On April 22nd Dallas Braden was on the mound as his Oakland A's took on the New York Yankees. During the 6th inning, Alex Rodriguez was on first base with Robinson Cano batting. After a foul ball off the bat of Cano, Rodriguez had to run all the way back to first from third. Rather than following his original path around the bases, A-Rod thought it was a better idea to head back to first straight across the diamond and over the pitching mound. This did not sit well with Braden.
Over the next couple of weeks this new feud continued to escalate with both players taking shots at the other. Here are a few excerpts:
"He should probably take a note from his captain over there and realize you don't cross the pitcher's mound in between an inning or during the game. I was just dumbfounded that he would let that slip his mind -- being someone of such status." - Dallas Braden
"He just told me to get off his mound. I was a little surprised. I'd never quite heard that. Especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career...I thought it was pretty funny actually." - Alex Rodriguez
"I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on the roster, if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on that mound, that's my mound...He ran across the pitcher's mound foot on my rubber. No, not happening. We're not the door mat anymore." - Dallas Braden
"Look, it is tempting to sit back here and go back and forth with the media for the next three months, but I'm not going to do that." - Alex Rodriguez
"There are things that are going to have to happen. Out of respect to my teammates, out of respect to the game. I think he's probably garnered a new respect for the unwritten rules and the people who hold them close to their game. But I think you're right, we don't do much talking in the 209 (The area code for Stockton, CA, which is where Braden, and apparently some real thugs, grew up)." - Dallas Braden
"I think MLB reads the same articles as we do. Now, look, I really don't want to extend his extra 15 minutes of fame." - Alex Rodriguez
Oh yeah. It got good. Now, if you ask me, Braden originally had a valid point with A-Rod purposefully running over the pitcher's mound during the inning. But A-Rod won the battle of words in my book because Braden came across looking like Jaime Kennedy in Malibu's Most Wanted.
So how do we know who comes out on top in this budding rivalry? I believe the true rubber match won't happen until the A's and Yankees face each other again July 5-7 when hopefully the 2 have a real, meaningful at-bat..or they come to blows. However, Dallas Braden is now riding a heavy wave of momentum after his PERFECT GAME today against the Tampa Bay Rays, the team with the best record in baseball and leading A-Rod's Yankees in the AL East.
Coming into today, Braden was a combined 17-23 for his career without a complete game, but 3-2 this season. Braden faced the minimum 27 batters as he only threw 109 pitches while striking out 6. Braden threw first pitch strikes to 17 of the batters he faced and 77 strikes total. That is how you get it done on the mound.
The perfect game looked as if it was in doubt with 1 out in the 9th when Rays' catcher Dioner Navarro cracked a line drive into left, but it was directly at A's left fielder Eric Patterson. Gabe Kapler then ran the count full before he grounded out to short to complete the dream for Braden.
It was only the 19th perfect game in MLB history and 2nd for the A's franchise. Almost 42 years to the day, Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins on May 8, 1968. The last no hitter in the big leagues came last year courtesy of Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox against, guess who?, the Tampa Bay Rays.
After the game, the war of words with A-Rod continued to flare up. Braden told a reporter that if A-Rod wanted to continue running over mounds he could "go do laps in the bullpen." Then Peggy Lindsey, Braden's grandmother, got in on the act as she stated, "Let's forget it, uh huh -- and stick it, A-Rod."
A-Rod's response? "I've learned in my career that it's always better to be remembered for some of the things you do on the field, and good for him. He threw a perfect game. And, even better, he beat the Rays."
I don't think Braden's 15 minutes of fame are up just yet.
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