Friday, January 2, 2015

Player Profile: Dallas Braden

I have four cards of Dallas Braden. This one is from 2007 Topps Updates and Highlights.

Playing career: Remember Dallas Braden? He was a young, undistinguished pitcher for the A’s who picked a fight with A-Rod in 2010 and then threw a perfect game a few weeks later. After that season he injured his shoulder and only pitched in three more major league games.

My memories: I remember him going out of his way to get in an argument with A-Rod. It seemed like a little guy trying to prove himself by going after the biggest guy around. When he pitched the perfect game, he again did a lot of yapping to the media, and I was thinking that I was going to have to hear about this self-promotional guy for the next ten years. I was glad there ended up being a few more perfect games that year to dilute his, and while the injury is unfortunate,  he probably would have been one of the most annoying guys in the league.

Where he is now: A studio analyst for ESPN. Sounds about right for him.

Google Autocomplete results: He is sixth when you type Dallas B, between Dallas BBQ Flatbush, a restaurant in Brooklyn, and Dallas Baptist University, a school in Texas. There do not appear to be any other prominent Dallas Bradens.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Chad Bradford.

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