Biography: Justin Craig Duchscherer...name is pronounced DUKE-sher...graduated from Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas in 1996 where he played baseball, basketball, and tennis...also played Little League, Pony League, and Colt League baseball...was originally signed by Boston scout Luke Wrenn...his uncle, Baxter McAlister played minor league baseball in the Houston Astros organization...liked the Astros, Rangers, and Yankees as a youngster with his favorite player being Nolan Ryan...wife's named is Michele...their first child, Evan Jacob, was born the day he made his A's debut, September 9, 2003. 2007 Career Highlights: Appeared in just 17 games before going on the disabled list in the middle of May with a strained right hip...had season ending surgery on the hip on July 11...was 3-3 with two blown saves and a 4.96 ERA...the ERA was his highest since posting a 12.27 ERA in five games during his first season in 2001 with Texas...allowed a .281 opponents batting average, a .351 onbase percentage and a.563 slugging percentage, which were also his highest figures since 2001 (.353/.421/.676)...his batting average broke down to .176 (6 for 34) against right-handers and .400 (12 for 30) against lefthanders... however, allowed all three of his home runs to right-handed hitters...opponents were just 1 for 20 (.050) with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 10 with RISP and two outs...has allowed a .133 (8 for 60) average with RISP over the last two years, including .091 (3 for 33) with RISP and two outs...allowed 2 of 7 (28.6%) inherited runners to score and first batters faced were 3 for 16 (.188)...has allowed a .132 (9 for 68) batting average to first batters faced over the last two years...tossed at least one inning in 13 of his 17 outings and his only outing over 1.0 innings came on April 5 at Los Angeles when he tossed 1.2 scoreless innings...was charged with his first blown save of the season in that game but later picked up the win in the A's 4-3 victory...did not allow a run in three outings and 3.2 innings against Los Angeles in 2007 and now has a 16-game, 20.1- inning scoreless streak against the Angels dating back to April 23, 2005...has a 1.21 ERA (5 er in 37.1 ip) in 22 career outings against Los Angeles...did not allow a run over a six-game stretch from April 24 to May 5 (5.1 ip)...picked up the win in consecutive outings on May 1 at Boston and May 4 at Tampa Bay, tossing a scoreless inning in each outing...first batters faced were 1 for their last 11 and he made his final appearance on May 14 against Kansas City (1.0 ip, 3 h, 2 r, 2 er)...was placed on the DL on May 22 retroactive to May 15, his second career stint on the DL...made one rehab start at Single-A Stockton on May 28 (1.0 ip, 1 so) before returning to the DL...Dr. Thomas Byrd in Nashville, Tennessee performed surgery on the hip on July 11 and Duchscherer was transferred to the 60-day DL the next day...missed the A's final 125 games.