Milton Bradley's Scary Tale

I'm catching up on some old Sports Illustrated issues and read this sad article about former Dodger (A's, Cubs, Padres, Rangers, etc.) Milton Bradley and his apparent inability to control his anger. This results in the tragic end of his wife's life from the cycle of domestic abuse. Gosh, I still remember him throwing that water bottle at the fan in the right field corner.  So sad.  It is nice to see that we now have some what looks like to be good character guys on the team.   I always find pleasure in cheering for good guys on and off the field, regardless if they win or lose.

• The tragic extent of Monique and Milton Bradley's violent relationship (SI.com)

Mariners Tell Milton Bradley: Game Over

If Bradley were about one foot to his left, would you believe the hidden letter was a "H", or a "Z"?

Former Dodger bottle-thrower Milton Bradley, now with the Seattle Mariners, was designated for assignment today. From the Seattle Times:

Milton Bradley's Mariners career has come to an end.

The Mariners designated Bradley for assignment on Monday, which means the team has 10 days to trade, release or outright the contract of Bradley.

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik will discuss the decision in a conference call this morning.

The Mariners recalled outfielder Carlos Peguero from Class AAA Tacoma. Peguero, 24, had been with the Mariners last month when first baseman Justin Smoak was on the bereavement list, going 2 for 11 at the plate in five games. He'll join the team Tuesday in Baltimore for the game against the Orioles.

Bradley, 33, was hitting .218 this season with two home runs and 13 RBI in 28 games.

First of all, we have Milton Bradley's exile from the Dodgers to thank for Andre Ethier. And no, we don't want do-overs on that trade, arguably Ned Colletti's finest moment as Dodgers GM.

But as much as I think there is no way someone would pick up a fiery lunatic like Bradley, I also know that athletes like Bradley also have a way of sticking around, of finding some team to grant them an additional chance. Will Bradley "prove everyone wrong" once again? I doubt it.

But I think some team will take the risk anyway.

photo: Kevin Casey/AP (5/7/11)

Milton Bradley Continues to Ruin His Life

I have a soft spot for Milton Bradley. Looks like I'm going to have to get over that, starting...a couple of meltdowns ago.

• Former Dodger Milton Bradley arrested after allegedly threatening woman (L.A. Now)

Thursday Notes, Broken Blogger Edition

• "Selfish, spoiled, egotistical...petulant star." What, we're not talking about Matt Kemp? Inside the mess with the Marlins (John Heyman, SI.com)
• That's a second pre-game injury in a week. Let's just keep our players in bubble wrap until game time. Manny pinch-hits after hurting foot (Ken Gurnick, Dodgers.com)
• Milton's back! Bradley returns after two weeks away (AP/ESPN.com)
• The legend of Jason Heyward grows. Heyward's RBI double in 9th lifts Braves over Reds (AP/SI.com)
• Updates on Furcal & Haeger rehab. Furcal shows improvement (Gurnick, Dodgers.com)

Photoshop from The Lawrence Krysak Experience

Thursday Notes: Milton Milton Milton

Milton Bradley gives anger management advice to elementary school kids yesterday.

• Oh, Milton. Why do I have such a soft spot in my heart for you? Milton Bradley's quest for help (ESPN.com)
• Saturday's starter is...Charlie Haeger. (@dodgerthoughts)
• Eye Chart has landed in Florida. Marlins Sign Doug Mientkiewicz (MLBTR)
• Dusty pointed this out earlier: The unwritten rules have now been written. Meaning they're no longer unwritten. Whatever. The 'Code': Ten unwritten baseball rules you might not know (Big League Stew)
• Intellectual property. Intellectual property! Roberto & Pedro (VSIMH)

AP photo

Milton Bradley's Mystery Date...

... with a shrink. The usually soft-spoken, even-tempered, and all around swell sportsman Milton Bradley is asking for some "me" time.

SEATTLE -- Milton Bradley, baseball's self-described bad guy, has asked his Seattle Mariners for help in dealing with what manager Don Wakamatsu says is "emotional stress" from personal issues. Wakamatsu and general manager Jack Zduriencik said Wednesday that their fiery slugger is out indefinitely until he receives an outside assessment and a plan to address his issues. Milton Bradley didn't blame anybody else this time. Instead he stood up, pointed at himself and asked for help, writes Jim Caple. "It's come to a head," Zduriencik said.

Part of me wishes him a speedy recovery. But this other much crueler part of me feels like quoting Woody Allen here: "There's nothing wrong with (him) that a little Prozac and a polo mallet can't cure."

Milton Bradley, Mr. Misunderstood

Milton Bradley, the combustible former Dodger (2004-2005) hasn't even played a regular season game yet for the Mariners. Yes, he's already been ejected from two spring-training games. But according to an AP report, Bradley is simply the result of unfortunate typecasting as a malcontent:

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Many around baseball have a place for Milton Bradley: in a corner where angry meets trouble.

