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Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > April > 12 > Entry

The Second Coming: Aaron Harang version

By Hal McCoy | Sunday, April 12, 2009, 05:35 PM

Please don’t consider me irreverent or blasphemous or a heathen. I just can’t resist this one:

On Easter Sunday, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aaron Harang had his Second Coming. He is risen.

I just dodged a lightning bolt. Sorry, sir.

But after going 6-17 last year and losing on Opening Day this year, Harang was the Harang of a couple of years ago.

Even on days when Harang is unhittable, untouchable and unbelievable, his Cincinnati Reds teammates treat him as a third cousin from the bad side of the family.

On Easter Sunday, Harang threw a bunch of uncolored eggs at the Pittsburgh Pirates, a three-hitter in which he had batters nibbling at jelly beans all afternoon during a 2-0 victory, the first complete game in the majors this season.

Brandon Phillips gave him a 2-0 lead in the first with a home run, then the Reds twice left runners on second and third with one out and even hit into a triple play, forcing Harang to be at his dominant best.

He was overly dominant. He threw 108 pitches, 80 for strikes. He went to three balls on only one batter and two balls on only seven.

“That’s the Aaron Harang I remember from 2006 and 2007,” said Phillips, who homered with two outs in the first on a 2-2 pitch after Willy Taveras led the inning with a double.

Harang gave up a single to Nyjer Morgan opening the game. He hit Morgan with two outs in the third, Brandon Moss singled with two outs in the fifth and Morgan singled with one out in the ninth.

Not one Pirate put a foot on second base.

Closer Francisco Cordero was warming up in the ninth when Morgan singled with one out, causing manager Dusty Baker to think about replacing Harang.

“He would have had to drag me off the mound,” said Harang, who needed 114 pitches to get to five innings on Opening Day.

“That’s a tough position for a manager — what if you take him out and something happens and what if you leave him in and something happens? He had good tempo and good rhythm, so you look at his pitch count and see how his throwing,” said Baker.

Decision? Easy. Leave him in.

“You try to handle a decision like that, but you don’t handle it very well,” said Baker. “But he was dealing and you could tell he really wanted that one.”

And since it was Harang, Baker worried about his team cluttering the bases with stranded runners and said, “I was hoping the whole game that those baserunners we left with less than two outs wouldn’t haunt us. But Aaron was masterful.”

And, as usual, not that impressed with himself.

“I threw some good games a couple of years ago, including a complete game at Pittsburgh to end the season,” he said. “It was nice to get a complete game early in the season because they don’t happen very often any more. I wanted to give the bullpen a day off and give us good energy heading for the road.”

That’s Harang, thinking of the other guys, who give it their best but seldom give him much help.

“They knew I was throwing strikes and had to swing,” he said.

Permalink | Comments (24) | Post your comment |

Comments

By Larry

April 15, 2009 10:06 PM | Link to this

Harang Arroyo Volqez Owings Cueto HAVOC WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF THEY PERFORMED THAT WAY!

By AP-FLORIDA

April 14, 2009 2:23 PM | Link to this

Can’t we all just be friends? Go Reds!

By Mike

April 13, 2009 11:30 PM | Link to this

With arrogant know-it-alls like Get Real and many other negative posters on this blog, what’s the difference what else is posted besides baseball? Some of the negativity is most boring, and very unattractive.

By Professor

April 13, 2009 9:58 PM | Link to this

Yep, the blogcopwatcher has it right. Get real is probably one of the morons who reads at the third grade level, and couldn’t retain anything he reads; so how can we expect him to understand a message for he and all the other brain dead failures from our educational systems. other idiots

By BlogCopWatcher

April 13, 2009 9:28 PM | Link to this

Get Real/The way I read Wizard’s message is that people like you need to chill on this blog. You know, people that think no one else but them can have an opinion on baseball

By Get Real

April 13, 2009 6:58 PM | Link to this

Wizard - I suggest a stay at Trembling Hills might settle you down to the point where you no longer need to post nonsense about Chinese flower pots and recession-proof jobs on a baseball blog … on the other hand, the blog may have a soft spot for morons who post nonsense so keep it there Mr. Goofy and keep writing your stupidity.

