Bradley Suspended for the Rest of the Season

[17 Seconds]

The comment about DLee's daughter is unnecessary.

 

but awesome

[imb]

i didnt say it, he dead. it's in quotes.

[17 Seconds]

i didnt say it, he dead. it's in quotes.

 

why don't you give that a second try

[imb]

i was watching the football game

[17 Seconds]

my mistake

[Andy]

Lee's second child was a son. Just saying.

[ELCABALLO45]

The point is it was funny.

 

And I laughed

[Rob]

What truth? I suppose what he has said is true if you consider a world that revolves around Milton Bradley. Picking nits I guess. Maybe I'm a bit sensitive when it comes to such an emotionally-charged topic as Milton Bradley, but I'm getting a bit tired of Milton Bradley as a victim of (media, racist Cub fans, fill_in_the_blank).

 

The fact that this is emotionally charged for you reveals a lot. Unless I'm mistaken, you have no personal stake in Milton Bradley's particular brand of crazy... he doesn't key your car every night in the parking lot, refuse to pick up his dog's leavings on the sidewalk, or make lewd phone calls to your wife.

 

He plays for a team you root for. A team you want to win. And he's part of the solution to that.

 

You're letting guys like Paul Sullivan dictate your emotions. Their job isn't to make the Cubs better... it's to move papers. And the fact that you'd let them put you in a situation where you're rooting for our team to get rid of a useful player... I just can't fathom that. I mean, if he was breaking the law or something, sure. But he's just a dick. Why on earth does that matter to you?

[Geech]

I don't know, guys. As much as I would have preferred to keep Bradley, I just don't see how he can stay after this.

 

You can always trust Hendry to make a bad situation even worse. Someone earlier commented that unless Hendry pulls a miracle and replaces Bradley with a good player he should be gone, and I really have to agree. Jim doesn't deserve to keep his job even through next season after such a complete screw-up.

[loukycub]

But he's just a dick. Why on earth does that matter to you?

i won't speak for him or the other fans who didn't like him because he's a dick, but in my opinion, it matters because i find it a whole heck of a lot easier to root for a good human being who plays for my team than a dick who plays for my team.

 

for example: i can root for a good story like bobby scales very easily this season even though he has a fraction of the talent that milton bradley has.

 

i would like for my team to be a bunch of good guys who can play ball. if we had a bunch of players who had world class elite level talent but acted like (synonym for donkeys) who made up the entirety of the cubs roster for the year, i would openly be an indians fan until the roster turned over to get those bad attitudes out. i won't trade a championship for a bunch of 5 cent attitudes.

[Rob]

But he's just a dick. Why on earth does that matter to you?

i won't speak for him or the other fans who didn't like him because he's a dick, but in my opinion, it matters because i find it a whole heck of a lot easier to root for a good human being who plays for my team than a dick who plays for my team.

 

for example: i can root for a good story like bobby scales very easily this season even though he has a fraction of the talent that milton bradley has.

 

i would like for my team to be a bunch of good guys who can play ball. if we had a bunch of players who had world class elite level talent but acted like (synonym for donkeys) who made up the entirety of the cubs roster for the year, i would openly be an indians fan until the roster turned over to get those bad attitudes out. i won't trade a championship for a bunch of 5 cent attitudes.

 

And you know what? That's fine. If you decide that his personality is so bad that it makes it hard for you to root for the Cubs, that's your call.

 

What I have a problem with are the people who are pretending this is somehow good for the Cubs, instead of just admitting that they want him gone purely for selfish reasons.

[17 Seconds]

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1059/bradley.png

 

ouch

 

part of me does feel bad for him, though. when he first signed he seemed so genuinely excited about the opportunity to play here. whether or not he brought most of it on himself, it still must feel pretty terrible to almost everybody wanting you gone.

Edited September 21, 2009 by 17 Seconds

[loukycub]

But he's just a dick. Why on earth does that matter to you?

i won't speak for him or the other fans who didn't like him because he's a dick, but in my opinion, it matters because i find it a whole heck of a lot easier to root for a good human being who plays for my team than a dick who plays for my team.

 

for example: i can root for a good story like bobby scales very easily this season even though he has a fraction of the talent that milton bradley has.

 

i would like for my team to be a bunch of good guys who can play ball. if we had a bunch of players who had world class elite level talent but acted like (synonym for donkeys) who made up the entirety of the cubs roster for the year, i would openly be an indians fan until the roster turned over to get those bad attitudes out. i won't trade a championship for a bunch of 5 cent attitudes.

