Each time I post a story on Milton Bradley, I sincerely believe that it will be the last one – at least for a long while.
But then newsworthy tidbits keep popping up.
Milton Bradley wasn’t in the Mariners’ lineup for Sunday’s game against the Cubs and when approached by Chicago reporters, the outfielder declined to talk.
“No chance,” Bradley said. “You guys ran me out of town.”
Bradley and Marlon Byrd were teammates in Texas, and when Byrd signed with the Cubs, Bradley called to tell him to “do what I couldn’t do there.” …
What drives Bradley?
“Being great,” Byrd said. “He’s a perfectionist. Sometimes when he doesn’t reach that, he’s very tough on himself. I think a lot of guys in baseball are like that.”
And Bradley has a different personality with his teammates.
“He’s a great teammate,” Byrd said. “I had one year with him. Everybody knows how he was in Texas. We had a great time and no run-ins, no nothing. It can happen with him. With [Ken] Griffey and Chone Figgins and those guys over there in Seattle, he’ll be fine.”
Obviously, there aren’t many media people on Bradley’s holiday card list.
“You have to approach Milton,” Byrd said. “You have to make sure every single day you talk to him and ask him how he’s doing. My locker was right next to him. Every game on the road, we were eating lunch. My relationship was a little different than everybody else’s. As a teammate, as a guy, you have to go up to him every day, ‘Hey, Milton, how are you doing?’” Muskat Ramblings.
Nothing quite like having to coddle a guy that probably wants to tear your face off (and eat/wear it). On the plus side, Marlon Byrd sounds like a hell of a nice guy and teammate.
On a related note, the Mariners recently announced that Bradley would be their cleanup hitter this year. That’s right. Bradley will be expected to be a run-producing, power hitter in the Mariner lineup – the very thing that he recently railed against the Chicago Cubs for doing to him. I sure hope he can survive under the weight of such unreasonable expectations – lest the good people of Seattle run him out of town.
Is what Byrd suggested so unreasonable? If you just spent 30 million bucks on a psychological time bomb who’s supposed to be a hugely important piece of your team, isn’t it your JOB to make sure he’s comfortable? Isn’t it your fiduciary responsibility?
Hell YES coddle him if he needs it. You don’t think temperamental players throughout sports are coddled? To think otherwise is absurd.
Byrd does seem like a good guy. I hope he does well in April, or Situation Jacque II will play out.
It’s fine if that’s how Byrd felt like treating Bradley but it’s not a teammates job to kiss Bradley’s 30 million dollar ass to keep him from going psychotic.
How about the coaches? The manager? If that’s not their job, then what IS? Filling out a freaking lineup card? Chatting up the media?
How about making damn sure you figure out a way to get the most production out of your star players?
“You have to approach Milton,” Byrd said. “You have to make sure every single day you talk to him and ask him how he’s doing.”
Think about what he’s saying here.
OK, I give up. What IS he saying? That Bradley likes to be treated like a human being? That Bradley enjoys a little attention?
Bill Parcells and Jim Leyland are two extremely successful managers/coaches who MAKE IT A POINT to do exactly as Byrd suggested. Parcells has been quoted as saying that he would ESPECIALLY do this with hard-to-reach-but-talented players, such as Lawrence Taylor.
Seems like a damn smart way to run a clubhouse.
Damn smart – ok. I suppose there can be nothing more satisfying than looking back on your career and relishing in your ability to placate the occasional prima donna. Just knowing that you 1. encouraged and validated irrational and anti-social behavior, 2. prolonged the inevitable crash and burn for said individual, and 3. perpetuated the agony of all those in immediate contact with him.
Do me a favor and stay away from Little League coaching…
I think he’s saying that Bradley won’t approach you. I think he’s saying that Bradley is so suspicious and fragile that if you don’t kiss his ass every single day he’ll forget you ever treated him decent at all. I think he’s saying that Bradley is a spoiled, petulant, self-centered, vortex of need that will suck the fucking life out of you if you let him. That’s what I think he’s really saying there.
Now THAT makes more sense. Well done!
Puhleeeeeese, no more Milton Bradley! This is so beat to death its ridiculous. I thought maybe it was just me, but I was at a party last weekend and the unanimous feeling was, “Why the hell don’t they stop writing about Bradley?” Everyone was just as fed up as me and wants to see it end.
Bradley reminds me of beer shits… You think its over but nope… explosive… I feel the imagery is needed, sorry
0-7, 4K, 5 LOB in the first two games.
You evil Chicago people are obviously sending nastigrams to Seattle…
Milton’s meltdown is well underway. Time for an obsessive psycho watch, Ace.
Do it for the children, man!
Oh it’s coming. Different segment, but it’s coming.