Bradley has no use for what anyone thinks. He claims his own place in the game.

"If I was a musician, I'd be Kanye West. If I was in the NBA, I'd be Ron Artest," the 31-year-old former Expo, Indian, Dodger, Athletic, Padre, Ranger and Cub said this week. "In baseball, they've got Milton Bradley. I'm that guy. You need people like me, so you can point your finger and go, 'There goes the bad guy." [...]

It's exactly what the Mariners hoped for when they traded for Bradley in December, shipping expensive and underperforming pitcher Carlos Silva to the Cubs in return.

The idea was that [teammate Ken] Griffey would help make Bradley feel at home. That would presumably make Bradley content enough to provide offensively challenged Seattle with the middle-of-the-order production from a left fielder it has needed since Raul Ibanez left for Philadelphia before the 2009 season.

So far, so good.

After weeks of watching Bradley do that for him, manager Don Wakamatsu is impressed and says Bradley will be Seattle's everyday left fielder.

That is, until he goes off and throws a water bottle at a Safeco Field fan. Or until he mouths a racial epithet to a beat reporter. Or wears out his welcome in his ninth major league franchise in 10 years.

The Dodgers tried to downplay all of Milton's missteps as well, but eventually there was just too much shit to sweep under the rug. By the time Bradley had gotten to Chicago, four years later, his half-life had...halved further. Anyone want to place a wager on how fast Bradley makes Seattle fans sleepless?

second photo: Slate

Milton Behaving Badly

From "Cubs suspend Bradley for rest of 2009" at ESPN.com:

The Chicago Cubs have suspended outfielder Milton Bradley for the remainder of the season, following comments he made to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald about there being too much negativity playing for the Cubs.

"Recently it's become intolerable to hear Milton talk about our great fans the way he has," general manger Jim Hendry told ESPNChicago.com's Bruce Levine. "We pride ourselves on having the greatest fans in baseball, so at this time we felt it was best for him to go home for the rest of the season." [...]

In the interview with the Herald on Saturday, Bradley said: "You understand why they haven't won in 100 years here."

With Andre Ethier's surge into MVP contention reminding us of the famous Billy Beane-baiting trade of Bradley for Ethier, it's sadly appropriate that Bradley's suspension occurred on the same day Ethier hit his 31st home run.

And it gets worse for the Cubs: Bradley has two years left on his three-year, $30 million contract. I'm glad Bradley finally got paid, but at some point he'll hopefully realize it's more important to get peace.

Earlier at SoSG: Oh, Milton
Milton Bradley Takes the High Road

Milton Bradley Takes the High Road

It's anger management day at SoSG! We noted Milton Bradley's latest tantrum this weekend, wondering why Cubs manager Lou Piniella felt the need to single out this incident in a season that has featured so many. Upon further inspection, it turns out Bradley is able to calm down right quick. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

According to sources, Piniella then shouted at Bradley, "You're not a player! You're a piece of sh--!"

Bradley then said, "I have too much respect for you to respond to that," a source said.

Which I find fairly amazing. One second Bradley's destroying a water cooler and the next he's levelheaded enough not to pop off to the manager who just called him a piece of shit? Where were those compartmentalization skills during the infamous Dodger Stadium water bottle incident? Or does this count as maturation? I'm confused.

Mt. Milton Erupts Again

From "Bradley starts drama before Soto's 3-run shot puts Cubs back on track" (AP/ESPN.com):

[Milton] Bradley attacked the cooler in the dugout after he flied out in the top of the sixth, leading to an angry exchange in the tunnel with [Lou] Piniella, who told him to get dressed and go home. Ryan Freel replaced him in right field in the bottom half.

"This has been a common occurrence and I've looked the other way a lot and I'm tired," said Piniella, who was planning to start Bradley on Saturday. "I'm not into discipline, I'm really not. I'm going to put his name in the lineup tomorrow and that's it."

And from MLB.com:

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said he would talk to the outfielder, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the team this offseason.

"It's something I promise won't be happening again," Hendry said of Bradley's tantrum.

Yeah, good luck with that. Bradley's behavior is hardly excusable, but on a club with so many...what's the euphemism...volatile personalities — Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Piniella himself — why does this particular incident merit special attention? Attacking coolers is practically a Cubs tradition; if Piniella is weary of it two weeks before the All-Star break, it's going to be a looooong season.

