Harang Hurling Friday the 13th Back to Life

Last time I gave Friday the 13^th any thought at all, it was 1986, and I was watching a large man in a hockey mask slash bare-breasted women to pieces. That same day, the dominant Doc Gooden infamously fanned thirteen batters in a masterpiece for the would-be champion, New York Mets. Since then, the 13th has lost its spook, and become just another excuse for the vamp geeks of America to wear plastic teeth and bathe in a tub of ketchup. That was until  the ordinary Aaron Harang of the Dodgers, took it upon himself to resurrect the 13^th of Friday – twenty six years later— with an abnormal performance against the San Diego Padres on Friday.  Bill paying, taxes, politics, indigestion and knee soreness took a backseat to his superior performance.

Harang, who came into the game with an 0-1 record and a 5.95 ERA, became the first Dodger in the franchise’s illustrious history to strike out nine straight batters. He did so with an onset of off speed pitches and corner dashing fast balls— the movement on his pitches had a wicked corner to corner velocity downright unhittable, landing him 13 strikeouts in the outing – the first since Gooden in 86’.

The righty threw 6 1/3 innings, propelling the Dodgers to a 13^th of Friday-like victory. An 8-8 tie ended on four straight walks in the ninth inning.  Andre Ethier strode home to break the tie and I couldn’t help but notice the proximity to the historically supernatural date. Whether or not it consumes me long enough for next year is yet to be seen. But the now 9-1 Dodgers are sure believers as their red hot season continues and the curse of McCourt evaporates slowly to a fuzzy and distant memory.