TTM Stats
- Sent: 1/14/2020 | Received: 2/15/2020 | 31 Days
- ’05 Bazooka, ’08 Upper Deck, ’10 Topps Allen & Ginter
- Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)
The Story of the Autograph
Rich Harden is a former right-handed starting pitcher in the major leagues. He played from 2003 to 2011 with the Athletics (twice), Cubs and Rangers.
Harden is a Canadian born and bred in Victoria, British Columbia. He was originally drafted by the Mariners in the 38th round of the 1999 MLB Draft but chose to attend college in the U.S. instead. He went to Central Arizona College (playing with Ian Kinsler) and excelled. The next year, in 2000, the Athletics came calling in the 17th round of the MLB Draft and Harden sign with them shortly after graduating. He made his debut two years later on July 21, 2003.
He had an OK rookie year with highs and lows but he did make the postseason roster and made a couple of appearances. He started the next season in the minors but made it to the big club and put up two pretty good seasons:
- 2004: 31 Starts, 11-7 Record, 3.99 ERA
- 2005: 19 Starts, 10-5 Record, 2.53 ERA
He dealt with an oblique injury in 2005 that sidelined him for a bit. Unfortunately that continued in 2006 when he had two stints on the DL and only pitched 9 games, but with a 4-0 record. 2007 was again a tough season for dealing with injuries.
2008 was another year for a stint on the DL but he saw a lot more success. On June 8, 2008 he became the 38th pitcher to strike out three batters on nine pitches in the first inning of a game against the Angels. He went 5-1 with the Athletics and was traded to Chicago. He went 5-1 with them as well and tallied 181 strikeouts for the season with a 2.07 ERA between the leagues (1.77 with the Cubs).
After two years in Chicago he moved on tot the Rangers for a year and then back with the Athletics for his final season in the bigs. They A’s attempted to trade him to the Red Sox but it fell through because of Harden’s medicals. He underwent shoulder surgery and missed the entire 2012 season. He tried a comeback with the Twins but was ultimately unsuccessful.
The Score on Rich Harden – 7.5
I really dig Rich’s signature and it came out great on these cards. I think I like the signature on the Rangers card the best because of the blue ink going well with the Rangers’ colors. But My favorite card of the bunch is the Upper Deck card. I like the landscape orientation and it’s a nice and simple card design. I’m really glad that didn’t smudge because those cards have a tendency to do that.
Thanks Mr. Harden! I’m giving this return a 7.5.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.