UPDATE: Piniella apologizes to Bradley after confrontation (AP/ESPN.com)

Earlier at SoSG: Oh, Milton

Oh, Milton

I'm still a fan of Milton Bradley, despite his churlish oversensitivity. But he's not doing much to endear himself to Cubs fans. From the AP account of today's Twins-Cubs game at ESPN.com:

With Nick Punto on third, Harris on first and one out in the eighth inning, Bradley caught Mauer's flyball and, thinking the inning was over, posed for several seconds before throwing the baseball into the seats. As Punto scored easily on the sacrifice fly to make it 6-3, Harris was awarded third base on Bradley's error as boos cascaded down from every section of the ballpark.

Tough day for Bradley, Cubs in loss (MLB.com)

Thanks to SoSG reader Bryan for the tip!

photos by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Big Z Reaches the Bradley Level

This just in: Carlos Zambrano hates Gatorade!

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Zambrano had another meltdown yesterday, and it received the Milton Bradley Angry Seal of Approval:

"That was pretty impressive," Chicago's Milton Bradley said of Zambrano's animated antics. "That was on a Bradley level." [...]

Zambrano threw a wild pitch on an 0-1 count, and [the Pirates' Nyjer] Morgan scampered home.

Cubs catcher Geovany Soto flipped the ball to Zambrano, covering at the plate, but Morgan appeared to sneak his left hand in¹. [Umpire Mark] Carlson called Morgan safe, but Zambrano disagreed². The pitcher and umpire went nose to nose, and they briefly bumped. Carlson tossed Zambrano³, and Zambrano did the same⁴, signaling that the umpire was ejected.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild ran onto the field, but too late. Zambrano hurled the baseball into left-center field, and then threw his glove⁵ as he stalked off the field.

"I was kind of disappointed," Chicago's Reed Johnson said of Zambrano's heave to the outfield. "I thought it was going to go up into the stands, but the wind was blowing in today."

In the dugout, Zambrano vented his frustration on a Gatorade vessel⁶. Again.

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By the way, the Cubs still won. The Dodgers are at Wrigley Field today but will miss Zambrano, after avoiding Johan Santana with the Mets last week. The Dodgers are playing well, but sometimes luck is a factor when you're 18 games over .500.

UPDATE:

Zambrano won't appeal 6-game penalty (ESPN.com)

photos 1-3 & 5 by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; photo 4 by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP; photo 6 from Big League Stew

Dodger Headcases: Where Are They Now?

Apparently, with the Cubs, as Milton Bradley has reportedly signed a three-year $30M deal. Get ready for increased bottle sales at Wrigley Field!

Given that we still have Juan Pierre, however, I think the Cubs still have the last laugh. At least we've got the 2008 playoffs.

Matt Kemp : Surly :: Milton Bradley : ?

Since Matt Kemp is the player whose behavior has come under the microscope of late, SoSG thought we should take time to put this in historical perspective, juxtaposed against a different Dodgers player, Milton Bradley.

Bradley, as you may recall, had quite the combustible personality. Even before he was traded to the Dodgers in 2004, he had had a dugout squabble with Cleveland Indians coach Eric Wedge during spring training. Bradley's two-year tenure with the Dodgers was overshadowed by bottle-throwing incidents with fans and spontaneous eruptions to the press, so he was traded to Oakland in 2006, before being dished to San Diego in late 2007. With the Padres, he tore his ACL when coach Bud Black tried to restrain him from going after an umpire. Throughout his career, his baseball talents (he has 14 HR and 45 RBI this year, as the Rangers' DH, batting .333) have been overshadowed by his crazy temper.

And I admit, when watching Kemp strike out (with 66 Ks, he leads the team by a margin of over 20 Ks) and break his bat over his leg, or get into a skirmish with Yorvit Torrealba over an apparently unintentional and slight bump, it's easy to start thinking, "Wow, that Kemp is just like Bradley--and he was a headcase."

Except it's not a fair comparison. Sure, they both have similar career OPSs (.820 vs .819). But Bradley is 30. Kemp is 23. Kemp is still growing up. Bradley is certifiably nuts.

And just in time to remind us all of how insane his behavior was/is, Bradley went off last night, storming from the Texas Rangers' clubhouse to confront a Royals television announcer about what he interpreted were critical comments:

Milton Bradley stormed out of the Texas Rangers clubhouse after an 11-5 victory Wednesday night over Kansas City and bounded up four flights of stairs looking for Royals television announcer Ryan Lefebvre.

Bradley, who was the designated hitter, heard what he considered derogative remarks made by Lefebvre on a TV in the Rangers clubhouse.

General manager Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington were close behind and intercepted Bradley before he reached Lefebvre.

"I don't want to get necessarily into the details," Daniels said. "He was upset. Someone who doesn't know him was passing judgment on TV. It was obvious he was hurt by the comments."

Bradley never reached Lefebvre, although he was within about 20 feet of him in the TV booth before being led back down to the clubhouse.

"There was no incident," Daniels said.

Upon returning to the clubhouse, Bradley screamed at teammates [ed. note: what did his teammates do to provoke such verbal abuse?] and broke down in tears.

