The move of the Oakland Athletics has been one of the saddest stories in recent sports memory. The team that has a nomadic history is once again on the move, this time to Las Vegas. We think. And beloved former player Dallas Braden has been front and center, for better and for worse.
Braden pitched a perfect game with the As in 2010 but had to retire early due to injury. After being an analyst with ESPN, he soon would link up with his former team where he has been a constant presence in the broadcast booth ever since.
But now with the Athletics having left Oakland for a pitstop in Sacramento before their planned move to Las Vegas, Braden and many others associated with the franchise have been left in an impossible position. Stay loyal to the fans in Oakland that cheered you for years or stay loyal to the franchise that has employed you?
Dallas Braden made his choice. He was at the groundbreaking ceremony in Las Vegas alongside the likes of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and disgraced team owner John Fisher performing emcee duties.
Braden addressed the backlash to the decision on his Baseball is Dead podcast with Jared Carrabis and Justin Havens, explaining why he is comfortable with the idea that his participation in the event and continued association with the franchise makes him a “sellout.”
“To the folks that want to call me a sellout, you know what I say to you? I say you’re right. You want to know what I did? When I was four years old, I sold out to being the very best baseball player I could possibly be. At four years old. And I sold out to the idea of trying to do everything I could that comes with being a big league baseball player,” Braden said.
“If you’re telling 16 year old Dallas that he was going to have an opportunity to be a part of Major League Baseball outside of his playing days, I would have called you a liar because my path was not supposed to end up here,” Braden added. “I was not supposed to be at the podium for a groundbreaking ceremony for a Major League Baseball team. We all know who that kind of stuff is reserved for, right? I’m in the same room as Dave Stewart, Hall of Famer, Rollie Fingers, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, the commissioner sitting feet away from me. So for me, did I sell out? I sold out to Major League Baseball. And I sold out to the dream that I had and the dream that I shared a whole f—ing lifetime ago.”
Oakland baseball fans could probably see this coming considering Dallas Braden was fairly mum on the Athletics move during last season. You can certainly understand where he is coming from given his passion for baseball. There are only 30 analyst jobs in the sport and he has one of them. For a baseball lifer, it’s a dream come true to call games every day.
The unfortunate side is that while Braden continues to pursue that dream, there’s an entire fanbase in the Bay Area that feels like it is lost forever.
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