Topic: Dan Haren

Daniel John Haren (born September 17, 1980, in Monterey Park, California) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Haren, who is of Irish and Mexican descent, graduated from Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, CA in 1998. He attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA on a baseball scholarship. It was there that Haren teamed up with Noah Lowry, a left-handed pitcher just one month younger than Haren, to form the best starting pitching duo in the West Coast Conference. In the 2001 season, Haren posted a 2.22 ERA in 17 starts, and Lowry posted a 1.71 ERA in 18 starts. The teammates (and roommates) skipped their senior seasons, and Lowry was taken in the 1st round (30th overall) by the San Francisco Giants and Haren was taken in the 2nd round (72nd overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft.

Haren made 28 starts in A-ball in 2002 for Peoria and Potomac, finishing with a combined ERA of 2.74. He started 2003 in Double-A Tennessee, but was promoted after eight starts to Triple-A Memphis.