Future West Ham star Bryce Harper debuts goal celebration to open London Series
![2024 London Series - Philadelphia Phillies 1B Bryce Harper 2024 London Series - Philadelphia Phillies 1B Bryce Harper](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2588,h_1455,x_0,y_114/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/229/01hzwjksga563s10x8fh.jpg)
Bryce Harper is a phenomenal baseball player. Even his most ardent haters have to admit as much about the Philadelphia Phillies star. But secondary to that, Harper is also a showman with a penchant for capitalizing on high-profile moments.
He put that all on display on Saturday for the first game of the MLB London Series against the rival New York Mets.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning and with a double already on his ledger for the day, Harper uncorked a monster home run off of Sean Manaea to right field that evened the score at the time. But the real main event was Harper's celebration.
Bryce Harper unloads soccer celebration after HR in London Series
Playing at London Stadium, the home of Premier League soccer club West Ham United, Harper got in the full spirit of the venue and setting by busting out an iconic soccer celebration. He just barely seemed to stop short of ripping off his jersey as he slid on his knees.
Bryce hit the soccer celly 😂 pic.twitter.com/CRdu48PI6g
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) June 8, 2024
The crowd in London absolutely loved the theatrics. And how could you not? You want moments like the London Series to feel special, and moments like this help accomplish exactly that when the players are clearly buying into the special series.
Perhaps more important for the Phillies was Harper's homer and the ensuing celebration seemed to spark the club's offense that had been held quiet to that point. After all, the dinger from the first baseman was only Philadelphia's second hit of the game to that point.
But Harper's longball was the catalyst for a massive fourth inning from the Phillies bats. All told, they put up six runs in the frame with Whit Merrifield adding a three-run longball of his own while Edmundo Sosa and Kyle Schwarber both contributed with RBI singles.
Of course, none of them would have ever been able to top the goal celebration that Harper utilized to celebrate his big knock. That's just the magic that every baseball fan has to love from a setting like the MLB London Series.
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