I Guess It Really IS His Mound
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You’ll remember that after the contretemps with Alex Rodriguez, Braden had said “If my grandmother ran across the mound, she’d hear the same thing he (Rodriguez) heard.” After escaping the group hug with his teammates, with whom did he celebrate the perfect game?
His grandmother, Peggy Lindsey.
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Dallas Braden admits to having been a wild teenager, and he got wilder still after losing his mother – to skin cancer – when she was barely in her 40’s. “I came real close to taking it away from myself, then my grandmother stepped in and kind of slapped me back into shape and got me going,” he told Baseball America after he won his first big league game. “I told my grandma that someday she would watch me pitch in the majors.”
The loyalty goes both ways. Braden throws a perfect game – on Mother’s Day – on Breast Cancer Awareness Day – for Grandma. And Grandma promptly tells the media, per this tweet by A’s beat writer Susan Slusser, “Stick it, A-Rod!”
Baseball Nerd 
Direct link to tweet.
What a great Mother’s Day story! I mean, really… how good is that? Congratulations to Dallas Braden, and his grandmother. As to A-Rod…. *sigh* what is there to say? I met him just before he became a “big deal”. He did a signing at a car dealership in Lynnwood, Washington, and I was there with friends. Got his autograph on one of his rookie cards. Maybe I should have sold it LONG ago, when it was actually worth something. These days, there probably aren’t too many people who would care one way or the other about having a signed rookie card of his. Feh. But that’s life, right? 🙂 Right now, I’m too happy for Dallas Braden and his grandmother to care much about A-Rod. I’m glad you were able to be at the ballpark today, Keith. I know you miss your parents, but at least this way, on Mother’s Day, you can pay tribute to your mom by attending a game. Your parents raised a good kid (who is now a good man). Take care, and have a wonderful evening. 🙂
My grandfather died of multiple myeloma. He was a huge baseball fan and a wonderful man. He didn’t raise me but he was an important influence in my life. I am happy for Braden, it was quite a feat and appropriate for it to happen today. His grandmother must be quite a woman. Anybody who says “stick it to A-Rod” is okay in my book.
I feel bad for his mom. He is still a classless punk. I hope A-Rod break dances on the mound when the Yanks face Braden again. The dude is still talking trash three weeks after the incident.
Thanks for covering this, Keith. What a great day here in the land of oak! I only wish I’d been at the hollow-seum to see it happen.
Well, now he doesn’t have to use A-Rod to make himself famous any more, because that’s what he had been doing. Good for him.
A-Rod’s always been a classless punk. More than that, no matter how many home runs he hits, he’s a cheating, classless punk. Always will be, too.
Agreed, ucsu94.
But, hbkfanforever, I coulda sworn Braden said “We don’t do much talking in the 209”. Classless punk, indeed. Billy Beane had to shut him up on Friday after he was STILL talking to the press about a weeks old incident.
A-Rod screwed up, but this tough guy wannabe has made him look better in comparison by harping on and on about it.
Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your affiliation, Braden put his money pitch where his mouth is. How sad to peak this early and how much future “turmoil” will it take for this kid (yes, he is still a kid) to come anywhere near this level of perfection. I love it that his grandma stuck it to A-Rod. I’m not an A-fraud fan but I am a considerable Yankee fan. Love Pettitte, love Hip Hip Jorge and I adore Texiera. Am I the only one who thinks he looks like Prince William? Am I? I am in awe of Jeter. We were blessed to be able to see Jeter, Posada, Williams, Pettitte, Tino Martinez when they were at AAA Columbus Clippers.
Is there any way to keep the non-baseball right wing trash talking trolls out of here? Is there a blog jail? I’d be happy to act as prosecuting attorney as long as I don’t need a cyber license to practice law here.
The Dodgers had a pitcher named Whit Wyatt–as Red Barber called him, “John Whitlow Wyatt of the north Georgia Wyatts.” He had a great year in 1941 and did a lot to carry the team to the World Series. Reportedly, Joe DiMaggio dug in and Wyatt flattened him. DiMaggio got up, dug in again. Wyatt flattened him again. DiMaggio yelled out at him something like, “What’s going on?” Wyatt yelled back, “Joe, you can hit me, but don’t dig in on me.”
Somewhere, John Whitlow Wyatt of the north Georgia Wyatts is smiling at young Dallas Braden.
Watched most of the game in Melbourne, Australia (thank you, One Network!) and was first thrilled to see shots of home, then absolutely thrilled to see a perfect game. Congrats to Braden & his grandma – a wonderful gift for her on Mother’s Day.