Would you say that entire week devoted to celebrating just one baseball player on a team would be, shall we say, “individualistic”? Would you think that this player should be more about the name on the front of jersey, and not the one on the back?
Well, the Oakland Athletics – you know, the franchise whose GM and director of baseball operations couldn’t even be bothered to skip their workouts to watch Dallas Braden’s perfect game in person – are devoting an entire homestand to celebrating the pitcher’s feat. And celebrating Braden. Excuse me while I go retch.
Isn’t it amusing how the very same ballplayer who chided Alex Rodriguez for being too “individualistic” has now been featured, um, individually on Late Show With David Letterman, NPR, The Early Show, and the cover of Sports Illustrated this week?
And the same pitcher who decried Rodriguez for playing for the name on the back of his jersey (huh?) instead of the one on the front is now the subject of a “The Perfect Homestand,” a seven-day dog and pony show devoted to the magnitude of Dallas Braden. I’m guessing a reality show called “The Braden Bunch” will be next!
According to MLB.com, the A’s celebration “will include unique fan giveaways, ticket discounts and an on-field tribute to the Stockton, Calif., native during the team’s next homestand, May 17-23.” Here are some of the events in Bradenpalooza:
* On Wednesday, when Braden makes his first home start since the perfect game, fans will get a “Braden t-shirt.” That’s right. Not an A’s t-shirt, but a Braden t-shirt. But will his name be on the back, or the front, or both?
* Fans at the Sunday game of this homestand will receive a “Braden perfect game poster.” What about the rest of his teammates, without whom he wouldn’t have been able to finish the perfect game? Do they make it into the picture, or is it just about him? You know, it’s funny. One of baseball’s many unwritten rules is that the pitcher buys gifts for his teammates who helped him complete the perfect game or no-hitter. In this case, the gifts are all about and for Braden only!
* The team is also offering $19 lower box seats (in honor of it being the 19th perfect game ever) for Tuesday’s game. And the A’s will sell $2.09 promotional tickets, in honor of Braden’s 209 home area code, for Monday’s game. Braden is all about talking about how they do things in the 209 – he even has the number tattooed on his chest. I don’t get that – I grew up in the 201, and then New Jersey Bell decided to mix things up and change my hometown’s area code to the 973. Gee, am I glad I didn’t get that 201 tattoo!
* On Thursday, “10,000 fans will receive a commemorative ticket dated May 9, 2010, to mark the game in which Braden accomplished the rare feat.” Are these real tickets from the game, so these fans can pretend that they were at a game that only 12,000 fans showed up for? Just wondering.
* Oh, and Peggy Lindsey, Braden’s grandmother who is best known for showing the class of a Jerry Springer Show guest with her “Stick It, A-Rod” remark after the perfect game, will be throwing out the first pitch at Friday’s game. Wonder if she’ll moon a picture of A-Rod or something to continue to show her contempt for the third baseman.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen an entire week devoted to celebrating just one player. When Lou Gehrig was dying, he didn’t get a whole homestand dedicated to his life – he only got one day. Same with Babe Ruth. Guess they just weren’t as important to baseball history as Dallas Braden is.
You know, I get that the A’s are desperately trying to get fans into the stadium. And lower ticket prices are always welcome. But it’s a bit much to see a player who was so vocal in criticizing A-Rod for being an “individualistic” player agreeing to all these interviews – and to a week devoted to celebrating himself. Heck, A-Rod’s never gotten a day, let alone a week, devoted to himself like that.
But don’t expect anybody in the press to call out the hypocrisy of a player who claimed to be all about team, having a week that’s all about him. The media lovefest of Braden is already at full nausea mode, with Lynn Zinser of the New York Times declaring that “sports needed Oakland’s Dallas Braden in the worst way.” And the media is writing about him in their own worst way, without even noticing the hypocrisy in this self-appointed arbiter of the game spending so much time celebrating himself.
Lisa Swan
Lisa Swan, a lifelong Yankee fan, grew up in Passaic, N.J., where her favorite player was the talented but insecure Reggie Jackson. Today she lives on Staten Island, where her favorite player is the talented but insecure Alex Rodriguez. A former senior new media editor for ...
