Bryce Harper wants to bring Cam Newton-level excitement to MLB

ESPN put out a new feature about Bryce Harper, who overall seems like he's on a mission to make baseball just as exciting as all the other sports out there. It's definitely worth a read, but here are a few things that stood out the most:

1. He once made a wine-drinking Giants fan miserable during the 2014 NLDS.

During Game 4, a Giants fan "berated" Harper, which caught his attention and made him counter with his own trash talk. After a bit of lighthearted, but still contentious back-and-forth spats, Harper dropped the proverbial mic in his face:

Seconds later, Harper drove a fastball into San Francisco Bay. As he touched home plate and turned for the dugout, Harper fixed his eyes on the fan, holding his stare a step or two longer than necessary.

"He was just devastated about life," Harper says.

2. He wants to be a trendsetter when it comes being fashionable in baseball.

Something Harper notices that's lacking in baseball is a mainstream intersection between the sport and fashion. He sees it in other sports ...

"Endorsements, fashion -- it's something baseball doesn't see," he says. "In soccer, it's Beckham or Ronaldo. In basketball, it's Curry and LeBron. In football, it's Cam. Football and basketball have such good fashion."

... but baseball is unfortunately too strict for that:

The baseball player, on the other hand, is interviewed at his locker, often shirtless and sporting a hat head that can ruin even Harper's unique follicle landscaping. As Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman says, "We're uniformed personnel."

3. And to a larger point, Harper wants to make baseball just as provocative as what Steph Curry does for basketball and Cam Newton does for the NFL.

This seems to be Harper's overall mission statement while he's still in MLB:

"If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I'm going to go, 'Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.' That's what makes the game fun. You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football, basketball. Look at those players -- Steph Curry, LeBron James. It's exciting to see those players in those sports. Cam Newton -- I love the way Cam goes about it. He smiles, he laughs. It's that flair. The dramatic."

Say what you will about the athletes he names, but he has a point. They're divisive figures, but everyone can't stop talking about them, because they're great at their respective sports, and they're not afraid to show off their personality while they play.

You can read the rest of ESPN's profile on Harper, which includes his thoughts on his dugout incident with Jonathan Papelbon.