Bryce Harper hit the biggest home run of his life this last weekend.
The two-run bomb in the eighth inning gave Harper’s Philadelphia Phillies a 4-3 Game 5 victory over the San Diego Padres in the National League Championship Series and sent the Phillies to the World Series.
Harper, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was named the series MVP after hitting .400 with two home runs. The series win also gave Philadelphia its first NL pennant since 2009.
“This city, this team … it’s all for them,” Harper said after the game, according to Axios. “But the job’s not done.”
The Phillies will face the Houston Astros in the World Series. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 28, in Houston.
Harper hopes to duplicate his heroics in the World Series, he told NBCsports.com.
“You dream about those moments in the backyard, but it’s always in the World Series,” he said. “So it’s on to that next step.”
Video posted on Facebook captured the Latter-day Saint husband and father of two celebrating the triumphant moment with his family. Harper is married to Kayla Varner Harper, a former BYU soccer player.
Harper, a seven-time all-star and two-time National League MVP, started his career with the Washington Nationals before he signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies in 2019.
The Harpers attended general conference in October 2018 and met with President Russell M. Nelson and other Church leaders. They shared photos on Instagram.
As a 16-year-old high schooler in Las Vegas, Harper was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline of “Baseball’s Chosen One” and “Baseball’s Lebron” James. The article reported that he attended “religious education classes nearly every morning.”
