There was an interesting aside in the Sun-Times today about Milton Bradley. The focus was about how he hasn’t played much, how he pisses people off (they actually used “piss” from a Bradley quote – how risque!), and how it’s ridiculous that he’s appealing his suspension while he’s sitting games out anyway.
But the part that had me pondering was this:
After all, his first two weeks with his new club has been about as interesting and surprisingly eventful one hit, six starts and a groin injury can be. He’s even making inroads already on ticking people off.
Just ask Larry Vanover, the umpire who ejected him in a matter of seconds at the end of that pinch-hit Wrigley debut Thursday — then followed up with a report that cost Bradley a two-game suspension. CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
If Bradley’s suspension were based on “making contact” with the umpire, as we had previously been led to believe, it wouldn’t be some follow-up report that got him suspended – it would be the video evidence.
I’ve repeatedly said I never really saw the contact, so I didn’t really understand the explanation.
Well, this indicates that the explanation was bunk. Clearly, Bradley was suspended for what he said to Vanover. Vanover wrote it up in a report, and bingo, Bradley gets a suspension that, on the visual evidence, seemed ridiculous.
Who knows what Bradley actually said in his 10 second outburst, but it must have been pretty bad to lead to a two game suspension – a game for every five seconds. How many f-bombs can you drop in five seconds?
Bradley has a reputation – deserved or not – with umpires, there’s no two ways about it. So he’s never going to get the benefit of the doubt; and when he blows up at an ump, if they’ve got the authority to throw him under the MLBus, they will. I love the passion, but when it costs the Cubs one of their best players, it starts to irritate.
We’re not quite there, yet, but Bradley has nothing but strikes against him at this point.