Bryce Harper's Brother Reveals Origin of ‘That's a Clown Question, Bro'

This may be news to you, but Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has a brother who happens to also play in the Nationals organization. An older brother.

Bryan Harper, 22, is a pitcher for the Auburn (N.Y.) Doubledays of the Short Season Class A New York-Penn League. By the way, the team gets its name from Abner Doubleday, a Civil War general who is often mistakenly credited with inventing the game of baseball (thank you, Wikipedia).

Anyways, Bryan was recently the focus of a feature story up in Auburn. Naturally, he was asked about his very famous brother and the now-famous quip that has taken the world by storm (perhaps I'm exaggerating): "That's a clown question, bro."

"I thought it was great,” Bryan said.

The snappy retort is already on T-shirts and getting references on the late night talk show circuit.

“That is actually from one of my good friends,” Bryan Harper said, referring to Donn Roach, a friend from the Harper’s hometown of Las Vegas. Roach was drafted by the Angels and is now in the Padres system.

“That is one of his (Roach’s) words. He has always used 'clown' as an (adjective),” Bryan Harper said.

As for how his brother used the reference in context: “That is some saltiness. A little bit of veteran swagger right there for Bryce.”

Perhaps that wasn't as fascinating as any of us would have hoped, but it is an interesting story nonetheless. The entire feature is worth a read. I did so while wearing my "Clown Question" shirt.

Meanwhile, the reporter who asked the notorious question has revealed his side of the story here.

(Originally blogged by D.C. Sports Bog)


Adam Vingan is co-founder and editor of Kings Of Leonsis, a Caps-centric blog. Follow him on Twitter @AdamVingan and e-mail your story ideas to adamvingan (at) gmail.com.

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