At a community anti-violence meeting at a Stockton park, hometown hero and Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden attended with a bat, telling reporters he needed it to protect himself and his grandmother. This in spite of the fact that police were there to address the crowd.
Braden, known for his fiery, emotional personality, told Sacramento's KCRA that he had been the victim of an attempted carjacking last week and that his grandmother's apartment was robbed.
He also said he talked to Stockton police and they said the only advice they could give him was to move. (Watch the video here.)
"Arm yourself or get out!" he says a police officer told him. "It's the wild west. The boys in blue, they're outgunned."
Braden says he's put his house on the market and will move to Sacramento.