Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is the National League MVP and one home run away from 100 in his career.
But major league baseball's all-time leader in home runs and walks wants to pump the brakes on the 23-year-old Harper.
Barry Bonds hit 762 home runs and walked 2,558 times in his 22-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. Bonds, 51, is now the hitting coach of the Miami Marlins.
"He is a beast," Bonds told MLB.com's Bill Ladson. "[But] he doesn't compare to me yet. He has a long way to go [in order to be compared] to me. He is not even close to me."
Bonds, though, still praised Harper.
"But he is one hell of a ballplayer," he said. "I watch him, I admire, and I look at him, and I'm in awe. You don't see that often."
Harper, at 23 years and 179 days old, entered Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves with 99 home runs and 251 RBI in 514 games. When Bonds was at Harper's stage in his life, he had hit 41 home runs and 107 RBI in 263 games over two seasons with the Pirates.
When told of Bonds' comments, Harper did not take issue, calling Bonds a player he idolized when he was younger.
"He's the greatest hitter on the planet," Harper said. "The guy had 2,900 and something hits, 500-500 guy. There's nobody better than that guy in this game, and that's something I was able to watch when I was younger, and I try to take things from what he did with his approach, but he's the greatest player I can think of from when I was growing up playing and watching.
"I'm just trying to take it day by day and see what I can do. He's got seven MVPs, however many Gold Gloves. I can keep going on and on about how good he was. That's somebody you look up to definitely in the way he played and the things he did in the box. Hopefully I can learn some things from him as well, and we'll see what happens."
Drone TV
Drone racing is coming to ESPN3.
The International Drone Racing Association signed a multiyear international distribution deal with ESPN on Wednesday.
In drone racing, competitors maneuver small flying drones around a course and wear goggles that show the drone's perspective of the track. At home, viewers will see a version of that perspective.
The 2016 National Drone Racing Championships, held in New York City in August, and the 2016 World Drone Racing Championships, set for Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii, in October, will be streamed live on ESPN3, the network's online streaming service.
After the live event, a one-hour documentary-style show about the competition will be aired on an ESPN network, said Charles Zablan, vice president of marketing at the association.
The organization, which is based in Los Angeles and Berkeley, generally shows races via livestream, with post-race footage available on YouTube.
He said it
From Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald:
• "NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers reported he once saw a UFO over New Jersey. Wow. I mean, New Jersey itself is scary enough."
• "Madame Tussauds unveiled a wax figure of Steph Curry. That night the wax Curry lit up the Philadelphia 76ers for 32 points."
• "In the NCAA hockey championships, North Dakota routed Quinnipiac 5-1. Quinnipiac gave up three goals when the players stopped skating to conduct a poll on the presidential election."
Sports on 04/14/2016