Shocker of shockers Milton Bradley is making headlines for all the wrong reasons once again. Bradley after leaving the clubhouse after being benched late in a Mariners loss recently has asked the Seattle brass for time off. The head case slugger told the Mariner management that he finally feels it is time he takes care of his personal problems. He says that by doing this he will be able to put his past behind him and for the first time in his career play with a free mind. Really? What are we stupid? This just seems like the same old song and dance just a different day and team.
Milton Bradley ever since coming into the majors with all the hype in the world has done nothing but team swap and ruin good clubhouses with his on and off field blunders. The story starts back in the year 2000 when he was brought in to save a now defunct Montreal Expos franchise. Clearly Bradley did no such thing as all he did was under achieve and never even jump into double digits in home runs for a season. The Expos would be the first to give up on him sending him packing to Cleveland. The Indians seemed to be a spot Bradley could soar in and was where he had one of his best individual statistical season to date, batting .321 in 2003. Despite his high clip the Indians used him as trade bait and sent him back to the National League to the historic Dodgers. In LA Bradley looked to have an immediate impact and jacked 19 home runs and picked up 67 RBI in shy of 500 at bats. While those numbers may not seem to be stellar for a slugger, they aren't, however, it appeared as if he was headed in the right direction. It was then when the wheels fell off the Bradley freight train at 100 miles per hour. Milton Bradley found himself dealing with extreme heckling during a game. Instead of deciding to turn the other check (granted that is easier said then done) Bradley made the wise choice to steal a bottle from the fan and throw it down in anger. Obviously this made headlines and cut his time in la la land very short. After that fiasco the Oakland A's came calling and offered Bradley a spot on their roster. This was a roster that would end up in the playoffs, before falling the ALCS, and would include future Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas. Thomas came to the bay to revive his career after being shipped of the World Champion White Sox. With the respect Thomas would command and many people believed he was just thing to mentor this young talented athlete in Bradley and possibly send him on the right path to finally live up to the hype that surrounded him upon his entry into MLB. Nope that did not work out. The A's made the playoffs as expected but Bradley would last only one season on the American League side of the California bay. He would remain in California as his next stop would be the San Diego Padres. Bradley's time on the Padres would be cut short not because of an out burst but due to a season ending injury. At least that's what he wants the fans to think. Bradley was called out on a close play at first base and instead of going back to the dug out gracefully he decided to embark on a cartoonish confrontation with the first base umpire. During this argument Bradley suffered the unlucky occurrence and endured a tear to his ACL. As funny as this was to watch at the time it is now very sad looking back.
If you are wondering when will this wrap will end....almost, but it's not my fault, this guy has been passed around like a joint. After leaving the Padres Bradley joined the Texas Rangers and a powerful offense. In Texas he would be given a fair chance to get on the field and make the most of the opportunity. Bradley hit 22 homers with 77 RBI and a .321 batting average. Unfortunately despite this success the Rangers would decide to make Bradley the odd man out a talented yet crowded outfield. This coincided with the success of Hamilton. It was back to the National League, this time on the south side with the Cubs. While the rest of the Cubs were trying to break the 100+ year title drought curse in Wrigley Bradley was worried about the race relation issue in Chicago. Milton Bradley also compounded this call of racism by Cub fans with a distaste for teammates and a Hall of Fame manager, Lou Pinella. His act would grow thin and he eventually be handed his walking papers.
That bring us finally to this season in Seattle. Bradley was brought in during a trade for fellow over priced disappointment, Carlos Silva. All signs seemed to FINALLY point to Bradley being able to flourish. He was teammates with a Hall of Fame for the second time in his career. However this time that slugger, Ken Griffey Jr., was one of his boy hood idols. Bradley walked in the door expressing his admiration for Jr. and stating Griffey was one of the few players he had a poster of on his wall growing up. The only weakness coming into the year was the Mariner lack of a true power bat. Bradley potentially was given the chance to be that guy, he was slotted in as the clean up hitter more then anyone else to start the season. Despite a few clutch its he would not snag the job and to this point has put up a .214 average, 2 homers, and only 12 runs batted in for a struggling M's team.
I opened this post by explaining the beginning of the end for his time in Seattle, or did I? In Bradley's defense despite all his screw ups of the past, this break may be exactly what he needs. Maybe his mentor, Griffey instructed him to do what he should have done many years ago and take time out to fix his issues. In all honesty we do not know what's going on in his personal life and we may never know. However, all we do know is things never go easy for Bradley much the same way they never seem to be in the favor of the newest Cincinnati Bengal Adam "Pacman" Jones. The most important fact here is Bradley spending more time away from yet another team that stuck their necks out and trying to fix this troubled star. If this turns out to be a blessing in disguise and he comes back to be that power bat Seattle desperately needs I will be the first to say this break was for the best but let's be honest I wont be holding my breath. If the Mariners are going to find that much needed power surge and continue their quest to return to the playoffs they most likely are going to do it on the trade market or free agent wire not from Mr. Bradley. I hope things work out but right now he is down by 7 in the 4th quarter in a 2 minute drill scenario trying to fight for his career and maybe his life.
Hey Milton, If This whole Major League Baseball thing doesn't work out I'm sure Eric Byrnes will reserve a spot for you on his softball team...Good luck Milton Bradley, you're goina need it.
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