Before the week is over, it appears the Cubs will sign Milton Bradley to a three-year contract.
The talented but enigmatic outfielder has a long history of temper tantrums, such as the one shown at left. Here, we see Bradley chucking a bag of baseballs at an umpire while he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bradley made news last year by bounding up four flights of stairs to confront a Kansas City announcer who had criticized his play.
Without a doubt, the Cubs and Bradley are an interesting mix. There are few teams in baseball that are under a greater microscope than the Cubs. That clubhouse is filled with media all the time. Bradley doesn't seem like the kind of guy who likes to be questioned. Playing in Chicago, he will be questioned.
That begs this question: Which Chicago media personality will Bradley kill first? The debate is already raging among editors here at the Fox Valley Publications office.
DJ Wanberg, our niche publication sports editor, has selected Paul Sullivan of the Tribune. Brad Nolan, our central sports editor, thinks Bradley will kill Carol Slezak of the Sun-Times. I can see Bradley going after Sun-Times columnist Greg Couch. Chris Magee, assistant news editor at the Naperville Sun, sees a potential confrontation brewing between Bradley and TV color analyst Bob Brenly.
None of it seems far-fetched.
One also wonders what will happen the first time Bradley makes an error with Carlos Zambrano on the mound. Who would win a fight between Zambrano and Bradley? I think Zambrano is a little bit bigger than Bradley, so I'll take Big Z in the bout.
What does everyone else think?
I bet Milton Bradley goes after one of those idiots sitting at the Wrigley Field bleachers. Wrigley Field is filled with idiots, who don't go to the park to enjoy or watch a baseball game. They come in and get drunk and act stupid. These are the same people that will spew racial slurs to African-American players if they don't get the job done as former Twin Jacque Jones will tell you. Those fans are like cartoon characters. I have more respect for Raiders fans than Cubs fans. Raiders fans may kill someone, but at least, they are into the games and they pay attention. At Wrigley, it's a circus.
This is a match made in heaven. Bradley going up against those nice folks at Wrigley.
BTW, you nailed it about Bradley not being a guy that would like Chicago, Jason. I always thought he was a guy that was better off playing in a small-market town where no one cares about sports. He flourished well with the Rangers since no one in the Metroplex gave a damn about the Rangers. I don't think this is going to work out with him and Chicago. Sure Lou can handle him, but I just wonder if Chicago is for Milton.
You raise another interesting question. Who will Bradley get into it with first? The fans or the writers?
If Milton doesn't swing the bat well in April, it's going to get interesting real quick.
Lou Pinella.
Uncle Milty is going to find himself in a platoon situation with Fukudome and Joey Gathright at some point this season. When that happens - "Aggravation" and then a "Bop it".
Fly Eagles Fly,
One thing that will be interesting is to see how well Bradley's health holds up. He was used primarily as a DH last season at Texas.
A quick look at Baseball Reference tells me Bradley played 97 games at DH, 19 games in RF and 1 game in LF a year ago. Obviously, he's going to have to play the outfield in the National League, but I don't think he's the kind of guy who can give the Cubs 140-150 games out there.
Piniella will have to platoon Bradley to protect Uncle Milty's health for the long-term. Perhaps by doing so, Piniella will be risking his own health, as you suggest. LOL.
At any rate, I think this will be a real interesting scenario to watch.
Who knew the honeymoon would be over this quickly for Milton? Not only he is not talking to the Chicago sports writers, but now the drunks at Wrigley Field are booing him. Let's see. Milton got into it with the umps, and he couldn't hustle over to first.
It's the Milton that we all grown to love, and the first month of the season is not over.
I said it the day he was signed, this was going to be a disaster for him and the Cubs.
Not only was Chicago not for him, but the National League wasn't for him either.
Milton Bradley was the big reason why the Twins won Friday at Wrigley, which was full of Twins fans by the way. It looked like they were going to lose to the Cubs on Friday when they had that slim lead, but Milton saved the day by being asleep in the wheel by forgetting how many outs there are, and the Twins got insurance runs.
I got a good enjoyment of it since I hate the Cubs.
Lou was naturally not happy, and you get that feeling Lou has had enough of Bradley.
Know what was galling? Milton did not seem broken up about it or upset about it. He was indifferent about his error, and Cubs fans along with the entire Cubs team have to be irate about it. I know I would if he was on my team.
The Cubs need to put Milton out of his misery, and have him move on. This has not worked, and it never will be.
It would be best for Milton and for the team.
When does Jim Hendry makes a stand and cut his loss by dumping this guy? I don't think he wants to play in Chicago anymore so why keep him. Not only is his performance is poor, but he has sucked the life out of the Cubs. Now I know why teams stress character on their team because if you have a player like Milty, his distraction can wear off on the team, and you are seeing the bad influnece that is permeating from the team.
Milton's behavior on Friday should be the last straw. Why go on? There is no way Milton will ever be the player the Cubs expect him to be, Odds are you will see more of Milton's antics sa the season goes on.
And for the Cubs to blame this leak on White Sox clubhouse attendant, well that's what you expect from losers. Losers like to blame others when news like this, and then you wonder why the Cubs have not won a championship in 100 years, and going on 101 years.
Why go on? I'll give you about 25 million reasons. There's a lot of money left on Bradley's contract. I'd be surprised if the Cubs eat that money. Kudos to them if they do. Bradley is killing their team.
Scott Podsednik and Chris Getz both have more RBIs than Milton Bradley this season.
As far as the Cubs blaming the clubhouse attendant, that's par for the course. Anything to get people talking about something other than the bad baseball that team is playing right now. Point fingers, deflect blame, make excuses, etc., etc.
Milton is making 25 million for the next few years? WOW! It's bad enough they signed him, but they overpaid him too. My oh my!
One of the nicest things about being a big-market team is dumping guys who won't fit in. The Twins don't have that luxury. Big market teams can go swallow a salary of a player who is not getting a job done, and the Yankees and the Red Sox do that. The Cubs make enough revenue to overcome paying a guy like Bradley to stay at home. There is no excuse for the Cubs to not follow suit.