Milton: shut the #### up. I say this as a Cardinals fan who understands how dumb Cubs fans can be...you weren't asked to hit 30 HRs, you were asked to crack .400 slugging. You didn't. If you'd like to donate your 9M to charity for not performing, I'm sure everyone would be cool with you.

If you read what Milton says this time, he's got some good points and some legitimate complaints.

ESPN link to his comments

Milton Bradley's Christianity would be an interesting topic to debate. I'll go first:

If Milton Bradley embodies the Christian ideal of forgiveness, then I'm a rubber duck.

So he's moved around so much because of injuries? (from Primakov's link) Right. At some point he should either take some of the responsibility, or shut up. Or both.

If you read what Milton says this time, he's got some good points and some legitimate complaints.

Anyone who complains that much is bound to stumble across a legitimate one every so often...

Anyone who complains that much is bound to stumble across a legitimate one every so often...

True enough. His injuries comment specifically is pretty hilarious. But I really don't know what he (or Jim Hendry) expected, signing with the Cubs. There might not be a worse set of fans in MLB as far as crucifying individual players on their own team goes.

Phillies fans used to be pretty bad about that, though I suspect all the winning lately has probably caused them to ease off.

#6 And considering Pinella's problems with Rickey! (just picking one example), well you just have to wonder WTF both sides were thinking.

Piniella had problems with Rickey? It took me a while to figure out where they'd been part of the same team, with Lou's five teams and Rickey's nine. They were with the Yankees in the 1980's and the Mariners in 2000.

"I got the same mail LaTroy [Hawkins] probably got; the same mail Jacque [Jones] got," Bradley said. "Every time I got mail, I handed it to the PR guy and said, 'Here it goes.'

And yet LaTroy and Jacque handled it with much more grace and dignity.

I'm not going to say Milton didn't encounter racism - I'm sure he did. But Derrek Lee has played here six years without any flare-ups. Sosa played here with minimal problems except those of his own making. Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins ... the list goes on. Milton Bradley may mean well, but he's the source of 90% of his own problems.

Milton Bradley, King of Self-Awareness. From the Tribune article on the same subject:

In his latest salvo aimed at the Cubs, Milton Bradley claims he wanted manager Lou Piniella to apologize to him in front of his teammates after Piniella called him a "piece of (expletive)" during a confrontation last June.

Piniella declined, according to Bradley.

"The next day, he called me into his office and wanted to apologize," Bradley told ESPN. "I felt you put me on blast, called me out in front of everybody, you're going to apologize in front of everybody.

"He didn't choose to go that route, but I accepted his apology nonetheless, because as a Christian that's what you do. I don't have time to hold grudges against people."

Don't have time to hold grudges. Clearly. That's why he's still flapping his mouth about it 9 months later, and after he's been traded.

During the interview Bradley said of Chicago, “I felt like a prisoner in my own home.”

Same home where you skipped out on paying rent?

sigh

milton should go to francoeur and get frenchy to teach him what to say to make the media LUUUUVVVV you

#9 Yeah. Fairly nasty situation where Lou publicly accused Henderson of "jaking". Only to be contradicted by the medical staff.

I'm sure Bradley approached the reporters and not the other way around.

Bradley is unapologetically who he is, always has been, so who's fault is it when he has problems. Nobody forced the cubs to sign him, and it was ridiculous for them to think he was going to repeat 2008.

The problem isn't that Bradley was black, it's that he's black and underperformed expectations and didn't bow down when the club, media and fans got on him.

His unrepentance is what's unforgivable.

I may have misheard on the video, but I don't think Bradley said he and Soriano encountered racist comments from waiter. What I heard was that he and a friend heard the racist comments about himself and Soriano while they (Bradley and the friend) were in the restaurant. I am not sure that misstatement in the article (if I am right) is significant, but there may be some subtle implications and misrepresentations in it.

I also do not read his interview as Bradley rehashing the past or holding grudges or refusing to let go. The interviewer is the one raising the issues and he is responding. I suppose he could say no comment or I don't want to dwell on the past. Apparently he does not think that way. If asked a direct question he gives a direct answer. But I do not see that he is the instigator of the issue. And what he does say he says calmly and without obvious rancor.

I pretty much agree with buddaley. My first thought was that Milton would be better off keeping his mouth shut, but when you watch it, he does a good job and doesn't stir the pot. But then Chicago writer put his spin on it, and Milton looks bad again. I'd like to see what Mariners bloggers and other Seattle fans think.

Bradley is unapologetically who he is

Paranoid and angry. That about covers it.

The Cubs can't keep their mouths shut about how happy they are without MB, I don't see why he should be expected to.

