In his first plate appearance in a game against the San Francisco Giants last week, Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper showed up to the plate sporting a different bat than usual. The custom bat he was holding was baby blue, and he picked it for a very specific reason – for a gender reveal.
To reveal the gender of his fourth child, the two-time NL MVP asked teammate Trea Turner to help in a very specific way. Ahead of the game, Harper ordered two custom-made bats from Victus Sports — one of the bat manufacturers that produced the now-famous torpedo bat — in pink for a girl and blue for a boy. He then asked Turner to hand him the bat that corresponded with his new child’s gender.
“He’s a pretty creative guy,” Turner said, according to The Associated Press. “He was nice enough to ask me to do it and I thought it was a nice moment for him and his family.”
Turner added: “Any time you have a kid, I know it’s a fourth, but still, it’s pretty cool.” Turner even teased Harper by toying with the pink bat – the Harpers thought they were having a girl – before ultimately handing him the blue.
“I think he would have been excited either way,” Turner said. “Now he’s got two of each. I feel like, kind of a complete family already, but any time you can add another person to the family, I think it’s special. I think he’s super excited.”
Harper and his wife, Kayla, have three children together, a son named named Krew and two daughters named Brooklyn and Kamryn.