 

And you know what? That's fine. If you decide that his personality is so bad that it makes it hard for you to root for the Cubs, that's your call.

 

What I have a problem with are the people who are pretending this is somehow good for the Cubs, instead of just admitting that they want him gone purely for selfish reasons.

 

well, i'm in the group that did not want him here, but did not root for him to fail and if he would have been traded i would have been happy. bradley didn't need to go. bradley didn't need to have been signed. not only did his off and on field antics concern me but 7 teams in 10 years was a glaring red light. players who move around that much are either glorified super aaaa players or are so big of a clubhouse distraction teams his act overrides any perception of "value" he brings to a team.

 

him being gone for the rest of the season accomplishes nothing because there isn't anything left to play for in the season. and if it was really this bad of a problem before, you should have sit him down earlier this season. its very bad form for them to do this now in my opinion when nothing is on the line anymore. it's not good for us short term. long term is yet to be determined.

 

this was a cluster all around on both parties. bradley brought this on himself by not shutting up, growing a thicker skin and accepting the responsibility of the media attention that comes with being the big offseason aquisition and $10 million man and management should have put a 600 ft wall between media and bradley to make sure this never would have gotten out.

[Sludgeworth21]

I blame Jim Hendry for the whole ordeal. Ricketts should see this as the final straw.

 

Unless he manages to somehow trade Bradley for Adam Dunn, he should lose his job over this.

[TruffleShuffle]

So how DID Texas get such a bombastic season from him anyway? Can't all be explained with park factors...can it?

 

the park certainly helped, but he was still really good. he's shown he can get hot and putu p big numbers. the problem is, most years he doesn't get that hot.

 

also, iirc milton had a ridiculous babip last season

 

I do think there is something to the whole "contract year" phenomenon. Not just with Milton, but with tons of other guys as well.

 

There is not.

 

Adrian Beltre says hi.

 

i can only assume with this post that you are indicating your support for the idea that the contract year phenomenon is a myth. after all, adrian beltre was relatively productive - not great, but pretty good - for the last three years, but is in a contract year this season and is having the worst year of his major league career. that's what you were getting at, right?

[Larry Horse]

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2628

 

ST. LOUIS _ The headline on yesterday's blog was "Milton closing the door." The Cubs suspended Bradley for the rest of the season today, and they'll call up outfielder Tyler Colvin from Class AA Tennessee for the start of tomorrow's series at Milwaukee. Lou says Colvin will play.

 

Let's make no mistake here about Bradley. Although the Cubs took action by suspending him, Bradley brought it all on himself, and not one player in the clubhouse here at Busch Stadium rose to his defense. In fact, there was a feeling that a great weight had been lifted from the Cubs.

 

We've heard a lot about chemistry these last few days down here. Mark DeRosa talked about what great chemistry the Cubs had the past two years. Who knows how much a difference it makes. As Aramis Ramirez told us this afternoon, if you win, you have great chemistry. That great chemistry didn't help Kosuke Fukudome out of his half-season slump last year, nor did it prevent the Cubs from getting swept in the playoffs for a second straight year.

 

But having a downer like Bradley around sure doesn't make things pleasant for players (and media) who have to live with each other for eight months.

 

"Last year, I don't' know how many times I heard from the media that we had the best clubhouse in the league," Lou said before tonight's game. "Things don't change that rapidly in a year."

 

It's pretty clear about whom Lou was talking. I asked Reed Johnson if he felt for Bradley.

 

"I don't know," Johnson said. "In a way, I guess I feel sorry for him. He can't enjoy the same things the rest of us enjoy. He can't take the good things out of the city and the same good things out of the organization and have a good time with it.

 

"From our standpoint, nobody was making an effort to isolate him from groups. I think for the most part that was his choice."

 

Ryan Dempster talked about the need for Bradley to "look in the mirror."

 

"To say that everybody's out to get you and the reporters are looking for you and always looking to stick a microphone in your face, well, if you notice that they're always for you, I think maybe you're always looking for them," Dempster said. "I've been here six years now and haven't had a problem with anybody here. D-Lee's been here, Z, a lot of guys for a long time. Yeah, you have some tough times, but the city's great. The fans are great. You've got to realize sometimes the consequences of your own actions."

