Based on what Dallas Braden has done in the big leagues, he should concentrate on becoming a better pitcher instead of going after Alex Rodriguez and foolishly challenging the Yankee slugger to a fist fight.
Yet, the A’s pitcher can’t keep his large mouth shut when it comes to Rodriguez.
Following their headline-grabbing April 22 confrontation in Oakland, when A-Rod ran across Braden’s mound, the Oakland lefty Wednesday lit into Rodriguez again when asked on the A’s cable TV outlet if he and Rodriguez would have to “settle [things] with knuckles.”
“There’s things that are going to have to happen,” said Braden. “Out of respect to my teammates, out of respect to the game.”
Braden, 26 and on the way to journeyman status, took A-Rod’s April 22 move as a sign of disrespect and ripped Rodriguez after beating the Yankees, 4-2.
Rodriguez never admitted as much, but it’s a longstanding tradition among veteran players that the best way to rattle a young hurler is to stomp on the pitching rubber. And Rodriguez did just that on his way back to first base after a foul ball in the sixth inning after Mark Teixeira homered and Rodriguez singled.
Braden, who is 17-23 with a 4.62 ERA in 67 big-league games, foolishly believes a player of Rodriguez’s stature needs a pitcher with a losing record to teach him the “unwritten rules” of baseball.
“I think he’s probably garnered a new respect for the unwritten rules and people who hold them close to their game,” Braden said Wednesday.
“But I think you’re right, we don’t do much talking in the 209 [an area-code reference to Stockton, Calif., where Braden went to high school],” said Braden, who has talked far too much for a player of his lowly status.
Rodriguez, who has been in the big leagues since 1994 as an 18-year-old, made reference to Braden’s win total, 16 at the time of the incident. It was echoed by several of Rodriguez’s teammates.
Asked about that, Braden said, “There’s two ways that I can comment on that, and I’ll give you both of them.
“One, I was always told if you give a fool enough rope, he’ll hang himself, and with those comments, he had all the rope he needed.
“Two, I didn’t know that there was a criteria in order to compete against A-Rod. I didn’t know that. For him to feel that someone needs to reach a certain level of success in order to be able to compete against him, I think he should probably check that.”
Talk about unwritten rules! Players like Braden, who in another era would be pitching in beer leagues, should be seen but never heard.
It’s one thing for Jason Varitek to put his catcher’s mitt in Rodriguez’s face during a 2004 confrontation. It’s another for a pitcher nobody will remember to rip into possibly the best player to play the game for trying to rattle him.
“I’m not a fan of his antics. Obviously what he displayed wasn’t the first display of his lack of respect for the game or those playing it. So that never sat well with me,” said Braden, alluding to Rodriguez attempting to distract a Toronto infielder several years ago on a pop up by yelling “Hah!” while he neared third base.
“He’s an individualistic player. … He plays for the name on the back of the jersey, not the front. I don’t know if he’s noticed, but he doesn’t have a name on the back over there, he should play for the name on the front a little more.”
The teams play again in Oakland on July 5-7.