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It was a beautiful May day in 2010 when the Oakland Athletics added on to history. It was Mother's Day, so mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, mothers and whole families filled the stadium that day. Dallas Braden, the A's starting pitcher, had his own mother-figure in the stands; his grandmother Peggy Lindsey, who filled in for Braden's own mother whom he lost to cancer in high school.
Before a crowd of 12,228, Braden never shone brighter in his nine innings of work.
In order of outs:
Line out. Ground out. Fly out.
Fly out. Ground out. Strike out.
Strike out. Line out. Fly out.
Ground out. Strike out. Ground out.
Strike out. Fly out. Ground out.
Strike out. Pop up. Pop up.
Line out. Ground out. Fly out.
Fly out. Pop up. Strike out.
Line out. Line out. Ground out to shortstop. Game over.
Meanwhile, the A's singled in four runs in support, and Dallas Braden was recorded into history.
But the simple cold, hard facts do nothing to explain what really happened out there. A's fans everywhere watched breathless in person, at home on TV, glued to the radio; in anticipation of something so beautiful, so rare, and so never-actually-happens-to-the-A's. But this time it did.
Somewhere in that magical day as outs were recorded from one to twenty-seven, the A's got to keep a piece of history in their ballpark. Even though Dallas Braden is no longer on the team, that moment will never be taken away from the A's. Just for one....perfect...magical day.
