Bryce Harper, superhero, blasts the Phillies to the World Series with the biggest hit of his career

“Let’s give ‘em something to remember.”

That’s what Bryce Harper said as the spotlight shined on him in the biggest game of his life.

This is what superheroes do. They come to the rescue.

Harper came to the rescue.

When the moment arrived, Dave Dombrowski, his boss, saw it coming. Dombrowski has handled superstars his whole career. He’s won two World Series. Sitting in the GM’s box Sunday afternoon, he turned to his son, Landon, and said:

“This is where legends are made.”

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And then Harper, the best hitter on the planet right now, became a Philly legend. He launched a 2-2, two-run, opposite-field, go-ahead homer in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday that gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead over the Padres and left them three outs from their first World Series berth in 13 years.

Thirty minutes later, they’d won the National League pennant for the first time since 2009. They’d punched a ticket for a Friday night matchup at the Astros, who swept the Yankees in the ALCS late Sunday night. John Middleton, the owner who had to fire manager Joe Girardi in early June, stood on the field at Citizens Bank Park afterward, the team’s song, “Dancing on My Own,” playing again, thousands of delirious fans lingering in the stands, and caught his breath.

“Can you ... believe this?” he asked.

Barely.

Of course, it’s easier to believe when you’ve got Superman in the lineup.

Even with Harper logging epic stats — his .419 average, five home runs, 11 RBIs, and 1.351 OPS all either lead or are tied for the lead among all playoff hitters who have played more than four games — the Astros are favored. Of course. The Phils fired their manager in June, saw their best hitters get hurt, and lost their closer to injury twice, and had to sneak into the playoffs with the No. 6 seed, the third wild card in the first year of such an animal.

They might not look as imposing as the American League’s best, but don’t count the Phillies out.

They’ve got the Yoda of Pattison Avenue managing them: Zen-like Rob Thomson, or “Topper,” used his No. 3 starter to close out the series. And they’ve got Harper, the NLCS MVP, the reigning National League MVP, on their side.

Harper has been unreal. He has channeled David Ortiz, the best playoff hitter of his generation, all month, but he hasn’t had many chances to come to the rescue. At least, not many. His teammates have done that; most recently, Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura.

But Sunday, in a game that could clinch the NLCS, Harper found himself in just such a position.

Eighth inning. Down a run. Man on first. Team collapsing around him.

As Harper settled in, the ballpark’s speakers blared Nelly’s “Ride Wit’ Me,” whose chorus repeats, “Must be the money!” Harper’s $330 million contract broke North American sports records when he signed it in 2019, and it remains the richest in Phillies history.

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J.T. Realmuto had singled. Facing Robert Suarez, Harper nicked a 96-mph sinker, ducked a 97-mph fastball, fouled off three straight pitches all around 99 mph, spat on a changeup … then drove a 99-mph sinker toward left-center.

The man who signs the checks didn’t dare wish for too much.

“I was hoping he would hit a gapper, and maybe J.T. could score with his speed, then maybe somebody else could drive in Bryce,” Middleton said. “Then, I was like, ‘Go! Go! Carry! Carry!’”

It went.

It carried.

It carried Harper and the Phillies farther than anyone thought they’d go — anyone, except, perhaps themselves. They don’t reckon this will be the last champagne they drink this fall.

No little kid dreams of winning the NLCS with a homer. It’s always the World Series.

“You dream about that next step,” Harper said. “So, I’m looking forward to that next one.”

Big words, but he’s a big fish. Middleton splurged then to get Harper in 2019. The $330 million was a very un-Phillies sort of deal, but Middleton was dealing with super agent Scott Boras, so he knew it was all or nothing.

“Never thought I’d consider $330 million a bargain, but I think it might be,” Middleton said. “Scott [Boras] might want to renegotiate.”

Middleton supported Harper this season with a $250 million roster that exceeded the luxury tax for the first time in franchise history. The tax has been well worth it.

But then, how much is a superhero worth? Because the Phillies dearly needed a superhero Sunday afternoon. The Phillies’ leadoff batter had reached base four times in the first seven innings. He’d never scored.

Hoskins was part of that inefficiency, but he’d also made it 2-0 in the third inning with his fourth homer in four games, a two-run blast in the third off Yu Darvish that gave Zack Wheeler the lead.

Wheeler gave up two runs over his six innings, faced one batter in the seventh, and left. Things fell apart. Seranthony Domínguez replaced Wheeler with a man on first and none out in the seventh, and the misty rain that had fallen most of the game really started coming down, and Domínguez could not adapt. He uncorked four uncatchable pitches that led to two Padres runs, and the Phillies trailed, 3-2, at the end of the inning.

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These weren’t just wild pitches. These were Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh, Bull Durham, hit-the-mascot wild pitches.

It looked like a trip back to San Diego was imminent — a trip that Padres scheduled Game 6 starter Blake Snell said the Phillies didn’t want to make.

He said it in derision, and with bravado, but he was right.

“I didn’t want to get back on that flight back to San Diego. I just didn’t want to get on a 5½-hour flight,” Harper said. “I wanted to hang out at home, and enjoy this at home with these fans and this organization and this fan base.”

He made it so.

Thomson, a longtime Yankees coach, has seen greatness. He’s seen Derek Jeter. He’s seen Alex Rodriguez. Harper?

“As good as it gets,” Thomson said.

The heroics done, all that remained was to mop up. David Robertson got the first out of the ninth, walked the next two Padres, then surrendered the mound to No. 3 starter and former closer Ranger Suárez, a left-hander. Suárez got one out on a sacrifice bunt, then Austin Nola, big brother of Phillies No. 2 starter Aaron Nola, swung at the first pitch. He flied out softly to right, coincidentally, where Castellanos was playing.

That’s where Harper would normally have been had he not torn an elbow ligament early in the season.

Look, he’s not bulletproof.

He’s just a superhero.