Phillies fan runs into Bryce Harper at New Jersey Trader Joe's
Phillies fan runs into Bryce Harper at New Jersey Trader Joe's
A local Phillies fan was shocked to run into Bryce Harper while browsing the aisles at a Trader Joe's in Cherry Hill. "He was just walking around shopping with his son in the cart grabbing groceries like a normal person," Marissa Boutilier said.
PHILADELPHIA - Seeing athletes on a larger-than-life scale makes it easy to forget that they're still normal people, and just like everybody else they often participate in the most trivial aspects of life.
So when Marissa Boutilier saw Phillies superstar Bryce Harper shopping with his son at a Cherry Hill Trader Joe's, she was a little caught off guard.
"I was looking around, and then we turned the corner, and I was like ‘oh my god, is that Bryce Harper," Boutilier said. "It was my first time in Trader Joe’s, and I'm like ‘Am I in a different universe right now? What’s going on?"
Just days ago Harper was rounding the bases after slugging an 8th inning 2-run home run in game 5 of the NLCS that clinched the pennant for Philadelphia. Harper was the MVP of the series and has clubbed 5 home runs this postseason.
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Still, arguably the best player in Major League Baseball found himself browsing the aisles of the same Trader Joe's as the 19-year-old Gloucester Township resident.
"He was just walking around shopping with his son in the cart grabbing groceries like a normal person," Boutilier said.
Taking advantage of the chance meeting with a Philadelphia icon in the midst of a historic postseason, Boutilier approached Harper and asked him for a picture.
"I turned the one corner, and I was looking eye-to-eye with him and I went up to him and asked for a picture, gave him a pat on the back and I said congratulations," Boutilier said.
Soon enough, Boutilier's phone was exploding with family and friends reacting to the photo taken in the unlikeliest of places.
"It's crazy I just watched Bryce Harper hit the winning hit to get us into the World Series, and then I ran into him at Trader Joe’s like it was nothing," Boutilier said.