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 6:30 p.m. to watch highlights of the two moments. After the A's and Giants 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 (18-time winner -- Defeated A's clinch AL West on final day of the season in 2000)
(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. A's hit five home runs in Game 3 of the 1989 World Series, the first game after the Loma Prieta Earthquake
(From Dave Stewart)
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"I was cruising in that game, pitching well and then the offense just starting coming. To recall home runs from our teams is difficult to do because we hit so many, I mean even in that series we hit a lot of home runs.
'Hendu' just always had the heroics in the playoffs, it was just his setting to show who he was as a player, I mean he was just a great post season player."
"It was a 10 day layoff after the earthquake and we weren't even sure we were going to get the chance to come back and play. It had been bounced around between MLB and the teams if it was the proper thing to do, to finish out the World Series. We had gone to Arizona, we left the Bay Area as a team to work and get our mind set to play, if we were going to get to play and so when we got the word that we were going to play, we felt that it would be uplifting for the community quite frankly in a period where there was just bad news and tragedy. When we came back, we were right. There were cheers and ovations unlike the prior two games, so we did the right thing by playing"
VOTE HERE: