I will grant you that Milton Bradley has had his share of behavioral problems in the Major Leagues. Arguing otherwise would be futile and it would be stupid. Still, the reaction to the Cubs signing Bradley has been a bit excessive. Care to guess how many stories there are in the Chicago papers this morning that extensively discuss Bradley's problems before briefly (if at all) mentioning his career numbers? It's four in the Sun-Times (one, two, three, four), one in the Tribune, plus a blog comment section full of complaining readers and TWO (one, two) recaps of his "incidents." OK, so there are plenty of people telling everyone what's bad about signing Milton Bradley, actually excessively so. But shouldn't someone be mentioning that since 2003, his worst OPS+ is 108? That while his last two seasons were injury-shortened, his OBP was above .400 in both years? That he's a pretty good fielding outfielder, especially in right field where the Cubs will use him? That holy effing crap, Kosuke Fukudome had a .649 OPS after June 15th and even if Bradley only plays 120 games, he improves a ton on that? I mean, that kind of thing is at least worth mentioning beyond a passing blurb about his career stats and maybe a mention that he made the All-Star team last year, right?
I understand that Bradley's not exactly a popular figure with the media (he chased down an opposing broadcaster last year and called an LA writer an "Uncle Tom" when he was with the Dodgers) but I know Cubs' fans aren't actually as upset about this as the coverage would lead you to believe (both our own Matt Snyder and Bleed Cubbie Blue offer various degrees of enthusiasm about the news. Would it kill the Sun-Times to mention that while he's a little crazy, he certainly knows how to hit a baseball and is a good fit for the Cubs?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-07-2009 @ 3:09PM
Ralph Novak said...
this bozo has zero (zero) insight
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1-09-2009 @ 4:09AM
Bob said...
This shows how little people know about baseball and instead have their faces glued to blogs. Look at the stats. Look at what the Cubs need. He fits perfectly. Way better then what they had in right last year. Hell, way better they have had in right since Sosa. He's a hitting machine. Sure, the injurys worry you a bit but what the hell are the Cubs giving Fukudome 10 million a year for then ? If Fukudome can't even back up a player for 10 million then either trade him or ship him back to Japan for a box of egg rolls. The only problem Bradley has ever had is with the media. And seeing what they write about him right now in Chicago, when he hasn't even steped on the field, I see why Bradley gets upset. Did anyone ever think that if you just keep your mouth, and or typing, shut and just see what happens the first month. Hey ? Maybe your like him and maybe, just maybe, he might like Chicago. I know, it's so hard to understand that giving a great hitter a break, sounds so crazy to people who just read smut. But here's an idea ,,,,,,,, build him up. Let him feel welcome, let him feel as if he finaly is getting a break, and you know what ? Maybe he will play 130 games, bat .350, hit 40 home runs, and knock in 130. Don't think he can do it ? Then you know crap about baseball, and know crap about what this man Bradley can really do. Look it up, it's called STATS.
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1-09-2009 @ 11:15AM
Larry said...
This is another example of not only what is wrong with sports today, but also with our society in general. People don't care what kind of low-lifes wear their team's uniform, as long as it results in wins. If these bullies, thugs and jerks were your co-workers or your neighbors you would want nothing to do with them, but if they are your sports heroes you turn a blind eye to their social inadequacies and spend ridiculous amounts of money on tickets to cheer them on. It is a good thing for Bradley that he can swing a bat, because if it wasn't for baseball and it's blindly adoring fans he would be in for a rough time trying to survive in a real job in the real world.
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