Rich Harden

James Richard Harden (born November 30, 1981) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.

Harden attended Claremont Secondary School in Victoria, British Columbia. He was a childhood friend and neighbor of Olympic diver Riley McCormick. Harden was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 38th round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft, but instead attended Central Arizona College, from where he graduated in 2001. While there he played baseball alongside future MLB All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler.

He led all NJCAA Division I pitchers with 127 strikeouts in 2001, and his ERA of 2.14 was the 5th lowest in the nation. In his first professional season as a 19-year-old with the Vancouver Canadians in Single-A, Harden had a 2–4 record in 18 games (14 starts), a 3.39 ERA, allowed only 47 hits and struck out 100 batters in 74 innings.

Harden was drafted by the Athletics in the 17th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft, and signed by the team on May 28, 2001, shortly after graduating.

In 2002, Harden began the year with the Single-A Visalia Oaks of the California League and was very impressive in 12 starts, as he had a 4–3 record with an ERA of 2.91, and struck out 85 batters in 68 innings. Halfway through the 2002 season, Harden was promoted to the Double-A Midland RockHounds of the Texas League, where he continued his impressive season, earning a record of 8–3, with an ERA of 2.95 in 16 starts. He also struck out 102 batters in 85 innings. His combined 2002 stats were 12–6, 2.93 ERA, 187 strikeouts and 75 walks in 153 innings.

Harden began the 2003 season with Midland, and in 2 games, he had a 2–0 record and pitched 13 perfect innings, striking out 17 along the way. He was then promoted to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League, where he pitched very well. In 16 games, 14 of which he started, Harden went 9–4 with an ERA of 3.15. Overall, Harden finished with a combined 11–4 record, 2.74 ERA, 107 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings in the minor leagues during the 2003 season. He was then promoted to the Oakland Athletics in July 2003.

Harden made his major league debut on July 21, 2003, against the Kansas City Royals. He held the Royals to only one run on four hits in seven innings, earning a no decision. Through Harden's first five starts, he had a 3–1 record, with an ERA of 1.69. In his next two, he allowed six runs in four innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 21, and then eight runs in 2.2 innings on August 26 against the Boston Red Sox. He finished the season with a 5–4 record and an ERA of 4.46. Harden pitched in two games in relief with the Athletics in their Division Series matchup with the Red Sox. In his playoff debut on October 1, Harden earned the win, pitching a scoreless inning. However in his second appearance, he pitched only 1⁄3 of an inning, and allowed two runs and was tagged with the loss.

Harden began the 2004 season with the Sacramento River Cats, coming out of spring training as the A's 5th starter. But the Athletics had two off days in the first eight days of the season, and they optioned him down to get a start in the minor leagues. He pitched in one game, losing 5–3 to the Edmonton Trappers. The Athletics called him up on April 10, and he put together a very solid season with an 11–7 record and an ERA of 3.99. Harden compiled an 8–2 record and an ERA of 3.49 after the All-Star break. He ranked 8th in the AL with 167 strikeouts, and was tied for 7th with 81 walks. Harden allowed just 16 home runs in 189.2 innings, an average of 0.76 per nine innings, which was tied for 4th lowest in the American League. He threw the fastest fastball of all major league starters, averaging 94.3 miles per hour.