Webb, Haren faltering at wrong time

Monday, September 8, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

Two weeks ago Brandon Webb was the clear front-runner for the National League Cy Young Award, and Dan Haren had a chance to be on the ballot. Nine days ago, the D-backs had a 4½-game lead and were probably one victory away from applying the coup de grace to the Dodgers -- one victory from Webb or one victory from Haren.

But Webb has collapsed in his last three starts, losing all three with a 12.51 ERA, and Haren has allowed 10 runs in his last 10 innings, dropping a couple of decisions. And in a shorter time than it takes to empty the parking lot at Dodger Stadium, Arizona trails L.A. by 1½ games, and scouts are buzzing that Webb and Haren are pitching hurt.  
 

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

    Follow Buster on Twitter: @Buster_ESPN

    Ask Buster a question: Buster's Mailbag

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