We know: You lost interest in the A-Rod–Dallas Braden mound incident, oh, the day after it happened. But we can’t resist linking to this CSN interview (via Was Watching) that appears to have been conducted by the president of the Dallas Braden Fan Club.
Here, verbatim, is the opening question:
“What people do want to see is what’s in your head regarding Alex Rodriguez. I was on the air the day it happened, and I said, I just fell in love with Dallas all over again. I pitched in college. If someone did that to me, I’d have done the exact same thing. After the game, when you said, ‘If he does it again, there’s gonna be repercussions,’ I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but I said where Dallas comes from, the 209, they don’t settle things with message pitches. They settle them with knuckles. Is that what you were talking about?”
Braden goes on to admit that, yes, where he comes from they prefer not to settle things with words, and that he’s never liked A-Rod, whom he considers an “individualistic” player. And there, folks, is the root of this whole dumb story: Braden quite obviously relished the opportunity to pick a fight with Rodriguez, even over an incident that was at most inconsequential and was quite possibly purely accidental. Watch the full clip below.