For Dallas Braden, this moment is just perfect

By Mike DiGiovanna

May 13, 2010 12 AM PT

He did the “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Early Show” on CBS, he is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated and he has done so many interviews it would “take all the fingers and toes I have” to count them, Oakland pitcher Dallas Braden said.

A burden for the Athletics left-hander, whose start at Angel Stadium on Friday night will be his first since he pitched the 19th perfect game in major league history Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays? Hardly. Braden has loved every second of it.

“No one question has been the same, so you tell the story, but you keep coming up with a different aspect of it,” Braden said on a conference call Thursday. “It’s allowed me to relive the moment, because I really didn’t feel like I was there for it. It hasn’t sunk in.”

With a fastball-changeup repertoire that is less than overpowering, a modest 17-23 career record entering Sunday and zero complete games in his 52 previous big league starts, Braden seemed the least likely candidate to pitch a perfect game.

That might explain why the 26-year-old from Stockton, a 24th-round pick of the A’s in the 2004 draft, felt as if someone or something else was pulling some strings for him during his gem at the Oakland Coliseum.

“I kind of relinquished it to my higher power,” said Braden, who struck out six in his 109-pitch masterpiece. “All the balls were hit to the right guys at the right time. I just continued to throw strikes.”

That it happened on Mother’s Day made it extra special for Braden, whose mother, Jodie Atwood, died of cancer when Braden was in high school.

The grandmother who helped raise Braden, Peggy Lindsey, was at the game and exchanged a warm embrace with the pitcher on the field afterward.

Lindsey has also become a media darling, first telling Alex Rodriguez to “stick it” -- a shot at the New York Yankees star who had a verbal spat with Braden after Rodriguez ran across the mound on his way back to first base after a foul ball during an April 22 game against the A’s -- and then joining Braden for much of his media tour.

“It started with the surreal day that was Mother’s Day -- that was an absolute roller coaster, and I was just glad I was tall enough for the ride,” Braden said. “You always dream of being in that kind of spotlight.

“The most important part was that my grandma was able to come along and have as much fun as me. Putting a smile on her face for the whole week was the best part. ... I’m going to have to grease the walls to get her in the house, because she’s loving life right now.”

Braden said he won’t feel like a different pitcher when he takes the mound against the Angels on Friday night.

“One game is not going to change how I approach the remainder of the season,” he said. “I’ve done the homework I usually do before a start. Everything should go as planned. One thing I told myself I wouldn’t do is sacrifice a week’s worth of preparation for one day.”

Nor does he think opponents will look at him much differently.

“Because of how rare the feat is, everyone understands I’m not going to rattle off four or five in a row,” Braden said. “If anything, there will probably be a fight at the bat rack for guys to get to my fastball. They’ll be ready to play.”

Did the perfect game give Braden, the No. 2 starter on the Oakland staff behind ace Ben Sheets, a confidence boost?

“All it does is confirm that I can get outs at the big league level,” Braden said. “I just happened to get a few in a row this time.”

Sure, but the folks at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and at the Stockton Hall of Fame don’t call asking for mementos from a game in which you retire a few guys in a row.

Braden plans to keep several baseballs from the perfect game, which ended when Gabe Kapler grounded out to shortstop on a 3-and-1 pitch. The hat, glove and jersey he wore went to his hometown museum. His cleats went to Cooperstown.

“To have something of mine taking up space in that beautiful hall is pretty nice,” said Braden, who visited Cooperstown a few years ago.

Braden hasn’t seen a copy of this week’s Sports Illustrated, but he did see a couple of proofs of the cover, in which he is pumping his fist above the headline “Perfect Storm: Why you couldn’t script a better story than Dallas Braden’s Mother’s Day masterpiece.”

He is the first A’s player to appear on an SI cover since Jason Giambi in 2000.

“My ugly mug slapped on a magazine on newsstands all across America is scary for some readers,” Braden said, “but it’s pretty cool for me.”

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