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The 19th perfect game in major league history was for Jodie Atwood. She died May 20,2001, of melanoma. She was 39 years old. She left behind a teenage son.

It was also for Peggy Lindsey. She took in the boy, a wild scamp. Lindsey was his grandmother. She refused to abandon him, to let the streets of Stockton, Calif., take his soul. She's 68 now, and she was at Oakland Coliseum on Sunday to watch him do the thing that saved him from himself.

Most of all, it was for Dallas Braden(notes), faithful son and grandson, who threw a perfect game on the perfect day. He thought of Atwood as he retired 27 consecutive Tampa Bay Rays, and he hugged Lindsey as he basked in the afterglow, and he celebrated a 4-0 victory on Mother's Day with tears in his eyes and accomplishment in his heart.

The indelible image of Sunday will not be any of the 109 pitches Braden threw or any of the plays made by his Oakland Athletics teammates. It will be of the postgame embrace between Braden and Lindsey, the goateed grandson andet