EDIT Who will be the Cubs sacrificial lamb that pays for the coming shitty season? Soriano is dug in too deep to move...

EDIT Who will be the Cubs sacrificial lamb that pays for the coming shitty season? Soriano is dug in too deep to move...

We already know the answer to this - it's Carlos Zambrano.

Who will be the Cubs sacrificial lamb that pays for the coming shitty season?

Hendry insisted on filling that void when he traded MB, so the Mariners reluctantly gave them Carlos Silva.

I found my other Mariners fans reactions at Lookout Landing.

Milton could have done better in the interview if he'd tried to show his enthusiasm for the coming season or something else of a positive vein. However, the reporter clearly wanted to pick at the Chicago scab, which made it harder for him.

I think the problem is that the restaurant Milton went to was Ed Debevic's. He just didn't understand that everyone gets insulted there.

I'm calling for an official moratorium on reporting ANYTHING said by either Milton Bradley or Scott Boras

Wait- there's a black guy named Milton?

EDIT Who will be the Cubs sacrificial lamb that pays for the coming shitty season? Soriano is dug in too deep to move...

It's definitely Zambrano. Sullivan has been harping on the '9 wins' and 'not an Ace' crap when he isn't inserting references to Bradley at every turn.

You know, he is being asked about it in an interview. I understand he could choose not to answer questions about Chicago, or being sent racist hate mail in general, but it's not like he called a press conference to say how completely over Chicago he is, then the next day called another press conference to say everyone in Chicago is a racist dick.

I'm not going to say Milton didn't encounter racism - I'm sure he did. But Derrek Lee has played here six years without any flare-ups. Sosa played here with minimal problems except those of his own making. Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins ... the list goes on. Milton Bradley may mean well, but he's the source of 90% of his own problems.

If Bradley was being sent racist hate mail, I don't really see how it's his fault. Yes, he acted like a jackass, but that means he deserved to be attacked because of his race? Samy Sosa, Ernie Banks--those guys played up to fan expectations, no racism. Bradley didn't play up to expectations, so he deserves racial slurs thrown at him?

I think Milton Bradley is a very troubled, thin-skinned guy who has clearly made some bad decisions. But I do think there is some latent racism in the fans and members of the media who continue to act like he's a sociopath for being traumatized by death threats and racist hate mail.

Here's what Bradley said at the end of the espn story linked above:
"When people ask me what city you like to go to as a visitor, Chicago is always No. 1," he said. "I just really had a bad experience.
"I don't think the entire city of Chicago is racist or anything like that. If you weren't booing me, I'm not talking to you."

Bradley is a complex individual, and I don't think he's used race as an excuse for his difficulties - he says he's had injuries that have plagued his career (true) and that it's unrealistic to expect him to perform like a machine. He has a combination of atributes that make his life difficult as a pro athlete - he's emotionally sensitive, intelligent, injury-prone, and bluntly expesses his thoughts. Likely he has a deficit in being able to sense how others perceive hill.

I am admittedly sympathetic to the guy because I share many of these traits myself..including occasionally explosive emotional outbursts.

Paranoid and angry. That about covers it.


We live in a colorblind society in which racism is ancient history and no legacy of slavery remains, paranoid and angry is the only explanation, right?

None of what I've written is to say bradley's beyond criticism, ornthat there's no justification for considering his behavior frustratingly assinine and unbecoming of an adult paid 10s of millions to play ball. Regardless of the past, it can be incredibly frustrating in a work environment to deal with his behaviors - sympathys much easier at a distance. I've had a few Piniella explosions with a worker who's a head case. I hate workplace drama and people who complain too much, especially when they aren't pulling their weight.

But let's not pretend that MBs race has nothing to do with the reaction towards him.

Every time I hear or read the name "Milton Bradley" I think of the toy company.

Wait- there's a black guy named Milton?

Well, it depends on what you mean by "black".

Milton Bradley has never taken responsibility for any of his actions. In LA his mother called a radio station and said he wasnt at fault with the incident with the fans. This guy needs to grow up. He is bad news and any ballclub that signs him is very desperate. He is not a winner!

Nobody likes Chicago anymore from the IOC to Milton Bradley.

Bradley says that because of his Christian background, he still forgave Piniella

That is one of the most self-servingly obnoxious things I've ever read. Not only is it petty and self-aggrandizing, it's blatantly hypocritical. Ugh.

Piniella had problems with Rickey? It took me a while to figure out where they'd been part of the same team, with Lou's five teams and Rickey's nine. They were with the Yankees in the 1980's and the Mariners in 2000.

Piniella was the key figure in creating the storyline that stuck to Henderson: that the guy who'd scored 600 runs in 3200+ PA during the previous five seasons was an unreliable goldbrick.