Citing ‘gunfighter’ mentality, Dusty Baker says most pitchers love challenging Bryce Harper

6:52 PM ET

WASHINGTON — By now, you’ve probably seen the clip of Bryce Harper standing on first base Tuesday night and going all Will Ferrell in “Wedding Crashers.” Common logic says that Harper, ever the fun-damentalist that he is, was celebrating his fifth-inning RBI single. Then again, maybe he was just pumped that he got something to hit.

In his first plate appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, Harper walked on five pitches. Technically, it wasn’t an intentional walk, but it sure didn’t look like starter Vince Velasquez wanted much to do with the Washington Nationals’ superstar. In his second trip to the dish, Harper received an intentional walk — the official kind. Later, in the seventh, Philly intentionally walked him again.

It marked the first time this season that Harper has tallied three walks in a game. Last year, he walked at least three times in a game on nine different occasions, which was eight more times than in his first three big-league seasons combined. On the year, he set a new franchise record with 124 free passes. Apparently, that’s the cost of doing business for Harper, who last year saw pitches in the strike zone just 41.1 percent of the time, second …

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