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PROGRAMMING NOTE: NBC Sports California is looking back at the A's 50 Memorable Moments since the franchise relocated to Oakland in 1968. Below are the next two moments you can vote on. Tune into A's Pregame Live today at 6:30pm to watch highlights of the two moments. After the A's and Indians conclude, tune into A's Postgame Live to see which moment will move on to the next round!
1. Dallas Braden's Perfect Game on Mother's Day 2010 (14-time winner -- Defeated "Billy Ball" is born in Oakland in 1980; A's win division series in strike-shortened 1981)
(From Dallas Braden)
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Well, they haven’t taken it away yet so I guess it might not be a dream after all. It’s still insane to think that on such a special day for so many people, my teammates and I were able to etch ourselves into the hearts of A’s fans everywhere.
In the moment, I had no clue. At the same time, I was fully aware. Completely focused and emotionally distracted at the same time. Hell, I talked myself into the wrong count in the last at-bat of the game. The 27th out. In that moment I had no clue. No clue I’d become the vehicle for such an emotional moment shared between mothers and their families across baseball that special day. I do believe that’s what I was -- merely a vehicle to connect people through our beautiful game. My mom, along with the baseball gods, and Landon Powell, I guess, all steered us down the path of history and to be able to share and relive those special moments and memories is a blessing a young little leaguer can only dream of.
I hope that through my passion for the game you feel the same love I, myself, my wife, baby girl, and grandmother have felt from each of you, the fans of the Green & Gold. We couldn’t be happier to share this Mother’s Day and every Mother’s Day from here on out, TOGETHER! It’s a perfect fit if you ask me.
VS.
2. Eric Byrnes hits for the cycle against the Giants in 2003
(Excerpt provided by Eric Byrnes from his book, "The F*It List")
Athletics
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“June 29, 2003 was the final game of a 3-game series against the Giants at Pac-Bell Park. My day started with my 2 boys, the Royer twins, calling me on my way to the ballpark to tell me they would be sitting in the front row of the outfield bleachers. Their intended plan: talk trash to me the entire game. “That’s fine. Just make sure you knuckleheads hold on to the ball I hit into the bleachers. I’ll sign it for you clowns.”
Obviously, this was harmless fun, trash talking with my boys, but make no mistake about it, they lit my fire for the day.
Leading off the game I hit a check-swing excuse me single, my 2nd at-bat I hit a double, and then in my 3rd at-bat, right after I discreetly flipped them the bird, I sent my boys a present! The ball actually flew just to the left of where they were sitting. I was now 3-3 with a single, double, and a homer. A triple was no doubt on my mind for my fourth at bat just because of “triples ally” in right center field; otherwise, I don’t even think I would had paid it any attention. I hit a double off the left field wall and was now 4-4. I approached my 5th at-bat as relaxed as could be when I took a low and outside slider from Felix Rodriguez and dumped it into centerfield for what I thought would be a single to cap off the first ever 5-hit game of my life. Then something very weird happened, Carlos Valderamma, the “Giants center fielder, slipped, and the ball bounced over his head. I was off to the races and ended up standing on third base, completing the first ever cycle in Pac-Bell/AT&T Park history.
It was also the first time in my life I had ever accomplished the feat at any level.
“You crazy ass mother (expletive) Look at them people, they cheering for you!” Ron Washington, our third base coach, was never a guy who was lost for words, and I didn’t expect him to be at that moment.
The first thing I noticed was all of the guys on our team who had made their way to the top step of the dugout and seemed genuinely fired up. Then, just as Ron Washington said, I looked up into the stands and noticed the majority of the San Francisco fans out of their seats and applauding.
The inning completed, and as I ran out to left field, all of the fans, including all of my boys who had been talking trash the entire game, rose to their feet to give me a standing ovation.
There really is no way to appropriately describe exactly what I was feeling because I had never experienced the way I felt at that moment in my entire life. I had flashbacks to all the Giants games that I went to growing up, cheering and heckling alongside many of the same fans that were in the stands that day. I was extremely humbled, grateful, and for whatever reason, I actually felt embarrassed.
The day started with innocent trash talking and ended with the first ever 5-hit game and cycle in my life. Trust me when I say I never needed any extra motivation to play in a big-league game, but whenever I was able to draw on something new, I went for it.”
VOTE HERE: