The Athletics celebrated “Dallas Braden Day” on Friday to commemorate the pitcher’s perfect game against the Rays on May 9, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
As part of the celebration, the team presented him with a diamond ring, complete with 51 diamonds on the front -- for his uniform number -- and 27 diamonds along the edges -- for the 27 outs he recorded en route to the 19th perfect game in major league history. Yes, Billy Beane went to Jared’s.
I’m currently searching for a picture of the ring, but all I have right now is Landon Powell and Braden standing near a pretty nifty logo on the left field wall. It’ll have to do.
According to Jane Lee and Alex Espinoza of MLB.com, his grandmother was presented with a matching pendant. You can watch her throw out the first pitch here. Like Dallas, she’s a southpaw.
Braden has dropped each of his last two starts since throwing the perfect game. He left Wednesday’s game against the Tigers due to illness, but is expected to make his next start.