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Braden gives back to community that shaped him

By Anna Katherine Clemmons
Special to ESPNRISE.com

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Stockton, Calif., ranked first this year in Forbes magazine's survey of America's most miserable cities to live in. The city's foreclosure rate is the highest in the nation, and unemployment is expected to jump to 13.3 percent this year. It's no surprise, then, that most professional athletes steer clear of Stockton as a choice of residence. But the town holds on to its blue-collar culture, and that's why Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden has returned, commuting the 86 miles to and from Oakland ...

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