 

We've all had our little set-to's with players. Jim Edmonds and I got into it right here in St. Louis. We got over it, and were chatting about baseball a few days later. That's all I wanted to do with Milton Saturday. Right away, he said, "I'm not talking about my knee." I told him I wanted to talk baseball, and, true to form, he turned it into something else. It happened a few weeks ago in Chicago, when he was asked about being comfortable at the plate before turning it into "hatred and adversity."

 

Ryan Theriot can get a little testy after a bad game, but Ryan "gets it."

 

"Chicago's been great to me," Theriot said. "Chicago's been a city that's been extremely positive, welcoming for myself, my family. Both the fans and the media have accepted me as a player and as a person. I'm extremetly appreciative of all that. From my standpoint, I can really just speak of that.

 

"Each and every one of you guys in here have been extremely respectful to me, good days and bad. The TV guys, as well. The fans, on good days and bad, have been great to me."

 

We'll get to what GM Jim Hendry has to do over the next few days of blogging and story-writing. He will trade Bradley this off-season. You can bet on that. Bradley was being disingenuous when he sold himself to the Cubs last winter. Turns out he ended up being a bill of goods, despite some good OBP numbers this year.

 

Hendry apparently took Bradley at his word, or he thought he and Lou could manage Milton when things got rough. It didn't happen.

 

Back to the ballgame.

[CyHawk_Cub]

So how DID Texas get such a bombastic season from him anyway? Can't all be explained with park factors...can it?

 

the park certainly helped, but he was still really good. he's shown he can get hot and putu p big numbers. the problem is, most years he doesn't get that hot.

 

also, iirc milton had a ridiculous babip last season

 

I do think there is something to the whole "contract year" phenomenon. Not just with Milton, but with tons of other guys as well.

 

There is not.

 

Yeah, wouldn't believing in that "phenomenon" be akin to believing in "clutch"?

[Sosa21MVP]

Carlos never did give Milton a black guy. :(

[ctcf]

http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/2628

 

ST. LOUIS _ The headline on yesterday's blog was "Milton closing the door." The Cubs suspended Bradley for the rest of the season today, and they'll call up outfielder Tyler Colvin from Class AA Tennessee for the start of tomorrow's series at Milwaukee. Lou says Colvin will play.

 

Let's make no mistake here about Bradley. Although the Cubs took action by suspending him, Bradley brought it all on himself, and not one player in the clubhouse here at Busch Stadium rose to his defense. In fact, there was a feeling that a great weight had been lifted from the Cubs.

 

We've heard a lot about chemistry these last few days down here. Mark DeRosa talked about what great chemistry the Cubs had the past two years. Who knows how much a difference it makes. As Aramis Ramirez told us this afternoon, if you win, you have great chemistry. That great chemistry didn't help Kosuke Fukudome out of his half-season slump last year, nor did it prevent the Cubs from getting swept in the playoffs for a second straight year.

 

But having a downer like Bradley around sure doesn't make things pleasant for players (and media) who have to live with each other for eight months.

 

"Last year, I don't' know how many times I heard from the media that we had the best clubhouse in the league," Lou said before tonight's game. "Things don't change that rapidly in a year."

 

It's pretty clear about whom Lou was talking. I asked Reed Johnson if he felt for Bradley.

 

"I don't know," Johnson said. "In a way, I guess I feel sorry for him. He can't enjoy the same things the rest of us enjoy. He can't take the good things out of the city and the same good things out of the organization and have a good time with it.

 

"From our standpoint, nobody was making an effort to isolate him from groups. I think for the most part that was his choice."

 

Ryan Dempster talked about the need for Bradley to "look in the mirror."

 

"To say that everybody's out to get you and the reporters are looking for you and always looking to stick a microphone in your face, well, if you notice that they're always for you, I think maybe you're always looking for them," Dempster said. "I've been here six years now and haven't had a problem with anybody here. D-Lee's been here, Z, a lot of guys for a long time. Yeah, you have some tough times, but the city's great. The fans are great. You've got to realize sometimes the consequences of your own actions."

 

We've all had our little set-to's with players. Jim Edmonds and I got into it right here in St. Louis. We got over it, and were chatting about baseball a few days later. That's all I wanted to do with Milton Saturday. Right away, he said, "I'm not talking about my knee." I told him I wanted to talk baseball, and, true to form, he turned it into something else. It happened a few weeks ago in Chicago, when he was asked about being comfortable at the plate before turning it into "hatred and adversity."

