July 25, 2007

Harden nearly ready to test his arm

Susan Slusser

Anaheim -- Rich Harden might not be with his teammates, but he's working hard while away from them in his hometown of Victoria, British Columbia, and he's close to throwing again. So close that he might begin some light toss today.

"I don't want to go too quick,'' said Harden, who has been on the disabled list twice with a shoulder impingement. "I can go light, ease into it, build up my arm strength.''

Harden is working with his longtime trainer and chiropractor, Dr. Jamie Grimes, along with other top athletic experts in Canada and, the right-hander said, "The training, the rehab, is excellent, stuff I missed out before (the last time he was on the DL). When you don't pitch for a while, you lose a lot of individual muscle control; it's amazing. I didn't realize how far off I was.''

Harden is working with light weights and doing a lot of rotational exercises and, he said by phone Tuesday, "I'm definitely feeling good about how I'm progressing.''

Harden will meet the team in Seattle on Thursday, but he's not sure if he'll return to the Bay Area next week to continue rehab or go back to Canada to keep working with Grimes.

And the winner is: Several A's officials expressed surprise that the official scorer at Angel Stadium on Monday night awarded the victory to Joe Kennedy, who pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings, rather than Kiko Calero, who came into the game with the bases loaded in the fourth, got out of the inning and pitched a scoreless fifth.

Mike Selleck of the A's media-relations department discussed the decision with the official scorer, pleading Calero's case to no avail, and manager Bob Geren said Tuesday, "I was very happy with the way Joe pitched, but I felt Calero deserved the win.''

Briefly: There were reports that the Padres, Mike Piazza's last team, might have an interest in the A's DH, but one major-league source discounted that, saying Piazza isn't a good option for San Diego because he'd be limited to pinch hitting. ... The Angels might emerge as a possibility for Piazza if they cannot get one of the other hitters they're pursing; theories on that range from their ex-third baseman Troy Glaus to a particularly tantalizing -- if unlikely -- rumor about Alex Rodriguez. ... The A's were no closer to a deal to move outfielder Bobby Kielty, who was designated for assignment Monday. ... Chris Denorfia was scheduled to be examined by Dr. Tim Kremchek in Cincinnati, and the outfielder, out for the season after elbow-ligament replacement surgery, might be OKd for baseball activity. ... Two recent Oakland draftees, 12th-round pick Gary Brown and 37th-rounder Nick Longmire, joined the team on the field before Tuesday night's game. Neither has signed yet; Brown, an outfielder from Diamond Bar High School, has a scholarship offer at Cal State Fullerton, and Longmire, an outfielder from Grossmont High School, has an offer at Pacific.