Harper was drafted by the California Angels in the fourth round of the 1977 amateur draft before being assigned to the rookie-league Idaho Falls Angels. He would then progress rapidly through the Angels\' system, displaying the skills that he became known for in his major league career: an above-.300 average, good plate discipline, but an only average catcher\'s arm. After stops at Idaho Falls, Quad Cities, El Paso, he reached AAA Salt Lake City in 1981. However his career would soon stall.\n', '

Despite his first seeing action for the Angels in 1979 and his hitting .350 with 28 home runs and 122 RBI for Salt Lake City in 1981, the Angels were not interested in giving Harper time behind the plate, at first base, or DH over established stars such as Rod Carew, Bob Boone, Don Baylor, and Reggie Jackson. On 11 December, 1981, Harper was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 31-year-old utility infielder Tim Foli. However, his prospects would not improve with the Pirates as they had a star catcher of their own in the 25-year-old Tony Peña. Tried in the outfield, it was decided that he was too slow to be an adequate defender, and he again languished between Pittsburgh and AAA Portland. After three lackluster seasons where he spent much of the time on the Pirates bench, he would be traded to the St. Louis Cardinals after the 1984 season along with future all-star pitcher John Tudor, for minor league infielder Steve Barnard and outfielder George Hendrick. After seeing time in only 43 games with the Cardinals in 1985, Harper would be released by the team following the season. Harper\'s career appeared to have neared the end of the line as he would spend only 19 games with the Detroit Tigers in 1986 and 11 games with the Oakland Athletics in 1987, seeing most of his playing time back at the AAA level. After being released by the A\'s following the 1987 season, his career was at a crossroads.\n', '

Harper finally got his chance when he signed with the Minnesota Twins on 4 January, 1988. Although starting catcher Tim Laudner had been the primary catcher since 1982, he never hit as well as the team had hoped and bottomed out during the 1987 season and despite hitting 16 home runs he would only bat .191. Similarly, the other catchers that the Twins had tried in 1987, Tom Nieto, Mark Salas, and Sal Butera, did no better at the plate and were thus not seriously considered as replacements. Given an opportunity to play a meaningful stretch of time at his natural position of catcher, Harper would flourish in 1988, hitting .295 in 182 plate appearances – the most Harper had received in a single season in the majors. Although Laudner would continue to be re-signed by the Twins through the 1990 season, Harper would be the primary catcher for the Twins and see game action in at least 123 games for the next five years.\n', '

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