Dan Haren Baseball Biography

Dan Haren went to Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California. He graduated in 1998 and got a scholarship to play baseball at Pepperdine University as an outfielder. While at Pepperdine Dan Haren switched positions and became a pitcher, however Dan still played the role of designated hitter. In 2001 Dan was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year. Dan played 3 seasons at Pepperdine before skipping his senior season to enter the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft.

Dan was selected in the second round 72nd overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft. After being drafted Dan started playing in A-Ball for the New Jersey Cardinals. He finished with a 3-3 record and 3.10 earned run average (ERA). In his first full season of professional baseball in 2002, Dan started in A-Ball playing for both the Perioa Chiefs and the Potomac Cannons. He made a total of 28 starts and had a ERA of 2.74. He also lead the entire Minor Leagues in innings pitched. The following season of 2003 Dan had advanced to Double-A and was playing for the Tennessee Smokies. He made 8 starts before he was moved up to Triple-A where he played for the Memphis Red Birds. While with Memphis Dan finished with a 2-1 record before he was bumped up to the Major Leagues. Dan logged his first Major League victory in just his 5th appearance by beating Kevin Brown and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

During the 2004 offseason Dan Haren was traded by St. Louis Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for Mark Mulder. 2005 was Dan's first full season in the Majors and he finished with a record of 14-12 and an ERA of 3.73. He finished 9th in the American League in innings pitched, 6th in strikeouts, 3rd in complete games and 1st in games started. In his next full season of 2006 Dan finished with a record 14-13 and an ERA of 4.12. 2007 was Dan's big break out year to show everyone he had finally arrived. He finished with a record of 15-9 and an ERA of 3.08. In addition Dan was named to his first All-Star game and was named the starting pitcher for the American League. He finished in 5th in the American League in wins and 8th in strikeouts, 3rd in ERA and 1st in games started.

2007 would be Dan's last season in Oakland as during the offseason Dan was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a package of players. In his first season in Arizona Dan continued right where he left off in Oakland and finished with a record of 16-8 and an ERA of 3.33. He was also named to his second All-Star game. In 2008 Dan finished 6th in the National League in innings pitched, 2nd in strikeouts and 2nd in games started.

In 2009 Dan took over as the Diamondback's ace due to injuries to Brandon Webb. Dan didn't dissapoint as he was named to his third All-Star gane in a row. Dan finished the 2009 season with a 14-10 record and an ERA of 3.14. He ranked 3rd in the National League in strikeouts, 1st in WHIP, 3rd in Complete Games and 2nd in Innings Pitched.

Dan Haren got off to rocky start in 2010 and failed to make the All-Star team for the first time in 3 seasons. Playing on a Diamondback's team which one of the worst teams in the league, it was hard for Dan to ever get it going. Since the Diamondbacks were going no where fast they were trying to get rid of big contracts and get younger. So on July 25th 2010 the Diamondbacks traded Dan to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for Patrick Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez and Joe Saunders. At the time of the trade Dan had a record of 7-8 and an ERA of 4.60. Upon joining the Angels Dan Haren chose to wear the number 24 and which he last wore for the A's in 2007.