Since Bryce Harper was called up to the big leagues (or, if you want to backdate this even further, since he scrapped his Twitter account), he's managed to subvert the characteristics that had most of the baseball-watching public ready to hate him.
And now, it seems that more of Harper's division rivals are taking a shine to him. First Cole Hamels, who admitted to deliberately hitting Harper with a pitch back in May, told reporters that he had written in Harper for the All-Star Game.
Now, Chipper Jones, the grand old man of the Atlanta Braves (jeez, that feels weird to type) has added his voice to the praises as he, Harper, and three others battle for the fans' votes to fill the final spot on the National League's All-Star roster.
"It's an accomplishment I guess but you got Chipper up there," Harper said. "I think a Hall of Famer should be able to go to the All-Star game his last year. If I was going to make a vote, I'd go vote for Chip."
And here was what happened next:
Chipper Jones texted Bryce Harper last night to thank him for his classy comments that he'd vote for Chip in Final Vote. "good kid" CJ said
— David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) July 2, 2012
Aw, that's sweet. But we're not gonna lie, we're starting to miss the friction. Anyone else?