A's Win

ARI 0 OAK 3

The A's got their first Cactus League victory today with Rich Harden on the mound.

Rich looked pretty good today:

Rich Harden, the projected No. 2 starter, was dominant in three innings, striking out three and yielding two singles.

-MLB.com

He also struck out the side in the first after allowing a lead-off single.

Also a Susan Slusser article on Harden appeared in todays Chronicle here's a few quotes:

"This is Rich's third year in the league, and it's just a matter of time before he's a Cy Young-caliber pitcher,'' Oakland outfielder Eric Byrnes said. "He throws 100 mph, and his slider and his split-finger are as good as anyone's. He has the potential to become one of the top five pitchers in the game. Now it's just a matter of doing it.''

OK, this is cool. Here's the kicker

He appears mild-mannered and good-natured off the field, and most of the time, he is. During his starts, though, he can become emotional and temperamental, to the point where manager Ken Macha told him to cool it after one too many displays of frustration in the dugout.

"Macha grabbed him last year and told him, 'With the stuff you have, if you control your emotions, there's no limit to what you can do,' '' pitching coach Curt Young said. "That inner fire Rich has is an asset, but sometimes it can hurt his game.''

Young describes Harden's personality as being much like his pitching style.
"His delivery looks nice and calm, and then there's an explosion when the ball comes out of his hand,'' Young said. "And (his personality) is calm, calm and then he explodes.''

Remember Rich, fear leads to hate, and hate...leads to the dark side.

Down the stretch last year the A's were described as a team without a fire, many fans worrited that after the loss of Hudson that the A's lost their hard-core competitor on the team. I think Kendall and Harden are more than willing to pick up the slack.

I'm very excited about this team the A's are fielding this year. I know that the playoffs are going to be a long shot unless a few things fall in our favor (and a few thing falling against the Angels favor) but this will be one exiciting summer, I can almost taste the beer I will be drinking at the Coliseum parking lot.

Ahh..Springtime, the only pretty ring-time, with a hey and a ho and a hey nonny no...It's from a Shakespeare sonnet, I forgot which one.