CLEARWATER, Fla. — When Bryce Harper flips on the television at night and watches the World Baseball Classic, he sees possibility.
It isn’t what you might think. Yes, Harper was among the first players last summer to commit to playing for Team USA. And sure, all things being equal, he would rather be in Phoenix with “U-S-A” across his chest than walking through the Phillies’ clubhouse in a white T-shirt and burgundy gym shorts, bat in hand, eager to take a few hacks and test the reconstructed ligament in his right elbow after Tommy John surgery in November.
But Harper is thinking beyond himself and the ongoing two-week tournament that has put baseball back on the international stage, even if the WBC hasn’t exactly dominated the headlines in the United States amid March Madness and NFL free agency. He’s thinking bigger.
