Upon return as a Phillie, Bryce Harper thanks Nationals fans: You ‘made me one of your own’

Bryce Harper knows he might hear some boos at Nationals Park. But that didn’t stop him from thanking D.C. fans in a heartfelt Instagram post hours before Tuesday’s Phillies-Nationals game.

“If you would have told me 5 years ago I would be walking into Nationals Park as an opposing player, I would’ve told you that you were crazy,” he wrote. “Five years later, I’m doing just that. I remember the first day I walked into Nats Park. my first base hit. My first home run. And, of course, my first standing ovation. Nationals fans delivered that first ovation.”

It turns out, Harper never wanted to leave D.C.

A Washington Post report published Monday revealed that the slugger hoped to remain a National, but the team didn’t put together the type of deal he was seeking. He met with the Lerners, the team owners, right before Christmas and thought he could persuade them to reconsider the deal they had offered him at the end of the regular season. He thought he had done it.

“I’m sitting there like: ‘I’m going to be a National. I’m going to be a National,’ ” he told the Post. “ ‘They’re going to make me an offer this week. We’re going to build off of that, and it’s going to happen.’ I told Kayla, ‘Be ready to go back.’ I flat-out told her. I was psyched. I was like, ‘Be ready to go back, because if we can, we’re going back.’ I was pumped.”

That all changed after he met with John and Leigh Middleton in February.

The Phillies ended up offering 13 years and $330 million. The years were important to Harper — he didn’t want to have an opt-out every year, which the Dodgers offered.

“I would have been right back like it was in D.C., with everyone saying, ‘What’s he going to do next?’ ” Harper said. “I didn’t want that.”

Now, Harper and his wife, Kayla, are making good on the promise that they’re turning Philadelphia into their home. They announced Monday that they’re expecting a son, due in August.

» LISTEN: Will Bryce Harper get booed? Our beat writers discuss.

But Harper still has to return to the place he called home, and he’ll be doing it for the next 13 seasons. Tuesday is the first of 10 games the Phillies will play at Nationals Park this year.

So he offered up his gratitude for the city — its restaurants and “countless other places" that made it feel like home — and the team: the staff, the Lerner family, and general manager Mike Rizzo.

“I’m so blessed to have been able to play for a fan base that cared so much about our team each and every night,” he wrote. “You will always hold a special place in my heart no matter what.”

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