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 tonight at 3:30pm to watch highlights of the two moments. After the A's and Yankees conclude, tune into A's Postgame Live to see which moment will move on to the next round!
1. Rickey Henderson traded back to A's in 1989 (Three-time winner -- Defeated Jose Canseco's 5th deck home run at the SkyDome in Game 4 of the 1989 ALCS)
(From 12-year major league veteran Bip Roberts)
Rickey is Oakland. All of us ballplayers coming through after him, wanted to be like him, and because we saw a young kid from Oakland make it, we all thought we could make it. He meant the world to us.
So in 1989, it was really my first full year in the Majors and I was really thinking about what I could be as a pro player, and you hear that Rickey was traded back to Oakland from New York. And from afar, I'm thinking he's left New York and he's gone back home because we're all from Oakland and anytime something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. And I was thinking "Wow" New York traded him back to Oakland, I couldn't believe it!
Everywhere that Rickey was traded to, the team went to the World Series, and it seemed like they would win based on him being there, he had something to do with it being the offensive machine that he was
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I started thinking about what that would do for the Oakland-East Bay Area, coming back home, he's one of the best players in all of baseball, he's the most exciting lead-off hitter in the game and now he's going back home to a team that's pretty good. I think they're probably going to win a World Series !!!
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2. Dallas Braden's Perfect Game on Mother's Day 2010
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.
VOTE HERE:
Which #Athletics 50th Anniversary moment was more memorable?
The winning moment will move on to the next matchup.— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) May 11, 2018