By SMSgt Gary W Worrell

April 13, 2009 1:46 PM | Link to this

Please remind Dickerson and Jay Bruce when the Nation Anthem is playing, to show respect and shoot the crap

By Wow

April 13, 2009 1:40 PM | Link to this

So complete games are bad? I also have to wonder about Wizard baseball knowledge. Wizard you do realize that with Harang’s pitch count, it was MORE likely he would have stayed in the game for a complete game if there had been more runs scored? You understand that in today’s baseball with the over reliance on closers, that a lot of starters lose their chances at complete games where there is still the possibility of putting in the fresh closer in a game where a save is possible? So really Harang staying in was more due to pitch count and confidence in his stuff at that point than it was an indictment of the offense.

By SMSgt Gary W Worrell

April 13, 2009 1:39 PM | Link to this

My Son (David) and I went to the Reds game Sunday. We enjoyed a great game together, being he is deploying to Balad, Iraq later this month

By Wizard

April 13, 2009 11:33 AM | Link to this

Perhaps, a word to the wise is in order on this blog. An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. ‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’ The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’ ‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.’ ‘For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this Beauty to grace the house.’ Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! Worried about job security? Check out the 5 safest jobs in a recession.

By Wizard

April 13, 2009 10:48 AM | Link to this

Jim T: Apparently letting YOU understand anything would take awhile…After reading your attempts at the english language on this blog{could you learn the correct spelling of Harang?}I wouldn’t recommend you as the New Blog Cop, anytime soon.I suppose you were only looking at the fine performance of our ace; and not the danger he faced in pitching into the ninth. Did we forget the arm trouble caused last year? I was elated at his fine performance; but remain dismayed at his teams lack of run support from last season to this.Please refrain from demonstrating your baseball ignorance in future rants.

By Nick W

April 13, 2009 10:16 AM | Link to this

good point cait about the hit and run. Thats one of the chances you take when u send more then one runner. I agree that is was an aggressive move and one that we will see a lot this year. Hopefully it works out better next time.

By Cait

April 13, 2009 9:59 AM | Link to this

The first hit was a double. I don’t see the triple play as a blunder. Sure, the outcome would say so, but I like the aggressive play to send the runners to try to manufacture another run or two.

By David

April 13, 2009 9:48 AM | Link to this

“Not one Pirate put a foot on second base.” Hate to make a correction, but Morgan’s hit in the first was a leadoff double.

By Scott

April 13, 2009 9:44 AM | Link to this

Not only was Harang’s performance great but finally we have a manager who will ride his ace like he should. I also think Harang sent a message to the offense to “step their game up”. Hopeffuly they were paying attention.

By Nick W

April 13, 2009 9:43 AM | Link to this

welcome back hal missed ya!! Good game by Harang it is nice to see him start off the year so good after last year and spring this year. I really dont care if the reds only score two runs because that was all we needed to score with the way harang pitched.As long as we keep pitching like that we can get away with just 2-3 runs a game.

By grannybar

April 13, 2009 9:03 AM | Link to this

Hooray for Harang. He deserves it, since the players can’t seem to give him any run support. Go Aaron!

By Jim T

April 13, 2009 8:15 AM | Link to this

Wizard, let me understand this the 2-0 game that Harrang pitched and won is tainted because we didn’t score more runs or because he went the whole nine innings. Your amazing.

By Brandon

April 13, 2009 7:59 AM | Link to this

Harang looked great even with a lack of run support as usual. Hal I did notice one mistake. You said no Pirate touched second base, but didn’t Morgan lead the game off with a double on the diving attempt by Willy?

By Bill Lawrence

April 13, 2009 6:40 AM | Link to this

Now it off for the first road trip. Where will Hal’s luggage be tonight?

By Y-City Jim

April 13, 2009 12:02 AM | Link to this

Hal, I don’t think “hitting into a triple play” is the correct perception of that particular play. The Reds “ran into a triple play.” That is the second major base running blunder by the Reds in two days. This cannot continue if the Reds are to be competitive.

By Wizard

April 12, 2009 10:27 PM | Link to this

Nothing makes a team’s hitters, and others, look worse, than for a starter to have to pitch the ninth inning, in order to assure a win for himself.

By Mike-Cinci

April 12, 2009 9:24 PM | Link to this

Nothing makes a team look better than a well pitched game.

By Max

April 12, 2009 7:40 PM | Link to this

“overly dominant” Now that’s blasphemy!