Major League Baseball

Braden reclaims perfect-game pitching rubber, takes it to A's game

Published Jun. 18, 2015 12:07 a.m. ET

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It's been five years since former Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden tossed his miraculous perfect game on May 9, 2010, which happened to be Mother's Day. 

On Wednesday night, Braden headed to O.co Coliseum as a spectator to take in the A's game against the San Diego Padres ... but he brought along a friend.

As he explained to Susan Slusser of the SF Chronicle, he reached an agreement with the A's to trade his jersey from the game for the pitching rubber used during his masterpiece vs. the Tampa Bay Rays. The rubber was the only artifact he really wanted from the historic outing — his cleats are in the Hall of Fame and his glove, he told Slusser, was eaten by his dog. 

So what makes the pitching rubber so important? Braden explained it had to do with his late mother: “The reason that area is near and dear to my heart is my mom always told me that, no matter what else happened, I’d always be about to compete on a baseball field, and she told me, ‘Make that mound your home,'" he said.

After reconnecting with his pitching rubber, Braden posed with it during the game for a few amusing Tweets: 

It's easy to see why Braden was very excited to have finally reunited with the unique artifact from one of the more improbable pitching gems in the history of the game. Here's a highlight reel from that special day in 2010:

(h/t SF Chronicle)

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