It’s amazing what kind of turn of events can do for someone to change your perspective on a person. Here its no different on Ice Cold Sports, which as you know is part of the Radio Blog Network.
A couple weeks ago Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden made headlines for probably the most unusual reason in the sports world. An Altercation occurred between himself and New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez. It wasn’t the kind of altercation that you may be thinking of. Braden did not throw at A-Rod. There was no collision of any kind between the two that would spark what events occurred.
First I'm sure most of you are sitting there scratching your head wondering who the heck is this Dallas Braden guy and maybe thinking this guy must be pretty brave to be calling out Alex Rodriguez. Well by the end of todays discussion you will know all about Dallas Braden and you will probably be on his side rather than A-Rod's.
So here’s what happened. A-Rod took off on the pitch and went from first to third on a foul ball that was hit by I want to say Robinson Cano. Instead of going back to first the way he came, A-Rod proceeded to take a shortcut across the infield grass. Of course there is nothing wrong with that but what A-Rod did do that sent Braden off the deep end is what we know as a hidden baseball rule.
A-Rod...set foot...on the....pitchers mound. A-Rod broke maybe the biggest rule of the unwritten baseball rules. Its just one of those things you don't do as a player. The mound is for the pitcher only and you can easily tell it is when the pitcher will step off it when the catcher comes out to talk to him. Not even the manager who pulls him and calls the pen steps directly on the mound. I guess you can say the mound is sacred. Never in my life as a player and spectator did I ever see anyone other than the pitcher step on that mound. I have talked with other players and they too have never seen someone other than the pitcher on the mound. Dallas Braden was within his rights to get pissed off at A-Rod. Of course A-Rod did what A-Rod does in that case. He just brushed it off and didn't understand what the deal was and felt it was "silly".
I want to stray off Braden for a moment and just run down other Alen Rodriguez antics. The list is long so sit tight.
He admits to regretting signing with the Texas Rangers back in the year 2000. Saying he should have picked the Mets. He put the blame on his agent Scott Boras who advised him to take the money.
...really? The guy who gets a cut of your dollars told you to take the money. Excuse me while I recover from the shock.
Lets look at the 2004 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. You remember that series. First 3-0 lead to be blown yada yada yada. In game six of that series A-Rod slapped the ball out of pitcher Bronson Arroyo's hand has he reached to tag him running to first. A-Rod looked around and acted like he did nothing wrong.
Early that season at Fenway Park A-Rod got upset at a pitch thrown by Arroyo that lead to the fight between him and Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek. I am a firm believer that if that moment never happened, Bill Mueller would of never hit that walk off home run and the Red Sox would have not made that amazing run to get into the postseason.
Fast forward to the 2007 world series where during the 8th inning of the deciding game A-Rod announced that he was opting out of his contract to become a free agent. He wanted the worlds attention and got it. Not many were pleased.
There was an event when during a game against Toronto where he yelled "mine" as he passed the second baseman. Which is another unwritten no no. Its okay when you do it in the movies like Major League. But thats another case where you just don't do it.
Then you have the Toronto prostitute incident, his divorce from his wife, and reporting having an affair with Madonna, and lastly supposivly dating Kate Hudson during the end of last season into the playoffs.
Oh...and we can't forget the admittance to using performance enhancers.
So its clear that A-Rod has done a lot and then we added the mound thing to the list. At first I supported Braden but then there was a point where Braden got screwy with it. He just wouldn't let it go. During this past week he kept talking and taunting like he was gonna make A-Rod pay for it when they meet next month. But then Sunday came.
It was mothers day. Dallas Braden is on the mound against the current best team in baseball Tampa Bay Rays. He goes out and throws a perfect game. Only the 19th perfect game in baseball history. It marked the second time in a year that the Rays were no hit.
But Braden's mom was not in the stands yesterday. He died when Braden was in high school from Melanoma. But his grandmother was in the stands. She took over raising Braden after the death of his mom. Braden is still very close to his grandmother and hometown community of Stockton, California. He has the home area code 209 tattooed on his chest, he still lives there, and had as many residents of the town in attendance yesterday after getting them a special deal in section 209. After he lost his mom he went through a rough patch in his life and his grandmother pulled him out of it and got his life on track.
So now we aren't looking at Dallas Braden like hes a psycho that can't let a little incident go. He is now in the history books pitching a perfect game for his mother on mothers day with his replacement mom a.k.a grandmother in the stands.
After the game his grandmother gave A-Rod a special message on national tv. A message they claim that just happened to slip out. That message to A-Rod was to "stick it" A-Rod's response after he got word? "Uncle"
Is this the end of the feud? I can't say. The A's host the Yankees in early July. It appears that the last shots have been fired and its over with but we won't be totally sure till that series. Personally I think it. If your Dallas Braden you certainly can't thinking about A-Rod when you just pitched a perfect game on your mound. I say feud over.
You can give me your thoughts on this topic and more on the fan page on facebook. Just search Ice Cold Sports. You can also follow me on Twitter at AppStIceman. Till next time folks this has been Ice Cold Sports part of the Radio Blog Network.
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