“Who is this guy Duchscherer? You mean he made the All-Star team?”

White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, never a fan favorite in these parts, offered that opinion three years ago when a relatively unknown 27-year-old journeyman pitcher named Justin Duchscherer was chosen to be the A’s representative at the All-Star game.

Fast forward to present day and even Pierzynski will grudgingly admit that Duchscherer is a worthy member of the 2008 American League All-Star team that played earlier this week at Yankee Stadium.

Duchscherer finished the first half with a 10-5 record and an American League leading 1.82 ERA.

“I’m not shocked,” Duchscherer told The Union about his performance thus far. “I look at my numbers and realize I’m having a really good season. I just feel fortunate to have caught some breaks.”

The Big Cat
Sacramento River Cats fans certainly remember what Duchscherer did just five years ago when he won 14 of 16 decisions for the A’s Triple-A affiliate. As you can imagine, Duchscherer also has some fond memories of that season.

“That was my favorite minor league city to play in,” Duchscherer recalled. “We had great crowds every night and I had my best season. It was as good as it gets.”

Those stats earned Duchscherer a chance to show his stuff at the big league level. Duchscherer had a “cup of coffee” with the Texas Rangers back in 2001, but after spending most of the first eight years of his pro career pitching for teams in such far-flung places as Augusta, Sarasota and Trenton, the promotion to Oakland was the break he needed. After starting in three games that first year, Duchscherer was moved to the bullpen and spent most of the next four seasons as a middle reliever. The low-key Duchscherer was successful enough to earn that All-Star berth in 2005, as he posted solid numbers with a 7-4 record and a 2.21 ERA on the season.

This year A’s management decided to move him into the rotation. The promotion worked out well as Duchscherer turned into Oakland’s ace. On June 28, he locked up with Giants’ young All-Star Tim Lincecum in a classic pitchers’ duel that the Giants won in narrow fashion, 1-0, despite Duchscherer limiting the Giants to just two hits in eight innings.

“I remember looking at Kurt [Suzuki] in the late innings and saying, ‘These are the kind of games that are fun to play.’ To me, this is what baseball is all about, because pitching wins games. I hated losing that duel with Lincecum, but I’ll remember that game for a long time.”

Just two weeks later Duchscherer pitched another gem, this time a complete game two hit, 2-0 shutout of the Mariners that many considered the best performance of his career.

Winning Without Flash
Still, fans outside of Northern California may not know that much about Ducscherer because he isn’t the classic ace.

“I think the reason I don’t get a lot of pub is that I’m not flashy,” Duchscherer explained.

“I don’t throw 95 miles an hour and I don’t strike out a lot of guys. I just go about my job quietly. I sink it, I cut it and I get pop outs and grounders.”

Those qualities have made life easier for Manager Bob Geren, who can usually count on resting his bullpen when the 30-year-old Duchscherer takes the mound.

Getting back on the hill wasn’t expected to happen quite so quickly for him after off-season surgery. Duchscherer had a torn labrum in his right hip as well as some arthritis. But the operation cleaned up the problems and now Duchscherer says he feels as good as ever. That’s not good news for opposing hitters.

With Rich Harden traded recently to the Cubs, Duchscherer is now the undisputed ace of the staff.

He admits that this latest A’s trade of another proven veteran by savvy General Manager Billy Beane raised a few eyebrows in the clubhouse.

“But it’s hard to second-guess Billy’s decision,” Duchscherer said. “He traded Dan Haren and everyone said, ‘What’s going on here?’ But we got starters Greg Smith, Dana Eveland and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez in that deal. They’ve all had a big impact on our team. I hated to see Harden and [Chad] Gaudin go, but I suspect we got some good players in return.”

As for Duchscherer, he couldn’t be happier as a starter, as he was always campaigning to move from the bullpen to the starting rotation.

“It’s so much better because you have four or five days to heal up,” Duchscherer said.

“As a reliever, I was always sore because I was sometimes throwing two or three days in a row. It’s nice being a starter because you have a routine and you know when you’re pitching.”