I like how action cards can so easily trigger a pleasant baseball audio flashback, like this one does. Different sets of uniform wrinkles doing different things betray the multiple things going on in a pitcher's delivery.
I also like how the infield dirt and the infield grass cleanly cut the card in half - methinks this might make for an interesting parallel version. And then the chalk of the first base line nicely parallels the line of Haren's arms, and vision to the plate, making it oh so easy for your brain to contemplate the flight of the baseball just about to begin.
And my final click on the Like button for this card is that it is _not_ a horizontal card. Although I like horizontal cards, I don't always care for Topps' propensity to use all that space just to show off a Pitcher's upper torso and fully extended arms, in a photo like this. It is nice to see how the legs contribute to the delivery, something seen here a bit more than on the Kershaw card.
Uniform Hero? Smack dead center on the card and right on that perfect visual break line of the infield grass, too, this is another card with a pretty easy to remember card #.
Where’d the egg hatch? Haren was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round in 2001 and would debut with them just 2 summers later.
How about the migrations? St. Louis was soon unable to resist trading their young right-hander to Oakland in exchange for established Ace Mark Mulder during another one of Billy Beane's teardowns. If I were to include various General Managers in the labels on these posts, I am confident I know which GM would get the most.
Not surprisingly, Haren would not retire as an Athletic as he was traded to the Diamondbacks and then the Angels in complex multi-player trades involving several other eventual MLB starting Pitchers.
Just as this card was being created, Haren finally reached the end of a contract and could test the Free Agent waters for the first time. This led to a one year deal to pitch for the Nationals in 2013, followed by stops in L.A., Miami, and finally Chicago in 2015, where his final start yielded a 6 Inning, 3 Hit, 1 Run, Win on the last day of the regular season. Subsequently, he was left off the Cubs playoff roster for their run to the NLCS that year and retired shortly afterwards.
He is currently still part of Major League Baseball, working in the Front Office for the Diamondbacks.
Don’t flip over real Turtles.
Can't go wrong just letting the #s from 11 years of Major League action speak for themselves. I am always intrigued by the way WHIP and ERA can correlate so differently from year-to-year for basically successful Pitchers like Dan Haren, as they do here in 2006 and 2007. The '07 Athletics must have drastically improved their defense, is all I can conclude.
Can the Turtle Catch the Rabbit?
CAREER CHASE: With 119 wins, Haren is 392 away from Cy Young's all-time record of 511.
This particular Chase stat gives me a pleasant flashback to 1970s Fleer stickers, as one of those efforts (which I peeled and stuck on something) gave me something on the back: a simple illustration of a gigantic triple set of numbers 5-1-1 and a brief explanatory text in small type. Even as a child, I knew that was a record that couldn't possibly be broken.
Haren finished his career with 153 Wins.
Subspecies? Given his December Free Agent signing, Haren will get another card in Update. He did not crack any other Sea Turtle checklists in Chrome or Opening Day, something not common for just a solid mid-rotation starter.
Bling That Shell With all the clean background elements in 3 basic portions, I figured this one would look good on the Blue Sparkle parallel. Let's take a look:
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