Nats' Harper, Cubs' Bryant receive keys to hometown Las Vegas

Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant are the talented recipients of some significant Major League Baseball hardware as the reigning NL MVP and NL Rookie of the Year, respectively, but both ballplayers now have received a completely different kind of nifty hardware courtesy of their hometown of Las Vegas.

The Washington Nationals superstar and Chicago Cubs phenom were both back in Vegas on Thursday night to receive keys to the city during a ceremony presided over by Mayor Carolyn Goodman. The event drew over 1,000 people.

“You can’t put it in words how much this means to me, all this means to Kris,” said Harper, via D.C. Sports Bog. “We can’t thank Mr. and Mrs. Goodman enough for having us out tonight, and being able to do this.”

Both Harper and Bryant spent their formative years in Sin City, often playing on the same field, although mostly as opponents.

“He was always bigger than the competition,” Bryant recalled. “He was always just better, and he was younger. It was crazy to see that, how advanced he was at such a young age.”

The Cubs’ budding star also remembered a time when they played as teammates on the Southern Nevada Bulldogs as teenagers.

“We won a lot of tournaments, and lot of them were because of him,” he said.

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