Former Red Raider Dallas Braden Threw a Perfect Game While Hungover

Dallas Braden can now join the pantheon of David Wells and Dock Ellis, pitchers who had their best games while they weren't 100 percent.

Braden, a former Texas Tech Red Raider, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was hungover when he took the mound for the A's and went 27 up, 27 down against the Tampa Bay Rays back in 2010.

From the San Francisco Chronicle story from Susan Slusser:

“I wasn’t following protocol, let’s say,” Braden said.

Translation: Braden had stayed up drinking with some friends the night before and he was the worse for wear on May 9, 2010 — shades of David Wells, who threw his 1998 perfect game for the Yankees with a “raging, skull-rattling hangover.”

Yes, Dallas Braden threw one of 23 perfect games in MLB history with a raging hangover. But, just like another Red Raider, he was prepared for it.

Why was Braden drunk before a start? Well, Braden's mom died of cancer when he was younger, and the perfect game 10 years ago was on Mother's Day.

Braden told the San Francisco Chronicle that his Mother's Day excursion was more about dealing with that pain than anything else. Braden mentioned in the article it was the first time he'd ever drank the day before a start. It worked out, though.

Braden struck out six and threw 109 pitches en route to a great Rays team in 2010.

And to think, if Dallas Braden hadn't been woken up by his grandmother that day, he might have missed his start altogether. She had come by to check on Braden's dogs and found him asleep instead of at the ballpark.

Braden's perfect game was a huge story in 2010. He and his grandmother embraced after the game. To think he pitched that masterful performance while sipping Pedialyte and chomping down Tylenol makes it even more amazing. I can hardly cook a hot pocket hungover.