The grandmother who dissed A-Rod after her grandson Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics pitched a perfect game on Sunday is now rethinking the whole "Stick it, A-Rod" remark. Peggy Lindsey told ESPN yesterday, "That just kind of slipped out, I didn’t mean to say that. I was having questions fired at me. That was just the first thing that came to my mind. I was a little upset, it took a life of its own and, of course, I don’t like to hear anything negative about my grandson. That’s what came out."
A-Rod and Braden were involved in a war of the words over Rodriguez's trot across the pitcher's rubber during an April 22 game, which really pissed off Braden, who told reporters, "(The Yankees) are an extremely classy organization with guys who always tend to do the right thing every time; it's kind of disheartening to see that not show through or be reflected by somebody of (Rodriguez's) status. He's a tremendous player and a tremendous talent, and I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on a roster; if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm out there on that mound, that's not your mound. You want to run across the mound? Go run laps in the bullpen. That's my mound." Rodriguez made a crack about Braden's "handful of winds (he has a 18-23 record).
Darryl Strawberry thinks Braden is stupid to keep ragging on A-Rod, saying it "doesn't mean he's great because he pitched a perfect game... Baseball is a period of time of success, and A-Rod has done it consistently year in and year out. Who are they to talk about him?" And Straw hasn't heard of this "don't touch the rubber" rule, "Whoever came up with that idea, whoever Braden is, is exaggerating."
We guess we'll see if Braden will mention A-Rod again tonight—he's doing the Late Show With David Letterman Top Ten list.
