The A's lefthander took exception a few weeks ago when A-Rod ran across the mound, a violation of one of a thousand unwritten rules in baseball that remain unwritten for the simple reason that they're stupid. And we're still talking about it.
CSN Bay Area's Mychael Urban spoke with Braden on Wednesday and again raised the issue, though as Seth Curry Saves Duke! points out, it's a bit more accurate to say he sat down with Braden and stuffed a bunch of Clubber Lang quotes in his mouth:
Mychael Urban: What people do want to see is what's in your head regarding Alex Rodriguez. I was on the air the day it happened, and I said, "I just fell in love with Dallas all over again." I pitched in college; if somebody did that to me I would have done the exact same thing. After the game, when you said, "If he does it again, there's going to be repercussions..." I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I said, "Where Dallas comes from, the 209, they don't settle things with message pitches, they settle them with knuckles." Is that what you were talking about?
Dallas Braden: Well, I mean that's pretty much the long and the short of it. You know, on a serious note, obviously there's things that are going to have to happen — just out of respect for my teammates, out of respect for the game. I think he's probably garnered a new respect for the unwritten rules, and people who hold them close to their game. But yeah I think you're right — we don't do much talking in the 209.
The 209 refers to Stockton, Calif., of which Dallas Braden is a native. In the 209, you respect a neatly groomed pile of dirt. In the 209, you do not go stepping across a neatly groomed pile of dirt unless you want someone with a mustache tattooed on his finger to respond with vaguely menacing telephonic shorthand in a comic attempt to make Stockton sound more like Compton. That's just how the 209 rolls, brah.
Exclusive: Dallas Braden's Message for A-Rod [CSN Bay Area]
Morning: Dallas Braden as Tragic Figure [Seth Curry Saves Duke!]