The Athletics aim for their seventh straight win Wednesday against US Gold Medal winner Ben Sheets and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Mark Mulder, a 21 game winner last season starts for the A’s against the Brewers.

The lefty is a different pitcher this year.

Arm tightness has changed Mulder into what I now call “The New Mulder.”

Click “Read More” and I’ll tell you what I mean.Baseball fans have seen three Mark Mulder’s since his debut in Cleveland on April 18, 2000.

The “Rookie Mulder” was hit often and hard before his season ended with a disc problem, just before the A’s playoff clincher.

“The Rookie Mulder” pitched 154 innings, getting tagged for 191 hits.

Clearly, a learning year for the freshman.

“The Rookie Mulder” didn’t have the good split finger nor the 94 MPH heater to bail him out of jams.

Good things were on the horizon as spring training started in 2001.

Pitching guru Rick Peterson said early on in Arizona that “The Second Year Mulder (TSYM)” picked up four to five miles on his fastball, had command of his split and looked like a new pitcher from the previous season.

Peterson was right.

“TSYM” learned how to pitch inside, changed speeds effectively, and went on to win 21 games finishing second to Roger Clemens in the Cy Young voting.

Peterson attributed the success of “TSYM” to a vigorous off season training program which fully rehabilitated his earlier back injury, plus Mulder’s full understanding of major league hitters and what they tended to do in certain situations.

Now we move into 2002.

Mulder started off quite well pitching eight innings on opening night, winning 8-3 over the Texas Rangers.

His velocity was fine, his split was diving, and his command was near perfect over his 96 pitches thrown that night..

Mulder had learned his pitching lessons well and seemed on his way to another big season
of dominating American league hitters.

Then things took an awful turn for the 24 year old star.

He complained of arm tightness, near his left forearm, in his next start in Seattle April sixth.

Then in his next start his velocity dropped from a high of 95 MPH to a new high of about 88 MPH.

If you work for the highway patrol it’s not a big deal to see someone’s speed drop 7 miles per hour, but if you are a major league pitcher, it is a tantamount to serving the ball up on a tee to big league hitters.

Mulder went on the DL. Hoping rest would cure the problem.

It has and it hasn’t, if you will follow me.

When he came off the DL on May 10th,”The New Mulder ( TNM)” slowly began to emerge.

Mulder found that he could no longer reach back and throw 94-95 at will. He could cut a few 92 MPH fastball’s when he neeed to, but not with the regularity the”The Second Year Mulder” could.

But what did develop before everyone’s eyes over his next few starts, is a very smart major league pitcher who can effectively change speeds, work the plate, and pitch out of trouble.

It took “TNM” a few starts to get comfortable with his new pitching style. This is a very resourceful young man who knows his craft.

The Athletics are five games behind Seattle in the AL West. Closing the gap in the division on

a daily basis.

The A’s feel they can count on “TNM” to give them six, maybe seven good innings. He isn’t going to blow hitters away like last year, but he is smart enough to hold the damage to a minimum, if he gets into trouble.

Mulder is now an accomplished major league pitcher. He works through the opposition lineup carefully, every pitch is important, setting up the next.

He is a surgeon on the mound.

He still asks that the stadium radar gun be turned off, trying to hide the fact from all in attendance that he no longer throws in the mid 90’s.

Maybe it gives him confidence not seeing the speed gun display the readings on the 75 MPH curves, the 88 MPH fastballs, or the 80 MPH split finger pitches.

Hey, big guy whatever works.

“The New Mulder has pitched three excellent games in a row, beating Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Houston.

It was the win over Houston that got my attention.

Mulder carefully worked through the Astro line up over 7.3 innings, giving up only 5 hits and 3 runs.

What got me was the fact that he looked very comfortable on the mound and easily had the Astros off balance all night.

Keeping batters off balance: the key to successful pitching.

Today, “TNM” pitches against a Brewer team hitting .221 against lefthanders. The match up looks favorable for the A’s even with Ben Sheets throwing for the opposition.

Who knows how “The Fourth Mulder” will pitch in the future.

For now, I have no problem with “the New Mulder”, in fact I’m looking forward to seeing the young master at work today.