Nobody likes a spoiled brat. Nobody.
Especially one that makes $4 million a year to play baseball.
And we’re not talking about a whole season, either. We’re talking about playing 61 games out of a possible 155. Just to top it off, let’s trade this player in the middle of the season from a team that has no chance of making the playoffs to one that is in the middle of a division race.
How difficult is it to behave publicly while living in a situation like this?
For San Diego Padres outfielder Milton Bradley, it appears to be one of life’s biggest challenges.
Bradley wrote the latest chapter of his on-field struggles Sunday as he exploded at first base umpire Mike Winters in the eighth inning after reaching on a two-out single. After jawing back and forth with Winters, Bradley abruptly called time out and charged the umpire.
First base coach Bobby Meacham cut Bradley off just before reaching Winters, and Padres manager Bud Black eventually had to wrestle Bradley to the ground, stopping his attack.
To add injury to insult, Black’s tackle caused Bradley to injure his right knee, and he had to be carried off the field. Bradley and Black both ended up ejected from the game.
Milton Bradley: San Diego Padres MVP (Most Valuable Putz).
As of Monday, the Padres are 2.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League West division lead, and hold a half-game lead over the Phillies in the wild card standings.
With a likely suspension to come and an injury that will probably keep Bradley out of the lineup, the team, last in the NL in team hitting, has probably just lost their top offensive threat as they battle for a spot in the postseason, and for what?
This behavior is not out of the ordinary when it comes to Bradley. The Cleveland Indians traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004 after he had problems with Indians manager Eric Wedge.
In Los Angeles, he was suspended once for throwing equipment out of the dugout after he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes and once for throwing a plastic bottle at a fan after it was thrown onto the field.
In Sunday’s situation, Bradley and Meacham both agree that Winters started the confrontation when he called Bradley a name that caused him to flip out.
Winters, obviously, disagrees with that scenario. With a past like Bradley’s, how is anybody suppose to believe what he says is the truth?
This behavior has apparently become accepted in baseball as a number of players have acted like prima donnas through their on-the-field actions.
This season alone there have been a couple of infamous scuffles on the field. The Chicago Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett got into a fistfight in the dugout during a game in June.
In the minor leagues, former major league all-star Jose Offerman made headlines when he charged the mound and attacked the pitcher with his bat after being hit by a pitch.
While Offerman did get arrested for the assault, Zambrano and Barrett were both fined, but neither served a suspension for their actions.
Is this the way that we want to promote America’s pastime? Do we now solve disagreements with temper tantrums and thrown punches? The baseball should be the only thing being hit in this game.
Bradley may be a model citizen when he is off the field, and for his sake, I hope that’s the case. None of that matters, though, if he can’t behave himself for the two to three hours of the day that his every action is broadcast nationally on television and radio.
Through eight seasons as a major league player, Bradley has played in more than 100 games in a season only twice. He has made 81 home runs, 322 RBI’s and has a batting average of .273.
To make $4 million in one season with these numbers, along with the baggage that he brings, you’d think he would be thankful to play and find a way to control his temper. This is baseball, not World Wrestling Entertainment.
