Bryce Harper gifted superfan Masataka Yoshida cool pieces of memorabilia
Bryce Harper superfan and rookie sensation Masataka Yoshida finally met his idol face-to-face on Saturday before his Boston Red Sox took on the Philadelphia Phillies.
Not only did Yoshida get to meet Harper, whom he's admired since his days with the Washington Nationals, but the Phillies slugger also presented the Japanese star with several unique gifts.
During their chat at Citizens Bank Park, Harper gave Yoshida a pair of autographed cleats and two bats, including one used in last year's National League Championship Series.
There's a fan in all of us, even major leaguers, and in Yoshida's case, Harper is undoubtedly his favorite player. The 29-year-old already sported Harper's No. 34 while playing in Japan and named his dog after the former two-time MVP. However, Yoshida's admiration goes deeper than your typical fanatic. Ahead of Boston's series with the Phillies, Yoshida told reporters he was "honored" to play against Harper and, like others, was amazed by his quick turnaround from Tommy John Surgery.
"I've heard that surgery takes a year to come back to play, but he's come back to play much quicker than usual," Yoshida said through an interpreter, via The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey. "I've experienced some injuries, so I know it's a lot of work to come back, so that part I really respect."
While Yoshida has always tried to emulate Harper's game, he's quickly making a name for himself with the Red Sox.
Entering play Saturday, Yoshida held the longest hitting streak in baseball at 15 games. Over his impressive stretch, Yoshida has gone 26-for-60 at the plate with five doubles, five home runs, 18 RBI and five walks.
According to MLB Stats, Yoshida is the sixth Japanese-born player in MLB history to record a hitting streak of 15 or more games, joining Ichiro Suzuki (16x), Hideki Matsui (3x), Nori Aoki (2x), Shohei Ohtani and So Taguchi.
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