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Bryce Harper sends eye black message to his dad on Father's Day

Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper will be the first to admit he owes a lot to his dad. He’s said as much over his career, crediting his pops for instilling him with a hard work ethic and a desire to succeed. When Harper competed in the Home Run Derby, he made sure his father would be the one throwing him the ball.

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Harper’s admiration for his father is already pretty well known, but he spread his message even further on Father’s Day. As a tribute to the man who raised him, Harper wore eye black with a special message to his dad.

Under his right eye, Harper’s eye black had a heart emoji and the word “my.” Under his left, the word “dad.” Put that together, and you get “love my dad.”

Bryce Harper sent a message to his dad on Father's Day. (MLB.com Screenshot)
Bryce Harper sent a message to his dad on Father’s Day. (MLB.com Screenshot)

Maybe that’s not exactly how the heart emoji translates, but you get the message.

Harper’s father, Ron, works with iron, tying rebar. It’s tough manual labor. Bryce saw how hard his father had to work, and that pushed him to practice and train at his craft every day. MLB.com did a short feature on the relationship between the two in 2013.

On top of the eye black message, Harper also wrote a tribute to his dad on Instagram.

In 2015, Harper skipped out on the Home Run Derby while his father was recovering from rotator cuff surgery. Turns out, throwing countless balls to your son every single day takes a toll on your arm.

Ron is healthy now, and so is his son. Bryce is off to a blazing start, hitting .317/.421/.609, with 17 home runs, over 273 plate appearances. When MLB asks him to participate in the Home Run Derby again this year, we know who he’ll call.

(BLS H/N: FTW)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik