"You can't ask for more than I've been given."
Former Athletics' starter Dallas Braden has decided to retire, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
The five-year major league veteran planned to hold a showcase for teams this winter, but a recent MRI showed his shoulder was too damaged to repair.
"There is nothing left in there, it’s just a shredded mess ... I left my arm on the mound at the Coliseum, and I’m OK with that."
His career might've been much shorter than he wanted it to be, but even though his time in the majors was abbreviated, Braden had some pretty memorable moments.
On Mothers' Day 2010, he put on one of the best pitching performances ever, retiring 27 straight with 109 pitches. It was the first perfect game Oakland had seen in 42 years, and just the 19th in Major League history.
About a month before that game, some guy on the Yankees walked across the mound at the Oakland Coliseum while Braden was pitching. Braden responded by telling that guy to "go do laps in the bullpen" if he wanted to walk on a pitching surface. Needless to say, Bud Selig is a Dallas Braden fan.
Despite having his career cut short by injuries, he doesn't have any regrets.
I wasn’t in a position to repeat my delivery, to pitch with any intention. That’s OK, I understood the odds I was facing. You have to face your mortality one day, and I have been so blessed in this game. If I take 10 minutes to be hacked off about it, it would be nine minutes too long. You can’t ask for more than I’ve been given, coming where my grandmother and I are coming from.
In 490⅓ career innings, Braden went 26-36 with a 4.16 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP
