When Dallas Braden called out Alex Rodriguez for stepping on “his mound” on April 22, nobody seemed to have heard of Braden’s unwritten rule. The 18-23 lifetime pitcher may have established this rule now that he’s got a perfect game under his belt.
Before yesterday, Braden was what CC Sabathia called “a clown” for opening up his mouth about A-Rod. Now, as measured on my new poll (left sidebar), we’ll see if Braden has earned some respect.
All controversy aside, it’s a great story for Braden to throw a perfect game at home on Mother’s Day with his grandma in attendance plus the fact that his mom died from melanoma when he was a senior in high school.
After the game, his grandma said “Stick it, A-Rod,” which wound up on the back page of the NY Daily News today.
A-Rod replied with “Uncle.”
Right after Braden completed the perfecto, A-Rod answered:
"I've learned in my career, it is much better to be recognized for all the great things you do on the field," Rodriguez said. "Good for him, he threw a perfect game. And better yet, he beat the Rays."
On a sit-down interview with his grandma on ESPN, Braden said the July 5-7 series with the Yankees will hopefully be a “well-played series by two clubs that are hopefully going to try to be standing at the end of the race.”
He opted to completely ignore the A-Rod situation (wisely), however, I don’t think he will forget about this incident come July. I’m standing by my original call: It’s going to be a dirty series.
