The Perfect Game

On Friday May 7, during my baseball practice, my coach gave me two A's tickets for May 9th which was mother's day. So I thought I'd take my mom to an A's game for mother's day. Recently, the A's have not been doping well at all and there has been a lack of audience attendance. I didn't think that anything exciting would happened. I just wanted to take my mom to the A's game. On Mother's Day, my mom and I went to the A's game where they were playing against the Tampa Bay Rays. The pitchers were A's young Dallas Braden vs. Tampa's flame throwing James Shields. When we got to the stadium, there were only about 1,200 people there. There's more people at school than that!!During the game, the A's pitcher, Dallas Braden was doing excellent and the Rays, who have the best record in the MLB were not doing to good. By the 7th inning I realized that the scoreboard had all zeros for Tampa Bay which means they have no hits and no runs. I got the feeling that Dallas Braden had a very good chance to complete a perfect game at the rate he was going. When the 9th Inning came around, all of were on our feet cheering for the young left handed pitcher. When the last out was made by shortstop Cliff Pennington, the crowd went crazy because they have experienced a perfect game. It was extra special because it was on Mother's Day and it was 42 years and one day since the last A's pitcher, Catfish Hunter had a perfect game.

Not only was it a special Mother’s Day for me, but it was especially a special Mother’s Day for Dallas Braden due to his rough past. When he was a senior in high school his mom past away from cancer. I think it’s truly amazing how this guy could bounce back up from adversity like that and create history for himself. I admire Dallas Braden not only for making history for pitching a perfect game, but also because he is fearless as a young player. When he yelled at Alex Rodriguez for running across his mound, he really caught my eye. I don’t know if any other pitcher would have done with Braden did. Braden was born and raised in Stockton California where it is very uneducated, high rates of crime and poverty, and with very steep taxes. When he was in high school, he was about to fail high school and was barely holding on. After his mom died, his grandma was the person who really straightened him up so he could get an education and so he could be in the major leagues. After the game, Dallas Braden went over to his grandma and gave her a big loving hug to show his respect and thanks to her. Dallas Braden gives his Grandma a pink bat every game he pitches in memory of his mom as a cancer patient. I hope he continues to succeed.