Nationals slugger Bryce Harper ripped the cover of a baseball. Literally. Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Bryce Harper turned a figure of baseball speech into a literal occurrence by ripping the cover off a baseball during the Washington Nationals’ 6-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.

The Nationals slugger performed the amazing feat during the second inning on a payoff pitch, presumably inspiring countless references to “The Sandlot” to hit social media in the process.

Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez would be impressed...

... you know, if he was a real person and not a character in a movie.

While the act of ripping the cover of a baseball is indeed impressive, what makes the entire scene amusing is how Harper did his best Bartolo Colon impression by swinging so hard his helmet flew off. Although it did provide Harper a chance to showcase his majestic mane of hair, and it’s well known how much prep the slugger puts into always sporting a well-coiffed mane.

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