© Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports Former Oakland Athletics pitcher and current broadcaster Dallas Braden (left) admitted that he wasn't at his best physically when he tossed a perfect game in 2010.

On Sunday, May 9, 2010, Major League Baseball pitcher Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game. Braden, a member of the Oakland Athletics, pitched the game against the.

Former MLB southpaw Dallas Braden made history on May 9, 2010, when he pitched a perfect game on Mother's Day while with the Oakland Athletics.

Braden has now admitted he wasn't at his best for that memorable outing.

While speaking with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (h/t Bleacher Report), Braden, who last appeared in the big leagues in 2011 and retired in 2014, said he was hungover when he took the mound to face the Tampa Bay Rays.

'Until that day, I had never treated a start or the day before a start the way I did that day,' Braden explained. 'It's not like I was telling myself, 'Let's get crushed and tomorrow will be awesome.' It was more like, 'Let's just forget about tomorrow.'

Braden lost his mother to skin cancer when he was in high school, which explains why he found the night of May 8, 2010, particularly difficult. Despite feeling the effects of the previous evening, Braden notched six strikeouts and allowed zero baserunners en route to completing what Fox Sports reported to be the 19th perfect game in MLB history.

As Jay Jaffe once recalled for Sports Illustrated, David Wells was also in rough shape when he pitched his perfect game with the New York Yankees in May 1998:

In his 2003 autobiography 'Perfect, I'm Not,' Wells conceded that he pitched his gem 'half-drunk, with bloodshot eyes, monster breath, and a raging, skull-rattling hangover,' having gone to bed at 5 a.m. and gotten just an hour of sleep.

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Nearly 10 years after his perfect game, the 19th in major-league history, Dallas Braden revealed that he was not actually at his best that day.

“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 before facing the Rays on May 9, 2010 — shades of David Wells, who threw his 1998 perfect game for the Yankees with a “raging, skull-rattling hangover.”

“There are things you don’t do,” Braden told The Chronicle. “Partaking in libations or adult beverages, that was something I never did before a day game.

“The night before Mother’s Day, though, I did. We were getting after it a little bit.”

Mother’s Day was difficult for Braden and his grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, who’d raised him after Braden’s mother, Jodie Atwood, died when Dallas was in high school. Braden — who was 26 the day of his historic game — had just wanted to forget about it. “It’s just a day you’re trying to get by,” Braden said. “You’re waiting for 12:01 to roll around so it’s over.”

When Lindsey stopped by Braden’s place in Stockton that Sunday morning to check on his dogs before heading to the ballpark herself, she was surprised to find him still there. Asleep.

“She walked in, saw the aftermath of the night before and saw I was still in bed,” Braden said. “She knew, though, you’re not talking to me at all the day I’m starting — she knew the drill. So she just got back in the car. She was in Oakland before I left the house. She was at the Coliseum before I’d gotten out of bed.”

Braden was much later to the ballpark than usual, making it just in time to stretch and play catch. Few noticed except catcher Landon Powell and video coordinator Adam Rhoden, who was accustomed to Braden spending most of the morning poring over opposing hitters.

“Dallas studied quite a bit before every start, that’s the funny thing.,” Rhoden said. “You can recognize when a guy is hurting a little bit in the morning, I knew he’d probably had a night out. He didn’t do his normal two-hour study that morning.”

Braden confided in Powell, who knew how unusual it was for Braden to arrive late.

Dallas Braden Perfect Game

“The day he pitches, he’s on a mission,” Powell said. “It’s like he’s going to war. He doesn’t talk to anyone. He doesn’t smile. He flips a switch. That day, you could tell he was a little uncomfortable. He did panic that day a little more than he normally did.”

“Landon’s right, I was rushed,” Braden said. “There was zero of my usual preparation. Until that day, I had never treated a start or the day before a start the way I did that day.

“It’s not like I was telling myself, ‘Let’s get crushed and tomorrow will be awesome.’ It was more like, ‘Let’s just forget about tomorrow. … We have all the drinks (now). Let’s just start today.’”

Pitching coach Curt Young recalled an uneventful meeting to go over the game plan and he had no idea anything was amiss until The Chronicle called him this week.

“Oh my gosh, that’s the kind of stuff you’re glad you don’t know at the time,” Young said. “I’m not looking for that kind of stuff and didn’t really see anything like that.”

Perfect Game Dallas Braden Cheaters

Shortstop Cliff Pennington remembered that Braden “wasn’t feeling all that great to start the game,” then two hours and seven minutes later, Pennington was fielding a grounder by Gabe Kapler and throwing to first for the 27th out of the A’s 4-0 victory.

Perfection. Pandemonium.

So maybe Braden should have made every start hung over?

“I think he might have tried,” Pennington joked. (Braden doesn’t recall doing so, “but that could mean he’s right!’ he cracked.)

Perfect Game Dallas Braden Cheat Sheet

Rhoden, meantime, figured Braden perhaps was better when he worked just with his strengths instead of preparing for hours beforehand.

“Multiple starts afterward, Adam was trying to hide the scouting reports from me and wouldn’t let me in the video room,” Braden said. “I was so routine oriented. You have to take yourself out of the equation sometimes.”