 

Ryan Theriot can get a little testy after a bad game, but Ryan "gets it."

 

"Chicago's been great to me," Theriot said. "Chicago's been a city that's been extremely positive, welcoming for myself, my family. Both the fans and the media have accepted me as a player and as a person. I'm extremetly appreciative of all that. From my standpoint, I can really just speak of that.

 

"Each and every one of you guys in here have been extremely respectful to me, good days and bad. The TV guys, as well. The fans, on good days and bad, have been great to me."

 

We'll get to what GM Jim Hendry has to do over the next few days of blogging and story-writing. He will trade Bradley this off-season. You can bet on that. Bradley was being disingenuous when he sold himself to the Cubs last winter. Turns out he ended up being a bill of goods, despite some good OBP numbers this year.

 

Hendry apparently took Bradley at his word, or he thought he and Lou could manage Milton when things got rough. It didn't happen.

 

Back to the ballgame.

 

That's a good and very telling read.

[C.C.]

GM, Manager, Broadcasters, Media, Players, and the Fans are all bagging on MB. In my lifetime I've never seen a Cub player get dumped on like this - The whole situation is just flat out a disaster.

 

Unfortunately for his mental being the man needs to go, and I'm sure he couldn't be more excited. What a waste of money for now and the future.

[Little Slide Rooter]

GM, Manager, Broadcasters, Media, Players, and the Fans are all bagging on MB. In my lifetime I've never seen a Cub player get dumped on like this - The whole situation is just flat out a disaster.

 

Unfortunately for his mental being the man needs to go, and I'm sure he couldn't be more excited. What a waste of money for now and the future.

 

As Ive said before, I think that lot of the crap Bradley gets dumped on him is the fans projecting toward Jim Hendry more so than Bradley himself. The thing about the Milton Bradley situation is that its not just Bradley himself. Its the exodus of Mark Derosa to make room for Milton Bradley, as well as the seasons of Raul Ibanez, Adam Dunn, and Bobby Abreu, all of whom Hendry passed on the get to Bradley. When the fans boo Milton Bradley, evn is it is sub consciously, they're booing Jim Hendry. The off season was an absolute mess, and Milton Bradley was the centerpiece.

 

All I know is if that we end up eating Milton Bradleys contract and Aaron Miles is stil on the team because they dont want to eat his, that will be very bad.

[soapy]

Hey guys, the Cubs are going to have great [expletive] chemistry for the next 12 meaningless games. THANK GOD!!!

 

There is plenty of blame to go around (including on Milton most definitely) but I really don't understand how people can hate Bradley so much. Why do people keep saying he blamed everyone but himself? He repeatedly took the blame himself for poor production in April/May. He tried to avoid the media (presumably to avoid saying something stupid, which even he probably knew he would do when frustrated) and was criticized for it. The beat writer for the biggest paper in the city admits he had it out for the guy from day one. He didn't say anything about fans/media/etc treatment until he started playing well and people were still all over him (which they were). Granted, that was really stupid of him to say and his treatment from fans/media was at least partially brought on because of his reputation and past.

 

The situation was likely beyond repair and Bradley was probably gone after the season regardless, but people need to get the story straight.

 

Seriously, how can you take an absolutely disastrous situation and somehow make it even worse? Oh...I know...suspend the player for the remaining handful of meaningless games and declare to the world that you will absolutely not have him back on your team. That will send that trade value through the roof.

 

Like Milton said, I can see why they haven't won in 100+ years.

[soapy]

also, people really need to stop lamenting the Derosa trade. it's actually turned out well, so far, considering the pitchers received and Derosa's play this year (particularly since joining the Cardinals).

[Soul]

also, people really need to stop lamenting the Derosa trade. it's actually turned out well, so far, considering the pitchers received and Derosa's play this year (particularly since joining the Cardinals).

 

Not lamenting it anymore, but I've got to believe he would have played a tad better than he is right now if he was still in his familiar role with the Cubs.

 

Still though, you are right. It's long past time to move on from that one.

[davell]

You can't go out and say that's why THEY haven't won in 100 years. Nor, can you say that you play harder than anyone else. It's such a slap in the face to the rest oif the team and organization as well. He way overstepped at that point. I hate the fact that he got suspended, because it surely will hurt his already extremely difficult tradeability. But, I can totally understand why Hendry made that call as well.