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MLB

Milton Bradley Departs Stadium Early After Confrontation With Lou Piniella

Posted Jun 26, 2009 6:25PM By Matt Snyder (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Cubs, NL Central

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Milton BradleyI guess the Milton Bradley haters are all going to be basking in all their glory now. According to a report on Chicagosports.com, Bradley was taking out some frustration on the Gatorade cooler in the Cubs dugout when approached by his manager, Lou Piniella. Apparently the two exchanged "angry words" and Bradley was removed from the game.

In news much more disconcerting, though, Bradley was seen in street clothes leaving the stadium and is now gone from the premises. You might recall Sammy Sosa left Wrigley Field during the last game of the 2004 season and it was the last time he ever played for the Cubs. The Bradley situation will obviously conclude differently, because the Cubs signed him to a three-year contract this offseason and likely can't get a good return on him via trade.

Bradley, the mercurial yet talented outfielder, is having a major off-year thus far for the Cubs. He hasn't had an OPS in the low-.700s (which it currently is) since 2002 in Cleveland and he's been just brutal hitting left-handed.

The one positive for the season thus far was that Bradley hadn't had any go-rounds with fans, opposing players, teammates or management. That has now apparently fallen by the wayside. Not only did he argue with Piniella -- which wouldn't have been awful on the surface; players and managers argue from time to time -- but he won't likely curry much favor with teammates for abandoning them during a game. A game the team won, by the way, so the act itself appears incredibly selfish on the surface.

From a personal standpoint, this is very infuriating. I've done everything I could to give Bradley the benefit of the doubt, and spent a lot of time defending him. It could turn out that Piniella told him to leave the stadium -- albeit a pretty unrealistic scenario -- so we should all reserve judgment until the facts surface. Still, it doesn't look good.

In the post-game press conference, Piniella did say he was "tired of looking the other way," regarding Bradley. We can draw any conclusion we want from there, but, as I said, it doesn't look good from Bradley's end.

But, hey, fellow Cubs fans, look at the bright side. The team is now back to .500 on the year after breaking yet another losing streak. You know, the team that won 97 games last year.

UPDATE: Piniella said he ordered Bradley to leave the ballpark. He also implied he was tired of watching temper tantrums from the players -- which, considering the source, is quite funny. This actually makes the situation look much better for all parties involved, assuming it was the whole truth. Piniella also said Bradley will be in the lineup Saturday when the Cubs play the second game of a three-game series against the White Sox.

All's well that ends well, right?

Tags: lou+piniella, LouPiniella, milton+bradley, MiltonBradley

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