So THIS is where Dallas Braden(notes) gets his "Get off my mound, A-Rod!" attitude.

Her name is Peggy Lindsey and she is Braden's maternal grandmother.

Wearing a white and pink A's cap, Peggy Lindsey was among those in attendance at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday to watch her grandson toss the 19th perfect game in major league history. Shortly after the last out, Braden and Lindsey embraced on the field. It was a neat Mother's Day moment, especially considering Braden lost his mother — Lindsey's daughter — to cancer when he was a senior in high school.

"Mama loves you!" Lindsey told her grandson.

"I love you!" Braden replied.

Wait a second — is that any way for a couple of toughs from the 209 area code to talk?

"Y'all ain't got nothin' to say — it was perfect," Braden told TV in a semi-joking, semi-brash manner.

OK, that's more like it, 209. By the way, the Oakland Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays by a 4-0 final.

Braden, of course, made news 2 1/2 weeks ago by arguing with Alex

Larry Granillo of Wezen-Ball frequently strikes blog gold, but the innovation of the "Tater Trot Tracker" is pure platinum. It measures how fast (or slow) a player makes his circuit after hitting a home run.

One trot didn't make Larry's on Friday: That of Pittsburgh Pirates' "slugger" Lastings Milledge(notes). Unfortunately for his personal power totals, Milledge was bamboozled into believing his liner in the fourth inning against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night had cleared the left-field fence at PNC Park for his first career grand slam.

Dead certain he had gone deep, Milledge raised his fist rounding first base, put his head down and went into a trot. Cool. Double-dog certain because the fireworks guy at PNC set off the pyrotechnics that explode every time a Bucs player goes deep. Music also began to blare. What a glorious moment for the Bucs! (And a fine way to continue recovering from the worst stretch of baseball anyone can remember them playing.)

Only, the ball had not cleared

Perhaps you have been reading up on baseball's so-called "unwritten rules." Using what invisible ink remains, I am adding to the list right now.

My rule is, if an opposing pitcher takes a no-hitter into the eighth inning against your team, you're not allowed to say how unimpressed you were.

This goes out to Atlanta's pitcher Tim Hudson(notes) and manager Bobby Cox, who tried talking down the abilities and effort of Washington Nationals lefty Scott Olsen(notes) on Thursday night.

In his fifth start, Olsen came within five outs of a no-hitter, putting up this line using 97 pitches: 7 1/3 innings, two hits, one earned run, one walk and eight strikeouts.

After Olsen departed, the Nats won the game 3-2 on a pinch-hit RBI from Willie Harris(notes).

Here's how Hudson characterized Olsen's performance:

"He's got pretty good stuff but, let's be honest here: I don't think he's got no-hit stuff."

What a jerk! How about just saying nothing?

And the great Cox (is that spelled right?) wasn't the

Gather 'round, because it's time to recap the most recent diamond doings. Roll Call starts in Hollywood, Calif. (hello!) where the Los Angels Dodgers went to their closer, Jonathan Broxton(notes). And when that didn't work out, they went to their other closer, Andre Ethier(notes).

Game of the Day: Dodgers 7, Brewers 3

The Milwaukee Brewers were as good as doomed as soon as Ethier stepped into the batter's box.

After Broxton blew a save and the Brewers tied the score in the top of the ninth, the Dodgers loaded the bases with one out against right-hander LaTroy Hawkins(notes). With everyone playing in and nowhere to put Andre the Large, Hawkins gave him a pitch to hit.

There she goes.

Ethier hit it square, just clearing the fence in center for a game-ending grand salami (sending Tommy LaSorda into a double ecstasy coma). Further, it was Ethier's 11th game-ending hit since 2008, the most in the majors in that time.

How does he do it, seemingly, every time? Ethier started to get

Gather 'round, because it's time to recap the most recent diamond doings. Roll Call starts in Miami, where the San Francisco Giants wriggled loose of some jams, but the underlying story continued to be how well Barry Zito(notes) is pitching.

Game of the Day: Giants 3, Marlins 2

Zito shut out the Fish through seven, but they nibbled away at the lead over the final two frames — even loading the bases twice — before Sergio Romo(notes) (in the eighth) and closer Brian Wilson(notes) shut the door.

Zito's ERA (1.49) and WHIP (0.92) sparkle like 126 million bucks, and the Giants are 5-1 in his starts. As recently as two years ago, his strikeout and walk rates were the worst of his career. Folks wondered about just cutting him loose and calling him a sunk cost. Now, the 32-year-old, who won the AL Cy Young in 2002, might be pitching the best ball of his career.

"I'm not too high, I'm not too low," Zito said. "I'm just going out there playing as hard as I can and hoping the baseball gods are

Perhaps he was trying to beat the Seattle Mariners to the punch. Whatever the case, Milton Bradley(notes) reportedly walked out on his team Tuesday night during a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay.

I think Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times had it first, though Mike Salk of ESPN Radio in Seattle also reported it.

Bradley was upset at himself over a failed at-bat, or a disappointing game, or his past-due lease on a Chicago condo — or, who knows? — but he apparently took off from the home clubhouse at Safeco Field after manager Don Wakamatsu tried convincing him not to quit on his teammates.

Bradley is batting .214 (.313 OBP, .371 SLG), which is bad but actually passes for above average on the Mariners, who are offensively challenged and were using Milton as their cleanup hitter Tuesday night.

So, Bradley isn't producing and he's acting out. But this is worse than giving fans the finger. This is giving the finger to your team.

Here's part of what Baker reported:

From what I'm told, Bradley came back

Gather 'round, because it's time to recap the most recent diamond doings. Roll Call starts in Philadelphia, where — stop me if you've heard this one before — another fan went on the field during a game. I wonder what Jayson Werth(notes) is saying to him. ...

Game of the Day: Phillies 2, Cardinals 1 (10 innings)

Fortunately for the Phillies, catcher Carlos Ruiz(notes) made the home fans happy by blasting a game-ending home run after Cole Hamels(notes) lost his shutout bid in the ninth.

Unfortunately for humanity, another fan interrupted the game at Citizens Bank Park. Unlike the dopey kid from Monday night, Baby Huey was not Tased by police. So much for a consistent electrocution policy.

Yeah, he's about to be on the "feild!!!!!!!" What a Moran.

Another difference about this trespassing jackass: The timing. Right after announcing his intentions on Twitter and

Why, that lucky son of a gunderson.

Not only did teen pop sensation Justin Bieber throw out the first pitch at Monday night's White Sox-Royals game, the little so-and-so caught a foul ball — on a bounce into his suite — off the bat of Chicago slugger Paul Konerko(notes) in the third inning.

If you're still not sure who Bieber is, first of all, good for you. Here's all you really need to know: He's like, baby, baby, baby. Oh, like, baby, baby, baby. No, like, baby, baby, baby.

Get the idea?

The 16-year-old Canadian, a one-kid boy band with indestructible hair, had the baseball experience of a lifetime Monday night. Do you have any idea how many times I have never thrown out the first pitch of a game and also not caught a foul ball? And I've been to, I don't know, trillions of games. How many has Bieber been to? Does he even know who Vernon Wells(notes) is?

Bieber said on Facebook he gave the ball to a fan — aww! — and that he was excited to go on Oprah on Tuesday. Who can't relate to