"I'm tired of people bringing me down," Bradley said. "It wears on you. I love you guys, all you guys. I'm strong, but I'm not that strong. All I want to do is play baseball and make a better life for my kid than I had."

Several of Bradley's teammates consoled him after he calmed down.

Lefebvre, who is the son of former major league manager Jim Lefebvre, said he met with Daniels and Washington about his on-the-air comments, but did not talk to Bradley. Lefebvre said the comments were intended to praise Josh Hamilton, who missed nearly four years of professional baseball with cocaine and alcohol additions, rather than tear down Bradley.

"It was a conversation about how Josh Hamilton has turned his life around and has been accountable for his mistakes," Lefebvre told The Associated Press. "Right now, it seems like the baseball world and fans are rooting for him. ... It doesn't seem like Milton Bradley has done the same thing in his life."

[...]

"We weren't singling out Milton Bradley," Lefebvre said. "We also spent a lot of time complimenting Milton Bradley, but that's not what he heard when he was in the clubhouse.

"We weren't tearing up Milton Bradley. I told [Washington and Daniels] this wasn't a Milton Bradley rip session, but just based on the pictures we've seen in this series of him walking to the dugout all the way to right field, dropping his bat, making gestures to the fans in right field and above the dugout and taunting them. He's the only person in baseball I know that does that type of stuff."

Ah, the good ol' days with Milton Bradley on the Dodgers. Remember those?

I'll take Matt Kemp. He looks just fine to me.

UPDATE 6/12 6.25p: Whoops, my bad! Bradley simply "wanted to introduce himself" to the Royals broadcaster. But of course! I'm sure Bradley was carrying a bouquet of balloons as well.

Old Friends Re-Re-Relocating

Free-agent reliever Gagne agrees to 1-year, $10M deal with Brewers (AP/ESPN.com)

Rangers to ink outfielder Bradley to one-year contract (ESPN.com)

"The deal was first reported by Foxsports.com." When did sports websites start crediting each other? Seems a more generous mentality than at the sports television networks, which routinely obscure logos of rival networks during highlights.

Dumb & Dumberer

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Padres left fielder Milton Bradley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee when he was spun to the ground by his manager Sunday during a blowup with an umpire and will miss the rest of the season. The diagnosis came from an MRI exam, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity.

Padres to Acquire Milton Bradley?

Padres acquire outfielder Milton Bradley (San Diego Union-Tribune)

(Hat tip to DT poster "Nagman.")

A's DFA MB? WTF?

A's Release Bradley, Ruin Upcoming Catfish Stew Post

Andre, You're Nothing to Me Now

Via Dodger Thoughts comes this AP article on Milton Bradley:

The 28-year-old Bradley has yet to produce a true breakthrough season - and that coupled with his mercurial personality made him expendable for the Los Angeles Dodgers two years ago. A's general manager Billy Beane took a calculated risk to upgrade his roster before the 2006 season, though he lost nothing to acquire the switch-hitting Bradley.

Hmmm, I think Andre Ethier might differ on the "lost nothing" part of that equation. Just another media report perpetuating Billy Beane's godlike status.

Milton Bradley Charms Pants Off Press, Fans; Indians, Dodgers Scratch Heads

From "Emotional Bradley brings out the love at A's FanFest" from the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Emotion can be good and it can be bad," Bradley said in a pre-event interview. "For me, (before 2006) all the public emotion had been bad. Repairing the relationship with me and the media and the fans, it's not an easy thing to do when you create a situation for yourself like I did, and some of that isn't going to go away overnight. But if I continue to exhibit good behavior, that's the only way to move past that.

"I'm still going to get kicked out of a game now and then, I'm sure, but I don't want it to blow up into a whole spectacle again."

At Saturday's FanFest at the Coliseum, Bradley proved to be one of the club's most popular players, and he also did wave after wave of interviews, far more than any of the other A's. He had a big smile on his face all day, both in fan sessions and media sessions.

When several players were asked during a fan question-and-answer session about their most embarrassing moments on the field, Bradley promptly mentioned the well-publicized incidents in which he tossed balls on the field and threw an empty bottle that had been thrown at him back into the stands.

"Those are pretty negative embarrassing moments for me," he said. "You live, you learn." At that point, teammate Adam Melhuse jumped in and noted that, while everyone had heard bad things about Bradley before he arrived in Oakland, "Talk about a classy guy," Melhuse said. "No. 1, standup, unbelievable teammate."

Bradley put down his microphone, got up, crossed the stage and hugged the A's backup catcher to "awws'' and applause.

Aww. That's sweet.

Not so sweet: "I'm still going to get kicked out of a game now and then." I'm sure Billy Beane would like to know how many games Milton is planning on being ejected from so he can adjust his paycheck accordingly.