Dallas Braden's perfect game

On Sunday, May 9, 2010, Major League Baseball pitcher Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game. Braden, a member of the Oakland Athletics, pitched the game against the Tampa Bay Rays and retired all 27 batters. The game took place on Mother's Day in the United States and Braden's grandmother, Peggy Lindsey — who raised him after his mother died of cancer when he was in high school — was in attendance. Braden's battery mate during the game was Landon Powell, who was called up from the minor leagues 18 days before. It was the nineteenth perfect game in baseball history. Braden, who was 26 at the time, was the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game since Mike Witt in 1984. The game was the Athletics' first no-hitter since 1990 when Dave Stewart did so on June 29, 1990, against the Toronto Blue Jays. Braden has since admitted to playing the game hungover.

Dallas Braden's perfect game
Dallas Braden (pictured here in 2011), at 26 years old became the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game since Mike Witt in 1984.
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Tampa Bay Rays000000000001
Oakland Athletics01120000x4120
DateMay 9, 2010
VenueOakland–Alameda County Coliseum
CityOakland, California
Managers
Attendance12,228
Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game in 2010 against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Background

Controversy surrounding Braden
Braden and New York Yankees player Alex Rodriguez (pictured) had a verbal altercation on April 22, 2010, and before Braden's perfect game the incident was still receiving significant coverage.

Before Braden threw his perfect game, controversy arose surrounding him after a game on April 22, 2010, when the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees played each other.[1] During that game, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez walked across the pitchers mound.[2] Braden claimed that there was an unwritten rule in baseball that only the pitcher is granted access to the mound.[2] Braden later recalled, "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."[3] Rodriguez responded to the incident by saying, "He just told me to get off his mound. That was a little surprising. I'd never quite heard that, especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career."[2]

Braden's grandmother

Braden's perfect game took place on May 9, 2010, Mother's Day in the United States.[4] Braden grew up in the care of his mother, Jodie Atwood, until she died of cancer when Braden was in high school. From that point on, Braden was raised by his grandmother, Peggy Lindsey.[5] Lindsey was in attendance during Braden's perfect game.[5] After the game, Braden embraced his grandmother.[5] Lindsey recalls, "It's very special. Dall[as] and I are very close. He just said, 'I love you,' and I said, 'Your mom would have been so proud.' I think that's what he was thinking, too."[5] Athletics' catcher Landon Powell described the moment: "When we first finished the game and celebrated and I saw Dallas hugging his grandmother, I was tearing up...He's had a lot of things happen in his life, even in the last couple of years in the game of baseball, and it couldn't happen to someone who deserves it more."[5]

Athletics' catcher Landon Powell

Landon Powell had only been a member of the 2010 Athletics for 18 days before he was called on to catch Braden on May 9, 2010.[6] On April 21, Powell was called up to the majors from the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats after Oakland's second baseman Mark Ellis was placed on the disabled list the day before.[6] Powell was originally being used as the back-up catcher behind Kurt Suzuki.[6] Suzuki later sustained an injury and Powell was forced to move up on the depth chart.[6] Braden later praised Powell for his work at the catcher position, "Landon and I — that's seamless. We've come up together. The guy's rock solid back there. I might have shaken [him off] once today. The guy knows my game inside and out."[6] Powell also commented on the game, "I was nervous for him. I knew that we were going to call the same game we were calling the whole time, and it just [was a matter of] whether it would work out or not."[6]

Hangover claim

Much like David Wells, Braden claims that he pitched the game hungover, saying: "The night before Mother's Day, though, I did [partake in libations or adult beverages]. We were getting after it a little bit." Video coordinator Adam Rhoden later noted that "You can recognize when a guy is hurting a little bit in the morning, I knew he'd probably had a night out. He didn't do his normal two-hour study that morning", while Powell said "That day, you could tell he was a little uncomfortable. He did panic that day a little more than he normally did."[7]

Game
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California was the site of Braden's perfect game.

