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• From interview which is up at SBNationDC: "... So what does the catcher who went on to play 19 more seasons in the majors in a career that will likely earn him induction into the Hall of Fame think about 19-year-old Washington Nationals' outfielder Bryce Harper making his first All-Star appearance after a half of a season in the majors in which he's put up a .282/.354/.472 line with 15 doubles, four triples and eight home runs in 63 games and 277 PA's?
"I'm very happy for [Harper]," Pudge Rodriguez said in an interview this morning from Kansas City, Missouri, "We knew that he is a very special kid, a very special player and I'm very happy for him that he's already in the All-Star Game at such a young age. I think the talent is there. He proved that he can play at this level at such a young age, and look at [him], he's already in the All-Star Game at 19-years-old. He's a great kid, he plays the game hard and when you play the game hard good things are going to happen. And there you go, good things are going to happen, he's in the All-Star Game and participating and being in the clubhouse with all those superstars."
As for what advice he'd give Harper if he got a chance to speak to him in Kansas City this week, Rodriguez said simply, "Keep doing what he's doing, and don't do anything different. Just play the game like he always plays and basically, nothing, he's doing a great job. I think if you're in the All-Star Game it's because you did pretty good for the first-half, so you need to do the same [thing] in the second-half and end up having a great year."
• Read the rest over at SBNationDC:
Pudge Rodriguez On The #Nats' Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg And His Newest Competitive Endeavor. sbn.to/MdFW41
— SBNation DC (@sbnationdc) July 9, 2012
• Note: Pudge Rodriguez is in Kansas City this week to participate in the All-Star festivities before Tuesday night's 2012 edition of the mid-summer classic and also to promote his participation in Head & Shoulders' "Mane Man Competition" which pits him against the Yankees' Nick Swisher and Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley in a series of odd competitions and a virtual campaign to find the next Head & Shoulders' "Mane Man." Check out the videos he's done on YouTube and check out the promotion's FaceBook page HERE.