Topic: Dallas Braden

Dallas Lee Braden (born August 13, 1983) is a left-handed pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. He was drafted out of Texas Tech University in the twenty fourth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft by the Athletics. On May 9, 2010, Braden pitched the nineteenth perfect game in baseball history, in Oakland, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-0.

Braden was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He played Little League baseball in Stockton, California, playing in the Hoover Tyler Little League. Braden threw out the first pitch at the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Little League World Series.

Braden graduated from Stagg High School in Stockton, California, where he played baseball and ran cross country. His mother, Jodie Atwood, died of cancer during his senior year. After his mother's death, he lived with his maternal grandmother.