Ode to Rich Harden

Okay, a bit of background here. My favorite MLB baseball team, the Oakland A's, have an extremely talented ace pitcher named Rich Harden who unfortunately is the most oft-injured and fragile MLB player this side of Carl Pavano (Yankees fans will know what I'm talking about). A full season for an MLB starting pitcher is 34-35 starts. Harden has 38 starts over three seasons. Last year he made four. When he's pitching, he's one of the best, the key word being when. So far, he's gotten through one week of the '08 season, yet he was inexplicably scratched from tomorrow's start against the Blue Jays and replaced Given his history, us A's fans have a familiar sense of foreboding regarding Mr. Harden, and many have predicted another long Disabled List (DL) stint. I have put the feelings of A's fans worldwide together, in poetic form.

To Rich...

You are quite a talent,
To hitters you're hell,
We'd love a Cy Young,
Yet you love the DL.

You have a super arm,
And a knack for throwing K's,
But I see you'll be out,
For at least ten more days.

It's really not fair,
I can scream, I can pout,
But while you're still hurting,
This team's bottoming out.

Now it's not all your fault,
But it pains me to say,
I expected much more,
By how much you get paid.

So who's your fill-in today?
It's some Double-A scrub,
So get better soon,
Or we'll really be in troub...le.