Harper wants to be best, but also play for best

DENVER — Bryce Harper would like to be the best.

And at the age of 23, the Washington Nationals outfielder definitely has been among the best players in the game. He is a four-time All-Star, the National League Rookie of the Year in 2012 and NL MVP in 2015.

Most of all, though, Harper wants to be a part of the best team.

That’s why Harper is enjoying himself this season, even though for the first time in five years in the big leagues he has been offensively challenged.

The Nationals are sitting atop the NL East. They went into Tuesday night’s game against the Rockies at Coors Field with an 8 1/2-game lead on the second-place Marlins.

This is a franchise that came into existence as the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969 and is still looking to appear in a World Series for the first time. Harper wants to be a part of making that happen.

“I don’t know that it is easy to forget [the personal struggles],” he said. “I want to perform to the best of my ability. But I have always said the biggest thing to me is I want to win.”

To be fair, the Nationals have advanced to the postseason twice since Harper got to the big leagues — in 2012 and 2014. Both times, however, they were eliminated in the NL Division Series. That only whetted the appetite of not only Harper, but the entire Nationals organization.

Matt Williams managed the team for two seasons, winning a division title and 179 games, but was let go at the end of last season. He was replaced by Dusty Baker, whose 1,741 wins going into Tuesday rank second among active managers to Bruce …

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