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Oakland Fan says:
Wow. Hate much? Not even yankee fans like AROID much, but you are sure sticking up for him now because of our pesky little Davidesque pitcher. Good luck, Goliath. Here's hoping you fall in this years playoffs, (if you make it).
Brooklyngirl says:
Textbook example of hypocrisy.
Anything to get fannies in the seats. PT Barnum was right.
ArizonaFan says:
Lisa, let's look at your writing point-by-point. Throwing a perfect game in baseball is an incredibly rare feat, and it is surely ok to celebrate the accomplishment. I think your statements show your jealousy. You've probably never done anything worthwhile in your life to deserve praise, so I get where you may be coming from. You need to get over it. Talk to someone; get some support from friends. How can you make those comments about Belly Beane? Have you done any research to back up your statements? Sounds like you are making statements that show off your ignorance. No it isn't amusing. You are clueless about your false assumptions. The only thing amusing is reading your other articles. Very entertaining, by the way, but not for the reasons I think you meant. Your third-to-last paragraph is the most revealing of your diatribe. Your sarcasm cuts like a knife. Really, Lisa, if you can't say something nice about a person, why do you have to use sarcastic comments. It weakens your position.
Michael Hickins says:
Thanks Lisa for writing yet another terrific piece. Dallas Braden t-shirts and the rest of it really illustrate that the pitcher is really a punk.
The funny thing about perfect games is that, while incredibly rare, it's not necessarily the best pitchers who throw them. Tom Seaver, perhaps the best pitcher of his generation, didn't. But Tom Browning did.
So did Don Larsen, of course, in a career that neither foreshadowed nor lived up to that single moment of greatness. David Wells and David Cone were terrific pitchers too, but no one ever talks about them and the Hall of Fame in the same breath. I have the feeling that Braden has more Cone than Larsen in him -- by which I mean, he'll probably stick around and prove himself a good pitcher.
But the 209? Who ever refers to their area code? The 718? That's both Brooklyn and Queens -- my point being, how does that identify your home town neighborhood?
And that classless grandmother -- what can you say, other than, stick it, gram. And to paraphrase the immortal A.J. Burnett, stay the &^%K of my mound, grandma.
Myjah says:
Wait--Dallas Braden is a hypocrite because he agreed to allow the organization to use his rare accomplishment as a marketing gimmick for the sake of the team? Um, I'm sorry Miss Lisa Swan--but what?
That would only be hypocritical if Braden had called out the Yankees for using their World Series win as a marketing tool. Or say, using A-Rod's MVP win as a marketing tool a few years back. Or calling out A-Rod for accepting interviews after he won the MVP. But that's not what Braden was complaining about.
If Braden started kicking and screaming about NOT WANTING to allow the organization to use his accomplishment for the sake of the team, he'd have been EVEN MORE individualistic and childish than before. If you want to hate on a player, fine--but at least have a valid point.
Lisa Swan says:
ArizonaFan says, "How can you make those comments about Belly Beane? Have you done any research to back up your statements?" Oh, you mean the parts where I quoted what Beane himself told reporters? Yes, I have.
As for Myjah's comments, Braden went on and on about Rodriguez being an "individualistic" player, then he agrees to a week honoring just him. Yes, that is hypocritical. Last time I checked, it takes the whole team to win the perfect game, not just the pitcher - where's the acknowledgment of his teammates there?
Michael, thanks for your comments. The jury's still out on where Braden's career will end up. But if he does end up having a good career, expect some young punk to challenege him one day, the way he challenged A-Rod.
Kenny says:
Alex Rodriguez (s) or however it is spelled is a cheating Zero.
A perfect poster boy of how America has become the America that is falling apart due to Lying, cheating, & pure apathy.
that so called elite athlete that can do as he wishes because he plays a child's sport that attracts many & creates millions in revenue.
He has no respect for the sport.
He slaps like Cindy Brady at the 1st baseman's glove while running down the line.
He shows up whomever he can & has this Bonds like attitude that kinda makes me wish a he would get run over by the tarp crew during a rain delay.
Dallas Braden
A) Pitched a perfect game & will probably never approach anything near this again in his life.
B) Should grab as much as he can while it lasts. It makes perfect sense to me. If he can feed the hungry in his hometown when he's a nobody, he can feed more as a somebody.
He is a scrappy man who has had a hard life. He knows about VALUES.
It is good to see him grind on the oh so vain AROID.