Dallas Braden, best known for inciting a verbal war of words with Alex Rodriguez that the New York Yankees superstar predicted would only "extend his 15 minutes of fame," instead ensured his place in baseball history Sunday afternoon.Dallas Braden shares a hug with his grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, after his perfect game Sunday.
CAPTIONBy Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE, US PRESSWIRE
Braden, pitching on Mother's Day in front of the grandmother who raised him after his own mother died, pitched the 19th perfect game in baseball history. The Oakland Athletics left-hander set down all 27 Tampa Bay Rays he faced in a 4-0 victory at Oakland Coliseum.
Though the holiday crowd numbered just 12,228, the emotion in the stadium, and one section in particular, was palpable as Braden began the ninth. He lives with his grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, in Stockton, Calif., about an hour east of Oakland. She raised him from high school on after Braden's mother, Jodie Atwood, died during his senior year of high school. Atwood suffered from melanoma. Braden's fans sit in Section 209 at the Coliseum; that's the area code for Stockton.
After Braden retired Gabe Kapler on a groundout to shortstop Cliff Pennington to end it, he was mobbed by catcher Landon Powell and his teammates. Soon enough, the mob made its way to the Oakland dugout, where Braden pointed to his grandmother; Lindsey came down from the stands and, wearing a pink A's hat in honor of Mother's Day, engulfed her grandson in a lengthy embrace.
Rodriguez came under fire from Braden when he crossed over the pitching mound during an A's-Yankees game last month. The kerfuffle provoked a debate within the game about its unwritten rules.
Last week, Braden suggested their tiff may get violent, to which Rodriguez replied: "I really don't want to extend the 15 minutes of fame he already has."
After Sunday's game, Braden's grandmother, according to the Twitter account of the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser, said: "Stick it, A-Rod."
Braden's hometown, Stockton, ranked near the top of Forbes' list of least desirable towns to live in. Braden credits the women in his life for keeping him on the straight and narrow.
"My grandmother and my mom were my saviors, my guiding lights, and baseball was my sanctuary," Braden told reporters Sunday afternoon. "It was that or jail."
While A-Rod's ill-timed trash talk may forever haunt him, he certainly was playing the odds in figuring Braden would wallow in obscurity. He entered Sunday's game just 17-23 lifetime. Of the 17 pitchers to throw a perfect game since 1900, only one -- the White Sox's Charlie Robertson -- had fewer career victories at the time than Braden.
The Rays, meanwhile, became the first major league team to be on the losing end of perfect games in consecutive seasons. In July 2009, the Chicago White Sox's Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game against them.nike shox
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