16-Year-Old Quits School for Pros

A 16-year-old baseball player is skipping his last 2 years of high school to head to college—and hopefully a big-league contract, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Bryce Harper’s father acknowledges that “there are going to be critics” of the move, but says “Bryce is always looking for his next challenge. He's going to pursue his education, too.”

His son “initiated” the decision to get a GED, Ron Harper told the Review-Journal. Finishing high school qualifies him for the 2010 draft, the San Jose Mercury News notes. While the .625 hitter’s move is “controversial,” it “makes sense,” writes John Ryan. Top high-schoolers are already “professionals in every sense but the paycheck,” and the decision to head for the majors “is honest.”
(More baseball stories.)