Dallas Braden, pitcher of the Oakland Athletics, pitched a perfect game today against the tough Tampa Rays.
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. [source USAToday.com]
Dallas Braden’s Perfect Game, Last 3 Outs: