Fun-loving Harper a huge fan of Bautista's bat flip

Bryce Harper is trying to change the culture of baseball.

He wants the game to be fun again and he's even got a hat and T-shirt to prove it.

And while the reigning National League MVP continues to make strides toward bringing fun and emotion back into the game, he believes Jose Bautista's famous bat flip from Game 5 of the ALDS may have been the best thing to help baseball with this transition.

"That was just a huge situation," Harper explained to ESPN's Jayson Stark. "And it's like I was saying. You never know what you're going to do. You have a whole country behind you. And being able to show an emotion in the playoffs ... I mean, I have no idea what I would have done if I had hit that homer. I have no clue. So I enjoyed seeing it. And I think Major League Baseball enjoyed seeing it. They put it everywhere, so they must have.

"What an incredible moment for baseball, just as a fan of the sport," Harper added. "I mean, how many NFL or NBA or Olympian or any athletes - they all know about the Bautista bat flip, because it's incredible, because it's out there. He put it out there. It's fun. The emotion was amazing."

Harper's campaign to "Make Baseball Fun Again" followed a March interview when he said "baseball's tired."

His opinion, as well as Bautista's bat flip, sparked controversial words from former players, with the old school voicing their opinions of how baseball should work.

The 23-year-old Harper is off to an incredible start to the 2016 campaign, slashing .328/.430/.844, while leading MLB in home runs (nine) and RBIs (24).