1.78 ERA

[Shakespeare]

That's mah boy, Danny Haren. If he can keep this up all season, he'd damn well better get the Cy Young (and he swings a mean bat during interleague play, too).



Dan Haren says he tries not to take the numbers next to his name too seriously. He knows what they are and knows what they mean. But he won't admit looking at them and then feeling his pulse rise or saying out loud: "I cannot believe this.''

Not even by the ERA, leading the American League at 1.78, in territory inhabited only by Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens in Haren's lifetime.

It's one thing to produce an ERA below 2.00 in the National League, where it happened four years running in the mid-90s. But Haren is doing it in the league of bombast, coping with designated hitters. If he got to face pitchers and treat the eighth batter as an optional opponent, who knows where he'd be?

As it is, that number - 1.78 -- is the stuff of fantasies, of Cy Young dreams and Hall of Fame possibilities. And here it belongs to a 26-year-old who wasn't even the ace in his own rotation a year ago, who ranked as Option 2-B at most, depending on the health and stability of Esteban Loaiza and Rich Harden.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/06/21/SPG3BQJ3RC1.DTL

[LSK]

1. and who has him in DU fantasy baseball? that would be me

You better not have cursed him with this post!

[Shakespeare]

2. Nobody can curse Haren.

He's beyond cursing (mostly because he--inexplicably--hasn't achieved superstar status....yet).

And he's pretty, too.

He's our only pitcher who doesn't 1. get injured constantly and then 2. melt down when he's healthy.

[LSK]

4. I also have Blanton who has been good this year

And Embree.

[brentspeak]

8. I last played Fantasy Baseball in 2001

After five years in a league, we finally won it all. That season, we had Sammy Sosa, Derek Jeter, Barry Zito, a whole bunch of solid players, but no reliable closer. However, we had an ace-up-our-sleeve, Javier Vazquez, who was the best pitcher in the National League in the second half of the season. I had to lobby my co-owner not to dump him at the All-Star break, and Javier ended up winning the season for us.

[LSK]

9. Ive been playing since the 90s

Its really simple to do with Yahoo. All the stats are right there and all you have to do is check your team in the morning.

[SoxFan]

11. Well, I had him last year

:banghead:

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. So you're not feelin' so bad

about that Zito thing, huh? :D




No, but the Giants are.

[Shakespeare]

5. I never really did....and...

...after his very first outing with the Giants, all I could do was laugh hysterically. What was even funnier than that was his spring training "hey, I'm going to change my stance" BS that lasted all of one day until the Giants' head office got to him and told him no, he's not changing a damn thing.

Poor Barry...always was a head case (I loved him while we had him, but I don't miss him that much). Haren just goes out and pitches.

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. I appreciate Knapp's point

"And, hey — this is the AL!"

In your league, starters can have an ERA of like 4.32 and nobody says anything. Do that over here and your ass is in the bullpen or Las Vegas.

[brentspeak]

6. What kind of pitches does he throw?

Nowadays, more than ever, young pitchers with Cy Young promise blow their arms out early (Kerry Wood, Mark Prior). Low mounds are still taking their toll.

[GOPisEvil]

10. Thanks for rubbing it in...

He was once property of the Cardinals. We Cards fans have the World Series to ease our pain slightly, but our pitching staff SUCKS this year. Hard, and the future doesn't look all that great...

[WCGreen]

12. It use to be all the rage back in the 60's when I came of

baseball age...

It's even harder now that they lowered the mound six inches back in I believe 68....