Posted on 05/09/2010 11:24:01 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Peggy Lindsey had just watched A's lefthander Dallas Braden make baseball history, and after celebrating a perfect game by her grandson, she couldn't resist sending a Mother's Day message to his verbal sparring partner.
"Stick it, A-Rod," Lindsey said, minutes after a career-defining moment for Braden, who has been engaged in a war of words with the Yankee star since mid-April over unwritten rules about the pitcher's mound.
It was just three days ago that a video of Braden talking about a fight with A-Rod surfaced, to which the Yankee star responsed by saying he didn't "want to extend (Braden's) 15 minutes of fame."
But Sunday night at Fenway Park, after Braden was the biggest name in baseball with his 4-0 gem against the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland, Rodriguez took the high road, even finding a silver lining in Braden's accomplishment.
"I've learned in my career that it's always much better to be recognized for some of the great things you do on the field," A-Rod said when asked about Braden in the visiting dugout during batting practice. "Good for him. He threw a perfect game, and even better, he beat the Rays."
Rodriguez was one of the few Yankees who didn't see Braden finally make a name for himself on the field Sunday.
While most of A-Rod's teammates were huddled around a TV inside Fenway's visiting clubhouse watching the mouthy Oakland hurler complete his perfect game, Rodriguez already was on the field throwing a heavy ball with Francisco Cervelli and preparing for Sunday night's game against the Red Sox.
Braden and A-Rod had exchanged insults since the unheralded A's lefty complained that Rodriguez broke an unwritten baseball rule by running across the pitcher's mound while going back to first base on a foul ball during a game in Oakland on April 22.
Rodriguez initially responded by referring to the 26-year-old Braden, who lifted his lifetime record to 18-23 with Sunday's win, as "a guy that has a handful of wins in his career."
Since the initial incident, Braden also had referred to Rodriguez as "a fool" and an "individualistic player," while also publicly implying that the two might come to blows when the Yanks and A's meet again in July.
Reportedly reprimanded by MLB officials late last week, Braden backed away from those threats over the weekend, but his bravado clearly runs in the family.
Lindsey, who raised Braden after his mother, Jodie Atwood, died of cancer when he was a high school senior, got in the "stick it" jab while speaking to reporters in Oakland following yesterday's game.
Mediocre pitcher news...
Avid A’s fan here. Live 30 mins from the coliseum. Give credit when credit’s due.
Only 19 perfect game ever thrown in the history of the game.
KUDOS to you Dallas Braden!
He’s a keeper.
Well, as one who has Braden on a fantasy team...all I can say is Shazaam! Who woulda thunk it? (probably the same person who thought Buehrle could do it).
Eat your heart out A-Roid...
I was at Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981 for Cleveland. Fog was coming off the lake HEAVY that night and made his curve ball break like 3 1/2 feet.
NO ONE was even close to hittin’ him ...
I know right, lets hope for him that this is a start of his turnaround
Considering Buehrle already had thrown a no-hitter before his perfect game, it wasn’t THAT much of a stretch
You’re right! Good God - here I am a Sox fan and all and I managed to forget that...
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