"Stick it A-Rod!"

The Unwritten Rule - Several weeks ago, Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics made the news for one of the games more bizarre, yet funnier reasons. In an afternoon game at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland against the defending world champion New York Yankees, one of baseball's unwritten rules were broken according to the left-handed Braden. With Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez on first base, Robinson Cano stood at the plate. Cano hit a high pop-up into foul territory, resulting in Rodriguez to trot around the bases nearing third. Once the ball drifted out into the stands, A-Rod was forced to return to first. When doing so, he decided to take a short cut by crossing the pitcher's mound. Something Dallas Braden wasn't too fond of.

The two began exchanging words when Braden yelled out "Get off my mound!", sending him into a tirade after the inning where he furiously threw his glove upon reaching the dugout. In a post-game interview, Braden talked about the incident, calling it a classless move by a player from what many have considered to be the classiest team in sports. He went on to say, "If I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on the mound, that's MY mound. There will be repercussions if it happens again." A-Rod fired back, claiming he never heard of such nonsense and ridiculed Braden's career record of 18-wins and 23-losses by saying, "I was a little surprised, I never quite heard that, especially from a guy who has a handful of wins in his career."

What I want to know is why Rodriguez would step over the mound to begin with? As stupid as it sounds, he risked injuring himself. But then again, A-Rod's been known for doing some very questionable antics in the past, whether they include distracting and shouting "Mine!" behind a Blue Jay player trying to field a routine pop-up or trying to slap the ball out of former Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo's mitt. After nearly three weeks of silence, Braden let it be known that he wasn't finished steaming about the incident that took place weeks earlier. Braden told CSN Bay Area, "There are things that are going to have to happen, possibly ending with knuckles." Again, Rodriguez shot back saying, "Look, I really don't want to extend his extra 15 minutes of fame." And if you asked me, I'd say Braden held his own since then by responding in the biggest of ways.

27 Up, 27 Down - Last Sunday as most celebrated Mother's Day, Braden threw the rarest of the rare -- a perfect game. Braden's gem was the 19th perfect game in Major League history (7th by a lefty), as he became only the second Athletic in franchise history to reach the feat. The other -- Catfish Hunter in 1968. Coincidentally, Braden's remarkable achievement comes on Mother's Day, the same day his mother died 8 years earlier from skin cancer while he was a senior in high school. Braden, a 9th round pick out of Texas Tech University in 2004, struck out six batters and needed only 109-pitches to make history. Braden became the first pitcher to ever throw a perfect game against a team that entered the day with the best record in the majors. With his grandmother in attendance, a touching moment of the two hugging on the field was shared after the celebration that mobbed Braden. "Stick it A-Rod!", Said Braden's grandmother.

After trying to hold out from extending Braden's "15 minutes of fame", Rodriguez found himself center stage surrounded by the media once again, being bombarded with questions regarding Braden's record setting day. "He threw a perfect game, good for him. And better yet, he beat the Rays." In a game against the arch-rival Boston Red Sox, A-Rod would make history of his own by connecting for his third home run of the season and the 586th of his career, tying him for 7th on the all-time list with Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. Braden, the guy that A-Rod said only had a handful of wins, now has something only a handful of players have accomplished. With a no-hitter, a perfect game and a 20 inning game already in the books this season, the only thing missing is a good 'ol brawl. Something we could expect when A-Rod and Braden meet again in July. At least that's what I'm hoping for... *DING DING*