Dallas Braden has been nominated for the national Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service by an Athlete, presented by All Stars Helping Kids, a national nonprofit founded by NFL Hall-of-Famer Ronnie Lott.

Fans can "get in the game" and help Dallas win by voting on the All Stars Helping Kids website (www.allstarshelpingkids.org) and via text message beginning in August and running through November 15th.

Complete list of nominees

Braden's profile page: Vote here!

A's Release on Braden's Service

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So last Thursday I had the privilege of being in Oakland for a work event. I was super excited to be there and knew I had to go to the Coli to pick up some A's gear at the team store.

Being a good planner, I called the Coli the day before my arrival to confirm the team store hours. After 10 minutes of sitting through menus on the automated system, I finally got to a live person. The team store was open Tuesday-Thursday 10-4. "Perfect, I'll see you tomorrow!" I told the rep.

Around 3:30 I pulled into the Coliseum parking lot. I was greeted by the parking lot attendant.

Me: Hi, I'm here to go to the team store.

Parking lot attendant: The Warriors?

Me (NRAF): No. {matter of factly} Oakland. (Duh!)

Parking lot attendant: {blank stare}

Me: {giggling}: Oops, I mean the A's.

Parking lot attendant. Ok, but I don't think they are open.

Me: {again very matter of factly}: Oh no, they are! I called.

So I race through the empty parking lot because I was a (wo)man on a mission. Stomper was waiting for me! I fly up to the team store. I'm pretty sure I dropped the tranny, slamming the car into park too fast. Oh well, it was a rental. I bound out of the car, ignoring the few random people milling about the lot. The green and gold awning was in my sights!

I run up to the double doors and grab the one on the left. Locked. Damn, I hate when I grab the wrong door. {grabs the one on the right instead} Damn, locked too? I gave it a good shake, just to be sure. I pressed my nose up against the tinted windows. I don't see a soul in sight.

By now, the "Oh no, you've got to be kidding me," sinks in. I can see a big plush Stomper next to a smaller Stomper on top of a circular clothing rack. Next I see the #3 Chavvy jerseys just staring at me, saying, "I know you want to come in here, but you can't! Bru ah ha ha..." What a tease!

I looked at the posted hours on the door. M-F 10-4. Next to it, a paper is posted that says, starting in February, Tues-Thurs 10-4. It was Thursday at 3:30. So what gives? I played by the rules. Why couldn't the A's?

I can't tell you what a HUGE disappointment this was! All I wanted was to spend a lot of money on some merchandise that I can't get anywhere else. Oh well. So the A's missed out on some revenue dollars, but the real loss is the disappointment and frustration felt by yet another A's fan.

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Better late than never...

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens...these are a few of my favorite things.

This one is for the ladies: Jennifer, Kimberly, schmifty, whiteshoes40, ilovegregsmith, #14fan et all...enjoy!

Boys: Consider yourself warned. This Fanpost is rated "G" for girls...and goats.

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