Dallas Braden would rather not wear this 'get off my mound' t-shirt

Here it is folks; the Oakland A’s marketing department at its most desperate best. The message on this fine garment, “Get Off My Mound,” of course refers to the famous feud between Dallas Braden and Alex Rodriguez, recounted here, in case you’re unfamiliar. So the Yankees are back in Oakland, and this shirt is in the news (although it’s actually been on sale at the Coliseum for more than a month). Problems: The Major League Baseball Players’ Association wouldn’t approve the shirt, so Braden’s name was left off. And Braden himself hates it. Which is causing a bigger feud between Braden and the A’s front office than there ever was with A-Rod.

“It’s just not cool,” Braden told the New York Daily News, referring to the shirt. “It’s just a serious, gross lack of tact. At the end of the day, I hope I do not become associated with that kind of approach.”

“They’re trying to generate revenue, trying to get butts in the seat, I can see that,” Braden said. “It’s almost like, at what cost do you do that? They didn’t have permission. They were told on multiple occasions, that, no, it’s not a good idea. It’s not going to be approved. They just kind of put the horse-blinders on and ran with it.”

Hearing of Braden’s concerns, the A’s marketing department fired off a statement of its own.

“We regret that Dallas has expressed concern in regards to the ‘Get Off My Mound’ T-shirts that are being sold throughout the stadium. The organization created these shirts in response to numerous fan requests and made them to generate interest in this series…We will speak privately with Dallas about this to clarify our position and make sure we have a clear line of communication going forward.”

‘Numerous fan requests’? Seriously? Your team is 41-43, and this is what you wish for?
I also have a hunch that the phrase ‘clear line of communication going forward’ actually means ‘If you ever criticize us again, you’ll be pitching for the Midland RockHounds.’
Braden, by the way, is on the disabled list with an elbow ailment, and is 0-5 since his perfect game. And New York’s Robinson Cano strolled into the Yankees’ trainers room on Monday wearing one of the shirts, getting laughs from his teammates, just before New York beat Oakland 3-1.
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A’s to Dallas Braden: ‘Get off our marketing campaign’ [SB Nation]
Braden T-shirt not popular with A’s players [New York Daily News]