The most important thing to know about Dallas Braden is that he was never considered a talented prospect. He was the 1,383rd player taken in the 2004 draft. He wasn't known coming out of high school. He went to a small college in Sacramento where the coach didn't even know him from his high school career. He had a stellar year and he was good enough to play for Texas Tech. He impressed enough people that the Oakland A's drafted him. Braden might have only been drafted because he had the ability to throw a knuckball which is very rare in the game today. He was voted the minor league teams player of the year and yet he was only the 19th best prospect in the organization. One of the main reasons that Braden is in the big leagues and pitching well is because he believes that he belongs in the league. He has struggled though the fact that his mom died when he was a senior in high school. He lived with his grandmother and Braden said that if she hadn't influenced him like she did, he would have probably ended up in jail.This is a great story for the MLB and for everyone who believes they can achieve when others think that they can't. This show that with hard work and the confidence that you can do it, a person can achieve just about anything. It is a great story in that Braden was never looked at as a great pitcher. He was average at best and he worked hard and he believed in himself that he could pitch in the major leagues. Now he will be remembered forever because he is now one of only nineteen pitchers in the history of the MLB to throw a perfect game. This should give him even more confidence and maybe other people will finally start to believe that he does belong in the MLB and that he will be a great pitcher for many years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment