Bryce Harper: I'm Not Changing How I Play

After getting knocked out of Monday’s game after running into the right field scoreboard at Dodger Stadium, Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper said he is not going to change a thing about how aggressively he plays the game after some criticized him for going full throttle even when his team was leading.

“I don’t even know even know how to answer that question, besides the fact that I’m going to play this game for the rest of my life and try to play it as hard as I can every single day,” Harper said. “My life being on the line, trying to kill myself out there for my team, trying to win a World Series, people can laugh at that all they want. At the end of the day, I’m going to look myself in the mirror and say I played this game as hard as I could.”

Harper continued, “Throughout my career, I’ll learn, I guess … But that’s how I play. I’ve always played like that, even in college. I’d run into walls and get back up and go, ‘Holy crap. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.'”

Baseball purists have lauded the old-school way Harper plays the game, but some critics have accused him of playing recklessly.

“But that’s the way I play,” Harper said. “If I catch a ball and make a great catch for my pitcher, even if we’re ahead 6-0, it’s something that I pride myself on. I’m going to keep playing that like for the rest of my career.”