The Last Natural
Bryce Harper's Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever
by Rob Miech
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Pub Date Jun 05 2012 | Archive Date Sep 01 2012
St. Martin's Press | Thomas Dunne Books
Description
The inside account of the controversial college season that launched 2010 MLB #1 draft pick Bryce Harper's professional career and earned the 17-year-old phenom the Golden Spikes Award for the nation's top player.
At his young age, Harper already had dominated high school competition like Mickey Mantle on the playground and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which dubbed him the "most exciting prodigy since LeBron James." Seeking greater tests as a hitter, the precocious star got his GED after his sophomore year and enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada, where he would face future pro pitchers in a difficult wooden-bat league. Sportswriter Rob Miech was "embedded" with the team-in the dugout and locker room and on team buses and in motel rooms-to provide a warts-and-all account of a boy among men playing like a man among boys. Amid fascinating personal stories including the dynamics between a veteran coach and Harper's overprotective father, the jealousies of teammates and opponents, and the sudden descent of press armies on a tiny college field, the author chronicles a season-long experiment that culmaintes in Harper leading the Coyotes to the Junior College World Series and signing a $9.9 million contract negotiated by notorious agent Scott Boras.
Advance Praise
"Like Bryce Harper, Rob Miech has all the tools, and they are on display in THE LAST NATURAL, a compelling, behind-the-scenes account of the making of a phenom."-George Dohrmann, Pulitzer Prize-winning Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated
"In THE LAST NATURAL, Rob Miech gets the last unfettered access to baseball's next great star, Bryce Harper, before he turns pro, before he can vote, before the handlers and hangers-on and hero-worship descend. The result is a fascinating eyewitness account, a baseball version of the Beatles in Hamburg circa 1961, just before the klieg lights get switched on."-Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated
"The Last Natural is a remarkable story of Bryce Harper's action-packed junior-college adventure, told from the vantage point of a tremendous reporter and writer who was fortunate enough to go along on Harper's unforgettable ride from Morse Stadium to the top of the baseball draft."-Jayson Stark, ESPN.com senior baseball writer
"Rob Miech rides the bench and the buses to craft a stirring story of a young man, an extraordinary dream and an amazing baseball season. Through an insider's access and a reporter's eye, Miech lays back the scouting reports to capture the real Bryce Harper-the son, the brother, the teammate and the phenom. Touching and edgy, The Last Natural captures the essence of a hard game made easy by a rare player."-Tim Brown, MLB writer, Yahoo! Sports"The Last Natural is a fascinating tale of risk, struggle, ambition and triumph. The LeBron James of baseball is brought to life, and all his talents and warts are expertly exposed by an exceptional storyteller. Miech has done what Harper is known for-hitting a spectacular home run. Terrific stuff."-Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781250001450 |
| PRICE | $26.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 368 |
