of his career. Mr. Harper, who just turned 20, has always met those expectations - and then some.

He landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2009 as a 16-year-old Las Vegas High School star, next to the headline: "Baseball's chosen one: Bryce Harper is the most exciting prodigy since LeBron (James)."

So after his sophomore season, he quit high school, got his GED and enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada. As a 17-year-old in 2010, he broke the school's home run record - by 19 long balls. The Coyotes made it to the National Junior College World Series, and Mr. Harper won the Golden Spikes Award, given to the country's top amateur baseball player. Not yet old enough to vote, he made the jump to the pros.

The Nationals made him the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 draft. It took Mr. Harper less than two years to get the call to the big leagues as a 19-year-old, one month into the Nationals' 2012 season. Another high bar cleared.

He became the youngest major-leaguer to hit a home run in 14 years, the youngest to steal home in 48 years, and the youngest position player ever selected to the All-Star Game. He was twice named Rookie of the Month, and his regular-season statistics - 22 home runs, 98 runs, .340 on-base percentage, .447 slugging percentage - were the best for a teen in 45 years. Not bad, considering his throwing arm and his baserunning scared opposing teams more than his bat. The Nationals won 98 games and made the playoffs for the first time since the franchise moved from Montreal to Washington.

And now Mr. Harper is the first teenage position player to win Rookie of the Year.

The professional sports world is the ultimate meritocracy. Only the very, very best make it to the highest levels of competition. Only those who produce stay there.

What Mr. Harper has accomplished in such a short period of time is remarkable. And he will get better - much better, if his recent trajectory is any indication. But just as impressive is the obvious enjoyment he takes in playing the game with hustle and fearlessness, qualities that will inspire countless boys and girls here, in Washington and elsewhere to take up the sport and dream the kind of dreams Mr. Harper already has fulfilled.

Congratulations on your latest award, Mr. Harper. The Las Vegas Valley is enormously proud of you.