Before the game, during bullpen warm-ups, catcher Landon Powell asked Braden "how his stuff looked," to which Braden responded with a thumbs up.[6] Braden later recalled that everything was normal and he did not feel that his pitches were different.[6] The umpires during the game were Jim Wolf at home plate, Derryl Cousins at first base, Jim Joyce at second base, and Todd Tichenor at third base.[8] Attendance for the game was 12,228 at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, which holds 35,067 people.[8] The last out of the game came when the Rays' outfielder Gabe Kapler hit a ground ball to Athletics' shortstop Cliff Pennington.[9] The game was the Athletics' first no-hitter since Dave Stewart threw one against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 29, 1990, and the first Athletics' perfect game since Catfish Hunter threw one on May 8, 1968, against the Minnesota Twins.[1] It was also the second perfect game thrown against the Rays in under a year following Mark Buehrle's perfect game on July 23, 2009.

Linescore
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Tampa Bay Rays (20–9)000000000001
Oakland Athletics (17–15)01120000X4120
WP: Dallas Braden (4–2)   LP: James Shields (4–1)

Box score

Other info
  • Pitches-strikes: Shields 108-72, Wheeler, D 19-12, Sonnanstine 13-8, Braden 109-77.
  • Groundouts-flyouts: Shields 5-4, Wheeler, D 0-0, Sonnanstine 1-2, Braden 7-6.
  • Batters faced: Shields 30, Wheeler, D 4, Sonnanstine 4, Braden 27
  • Umpires: HP - Jim Wolf, 1B - Derryl Cousins, 2B - Jim Joyce, 3B - Todd Tichenor.
  • Weather: 59 degrees, cloudy.
  • Wind: 20 mph, In from RF.
  • Time: 2:07.
  • Attendance: 12,228
  • Venue: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Reactions

After Braden's perfect game, and in the wake of his verbal altercation with Braden, Alex Rodriguez said,

I've learned in my career, it is much better to be recognized for all the great things you do on the field...Good for [Braden], he threw a perfect game. And better yet, he beat the Rays.

— Alex Rodriguez, May 10, 2010: ESPN.com[10]

Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Ben Zobrist said,

[Braden] threw great...He threw a great game, obviously. He mixed his pitches really well. He didn't leave very much over the middle of the plate. He kept us off balance with his changeup, kept hitting the corner with the inside fastball. He did a really good job.

— Ben Zobrist, May 9, 2010: MLB.com[11]

Aftermath

When the out was recorded, Braden ran toward first base in celebration, and was bear-hugged by first baseman Daric Barton as the pile-up began. The image of the bear hug was turned into a commemorative icon, which was posted at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium for the remainder of the 2010 season. Afterward, he went to the dugout, where his family was being brought out to the field, and hugged his grandmother tearfully for several moments. It was the highlight of Braden's career, as he would only pitch one more year in the majors due to shoulder injuries before officially announcing his retirement in 2014.

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References
General references
  1. "May 9, 2010 Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
Inline citations
  1. Howard Ulman (May 9, 2010). "Oakland A's Pitcher Perfect Against Tampa Bay Rays". Associated Press. HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  2. Jane Lee (April 22, 2010). "A's Braden exchanges words with A-Rod". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  3. Kevin Kaduk (April 22, 2010). "Dallas Braden blasts A-Rod for breaking unwritten rule". Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo! News Network. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  4. Jane Lee (May 10, 2010). "Braden's grandmother put him on right track". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  5. Slusser, Susan (May 10, 2010). "Braden's perfect game is something special". SFGate.com. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  6. Alex Espinoza (May 9, 2010). "Perfect duo: Powell right catch for Braden". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  7. Susan Slusser (May 7, 2020). "Dallas Braden comes clean: A's starter was hung over for 2010 perfect game". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  8. "King of the hill: Braden twirls perfect game". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. May 9, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  9. Alex Espinoza (May 10, 2010). "Defense doesn't go unnoticed by Braden". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  10. Andrew Marchand (May 10, 2010). "Braden's grandma to A-Rod: 'Stick it'". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
  11. Eric Gilmore (May 9, 2010). "Rays respect Braden's accomplishment". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
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