Dallas Braden

Lore & Background

Braden was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He played Little League baseball in Stockton, California, in the Hoover Tyler Little League. Braden graduated from Stagg High School in Stockton, where he played baseball and ran cross country. His mother, Jodie Atwood, died of cancer during his senior year. After his mother's death, he lived with his maternal grandmother. Braden was first drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 46th round of the 2001 MLB draft, but he did not sign. Braden played two seasons of college baseball at American River College in Sacramento County, California, where he posted a combined record of 12–4 including a complete game against Fresno City College while allowing one hit and striking out 14 batters. He then played one season for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Oakland Athletics selected Braden out of Texas Tech in the 24th round of the 2004 MLB draft. He pitched the 19th perfect game in MLB history against the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland on May 9, 2010, on Mother's Day. Braden finished the 2010 season with an 11–14 record in 30 starts for the Athletics. He threw five complete games along with two shutouts, pitching a total of 192+2⁄3 innings with 113 strikeouts at 43 walks. Braden made three starts in 2011, with a 1–1 record and 3.00 ERA, before feeling discomfort in his shoulder. He was diagnosed with a torn capsule in his left shoulder and would need immediate surgery. Braden missed the remainder of the 2011 season. On December 13, 2011, Braden avoided arbitration by signing a one-year deal. He made $3.35 million in guaranteed money, with $400,000 in incentives. Braden missed the entire 2012 season and on August 21, he required an additional surgery, this time to repair the rotator cuff of his shoulder. The surgery would also sideline him for the first half of the 2013 season. Following the season, Braden was let go and he became a free agent. Braden officially announced his retirement on January 14, 2014, citing his arm being a 'shredded mess.'

In Their Own Story

The sun was low over the bay, turning the Coliseum's upper deck into a wall of amber. Braden stood on the mound, glove in his left hand, and felt the familiar weight of the ball in his right. The Astros batter squared up, and the crowd noise thinned to a hum. Braden set his feet. He did not think about the score, the count, or the history being written. He thought about the release point, the follow-through, the way the sinker would dive just inside the corner. He threw. The bat swung through air. The umpire called it. The next batter stepped in. And the next. And the next. Seven innings of the same quiet, mechanical certainty, until the manager's hand on his shoulder told him the job was done. He walked off the mound to a roar that felt less like applause and more like the stadium itself exhaling.

Reader's Guide

Overall, in his five seasons with Oakland, Braden appeared in 94 MLB games (79 starts), compiling a 26–36 record with 4.16 ERA while pitching 491+1⁄3 innings with 305 strikeouts and 141 walks. He did not have any postseason appearances, as the Athletics did not have a winning season in any of Braden's years with the team. Braden threw four pitches: a cutter at 82 MPH, a fastball at 86–88 MPH, a slurve at 72–79 MPH and a changeup at 72 MPH. In 2014, Braden joined ESPN as a Baseball Tonight analyst. The following season, he moved into the broadcast booth as a color analyst on games. Early in the 2016 season, Braden was moved to ESPN's Monday Night Baseball booth following the network's dismissal of Curt Schilling. Braden was laid off with dozens of other ESPN employees on April 26, 2017. On July 14, 2017, Braden debuted on NBC Sports California as a new field-level analyst for the A's broadcasts. Since then, he has substituted for Ray Fosse in the TV booth as a color commentator. In 2017, Braden started a podcast and Facebook Live show, 'Starting 9,' with co-host Jared Carrabis on Barstool Sports, which lasted until 2021. He also hosts a radio show on Barstool's SiriusXM channel called 'Dialed In with Dallas Braden.' In April 2022, he became co-host to Carrabis' new podcast 'Baseball Is Dead' for DraftKings, and later Underdog Fantasy. Braden was criticized for his actions on May 5, 2023, during a broadcast between the A's and the Kansas City Royals. During the game, his broadcast partner Glen Kuiper appeared to have said 'nigger league museum' when referring to a visit the two had made earlier in the day to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) in Kansas City. Braden remained silent after the comment, later telling the media that 'the nuances of live television mean that sometimes we, as broadcasters, miss some of what you, our audience, see and hear … In that moment, I missed the live comment, and I was not aware of it until the sixth inning when Glen Kuiper made an apology.' Braden provided color commentary for Domingo Germán's perfect game for NBC Sports California on June 28, 2023.

Did You Know?

• Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in MLB history on May 9, 2010, against the Tampa Bay Rays.
• He achieved the perfect game on Mother's Day, after losing his mother to melanoma.
• Braden was primarily a starting pitcher, making 79 starts in 94 MLB appearances.
• He was the Oakland Athletics' Opening Day starter in 2009.
• Braden threw four pitches: cutter, fastball, slurve, and changeup.