Twenty-seven up. Twenty-seven down. On paper, it looks like a clinical surgical procedure. But the Dallas Braden perfect game wasn’t clinical. Honestly, it was a mess. It was a hungover, grief-stricken, territorial, and mathematically confused afternoon that somehow resulted in the 19th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.
Most people remember the "Get off my mound" guy.
They remember the local kid from Stockton who told Alex Rodriguez to take a hike after the Yankees star trotted across the pitcher's rubber. That happened just a few weeks before May 9, 2010. A-Rod laughed it off, calling Braden a guy with a "handful of wins."
By the end of Mother's Day, that "nobody" was a legend.
The Hangover and the Heartbreak
You’ve probably heard athletes talk about their "perfect" preparation. This wasn't that. Dallas Braden woke up on Mother’s Day 2010 feeling like garbage. He’d stayed out late the night before. He arrived at the Oakland Coliseum barely an hour before first pitch.
Usually, Braden spent two hours grinding through scouting reports. Not this time. He didn't have time for a massage. He didn't have time for his ritualistic Red Bull. He barely had time to play catch with his catcher, Landon Powell.
Why the self-sabotage? Because Braden hated Mother’s Day.
Melanoma took his mom, Jodie Atwood, during his senior year of high school. For a kid raised in the "209" (Stockton, California), his mom was everything. Every year, Mother's Day was a painful reminder of what he'd lost. He was just trying to survive the day, not make history.
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How the Dallas Braden Perfect Game Actually Happened
The Tampa Bay Rays were a juggernaut in 2010. They weren't a "gimme" win. Braden didn't have a 100-mph heater. He was a lefty specialist with an 88-mph fastball and a changeup that looked like it was falling off a table.
The Close Calls
In the first inning, Jason Bartlett absolutely ripped a line drive to third base. Kevin Kouzmanoff had to leap into the air to snag it. If that ball is two inches higher, the perfect game ends before most fans have even sat down with their hot dogs.
Then came the fourth inning. Bartlett again. He tapped a slow roller that Kouzmanoff had to charge like a madman, firing a running throw to Daric Barton. Braden later admitted that Kouzmanoff was "literally everywhere" that day.
The Bunt Controversy
In the fifth, Evan Longoria tried to bunt for a hit. The Coliseum crowd lost its mind. In the unwritten rules of baseball, bunting to break up a no-hitter is a cardinal sin. Longoria didn't care. He was trying to win. He fouled it off and eventually struck out, but the tension was officially through the roof.
The 3-1 Count Nobody Noticed
The most insane part of the Dallas Braden perfect game happened in the ninth inning. Most pitchers are hyper-aware of every pitch. Braden? He was lost.
He was facing Gabe Kapler. With the count at 2-1, Braden threw a fastball that he thought "painted" the corner. Umpire Jim Wolf called it a ball.
In Braden's head, the count was 2-2.
In reality, it was 3-1.
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If Braden throws a ball on the next pitch, the perfect game is over. A walk ruins everything. Landon Powell called for a changeup. Braden, thinking he had a pitch to waste, shook him off. He wanted to go with the fastball.
Kapler swung and grounded out to shortstop Cliff Pennington. If Kapler had taken that pitch—which was arguably out of the zone—the history books would look very different. Braden didn't even realize how close he came to walking him until after the game.
The Embrace at the Mound
When the final out hit Daric Barton's glove, the Oakland Coliseum exploded. 12,228 people sounded like 50,000.
But the real story wasn't the box score. It was Peggy Lindsey.
Peggy was Dallas’s grandmother. She was the woman who stepped in and finished raising him after his mother passed away. She was in the stands that day. When she made it onto the field, the two of them shared a hug that remains one of the most emotional images in sports history.
"Your mom would have been so proud," she told him.
They both kissed the Saint Christopher medallion Dallas wore around his neck. It was a moment of pure, raw closure for a guy who had spent years resenting that specific calendar date.
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Why This Game Still Matters
Braden’s career didn't last forever. Injuries caught up to him, and he retired in 2014 with a career record of 26-36.
Does that make the perfect game less impressive? No. It makes it more "Oakland."
The A's have always been the underdog. Braden was the ultimate underdog—a "Stockton 209" kid with a chip on his shoulder and a weird changeup. He wasn't a Hall of Famer like Randy Johnson or Sandy Koufax. He was a guy who caught lightning in a bottle on the one day he needed it most.
Actionable Insights for Baseball Fans:
- Watch the Condensed Game: Go back and look at the ninth inning on YouTube. Pay attention to Pennington's face as he throws the final ball to first. He looks absolutely terrified of dropping it.
- The A-Rod Connection: If you want a laugh, look up the interviews from April 2010. Braden's "get off my mound" rant is the ultimate precursor to his masterpiece.
- Visit the Hall of Fame: The cleats Braden wore that day are actually in Cooperstown. If you're ever in New York, they're a must-see for any A's fan.
Braden didn't just pitch a perfect game; he reclaimed Mother's Day for himself and his grandmother. Sometimes, sports are about more than just the stats. Sometimes, they're about finishing what you started when life tried to pull the rug out from under you.
To see how the "unwritten rules" changed baseball after this era, check out recent deep dives into pitch clocks and mound regulations.