One morning in 2015, as he neared the end of his career, Haren reflected on the progression of his goals. He never assumed he would earn 153 victories and lead the majors in starts across his final 11 seasons. All he wanted was to use baseball as a way into college. “I think I got an 80 percent scholarship to Pepperdine, and I was like, ‘I really made my parents proud,’” he said. “I thought that was it. I was happy.” Yet there was so much more to come. As a freshman, Haren replaced an injured teammate in the Waves’ rotation. As a sophomore, he surprised himself by how hard he could throw. As a junior, he was drafted by the Cardinals. Two years later, he reached the majors. “I thought, ‘Wow, if I could stay, that would be amazing,’” Haren said. “Then I was like, ‘Wow, I could make enough money to last a lifetime.’ When I signed my first deal with Oakland, it was like six years and $13 million. I thought, ‘I can’t believe I probably will never have to work again because of this.’ My career just kept going from there. But I never grew up thinking, ‘Oh, I want to be a Hall of Fame baseball player.’ I mean, I loved baseball, but I never thought I would be where I am today.” Today, he is on the ballot for Cooperstown.

Source: New York Times

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