‘It’s a continual process of evolving and learning,’ B.C. product says

Giving back to the game that gave him so much is important to Rich Harden.

That’s why the former big league pitcher made his way north from his home in Minnesota to participate in a pitching and coaching clinic being held at Optimist Park this weekend by the West Winnipeg Minor Baseball Association.

Harden, who spent nine seasons in the majors with the Oakland A’s, Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers, will lead the clinic with his father, Russ.

“It’s nice to give back and help this newer generation of kids with everything I learned throughout my career and after, to pass that on,” said Harden. “I feel like it translates over to life as well. Learning to overcome adversity and dealing with the challenges. Baseball is a game of failures. Look at hitting, if you get three hits out of 10, you’re a good hitter.”

Ken Kurtz, who organized the clinic, expects that roughly 125 players ages 11 to 13 and more than 20 coaches will take part in the two-day event.

Harden was born in Victoria, B.C., but has strong ties to Winnipeg and to the province of Manitoba, as his father grew up here and his uncle Bud was a quarterback for the University of Manitoba Bisons and briefly for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1978.

“Even though I grew up on the West Coast, I would always come back and spend summers at Victoria Beach and spend time in Winnipeg,” said Harden. “So it’s kind of like a second home to me.”

Harden, now 43, has a simple message he likes to pass on to youngsters he comes into contact with at clinics like this one.

“I never had this dream of playing in the big leagues at a young age. I always enjoyed the game, I loved playing it and I just really had a lot of fun playing,” said Harden, noting that he didn’t even begin to think about playing professionally until Grade 11 or 12. “I was fortunate to have good coaches that made it fun and didn’t ruin it for me.

“I was an outfielder at the time and I loved pitching. I really enjoyed it, but I had never really pitched that much. I didn’t really know where the ball was going and I didn’t have much command.”

Slowly, but surely, Harden found his command and that led to him being chosen by the Seattle Mariners in the 38th round of the 1999 MLB draft.

Instead of signing his first pro contract, Harden opted to spend two seasons at Central Arizona College, where he was teammates with future Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler.

Harden was chosen by the Oakland A’s in the 17th round of the 2000 MLB draft and signed with them in May of 2001 after graduating from college.

“I worked hard every time I was out there and enjoyed working hard, too,” said Harden. “That’s one thing I want these kids to understand, that it’s fun and it feels good to work towards something. It may not be playing in the major leagues or playing in college — whatever you’re doing. It’s about constantly learning and applying yourself. That was it.

“You’ll run into people who (think they) know it all and they don’t think they need to work and they don’t listen to anybody. But even most big leaguers, at this point, who have been in the game for 10 or 15 years, they’re still working and evolving and learning new things. It never stops. Whether it’s baseball or other sports or somewhere else in life that somebody is passionate about, that’s what life is. It’s a continual process of evolving and learning and applying yourself. It feels good to work hard. That’s what I want these kids to realize.”

When asked for his proudest achievement during his nine seasons in the big leagues, Harden was stumped momentarily, then chose his MLB debut at Kauffman Stadium against the Kansas City Royals on July 21 of 2003.

With a number of family members in attendance, Harden held the Royals to one run on four hits over seven innings of work, leaving him with a no-decision.

“That’s a tricky one,” said Harden. “Being done for a while, you look back at things and remember things. My debut in Kansas City, that was a big moment. Pitching against another Canadian, Aaron Guiel, who was playing for the Royals, that was pretty cool.”

Harden also has an immaculate inning on his resumé, striking out three batters on just nine pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels in June of 2008.

“I had no idea that I actually did that until after the game until the reporters came up and told me,” said Harden. “I didn’t even realize it.”

Talk about being in the zone.

A series of injuries derailed Harden’s career and he didn’t pitch in the majors after 2011 when he returned to the A’s and made 15 starts.

That off-season, he had shoulder surgery to repair an injury he sustained while fielding a comebacker to the mound that was over his head.

“I wish we had some of the knowledge we have now, in regards to recovering from pitching and not over-doing things at certain times. There’s all sorts of technology now, the wearable devices that track your sleep, heart rate variability. I wish I would have had some of that,” said Harden. “For myself and the injuries I dealt with, looking back, I understand now what happened. Sometimes, I almost pushed myself too much.

“There was no emphasis on recovery and injury prevention. Back when I played, it was about keep pushing ahead and pushing through it. If you get injured, keep pushing through it until you physically can’t do it anymore and then we stop and we deal with it.”

One of Harden’s biggest disappointments from his professional career was that he never got the opportunity to represent Canada at the World Baseball Classic.

However, he’s proud of the growth of the sport in this country and was an important part of those steps forward.

“I wanted to play on those teams so badly. I wish I would have had that opportunity and it never worked out. I was always coming off a surgery or an injury,” said Harden. “It’s good to see the growth and you want to continue to see that.

“It’s always good to see these younger Canadians coming up, doing well and having good careers.”

Harden’s achievements were recognized by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023, when he was inducted with the class that included Joe Wiwchar of Morden, who went in as a builder.

“After I was done, it never really crossed my mind that I could be going into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. When I got that call and got to go out for that whole weekend, it was such a great experience and honour to be a part of that,” said Harden. “You mentioned Joe (Wiwchar). I got to meet him out there and I’ve always been a big advocate for people like that, who are building the sport. Too many times, the accolades go to the players. We just played the game.

“We got to experience it, but it’s people like Joe, who dedicate their life to grow the sport of baseball, it’s so huge. Because without people like that, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experience what I did. It was such a fun journey for me and I hope people like that know they are appreciated and they still have a huge impact on people’s lives. Hopefully we get more and more kids involved in the game, into colleges and professional ball — and hopefully they get to experience that, too.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld