Me vs. Myself: Milton Bradley

This special comment in mostly in response to Kevin’s post yesterday about Milton Bradley. I’ve been wrestling with the walking, talking paradox that is Mr. Bradley and I’ve come to two very different conclusions. Hear me out String Readers as I debate with myself.

Kyle the Good: Milton Bradley has an attitude. His attitude is a product of the booing and comments Bradley receives from fans. The booing and comments are a product of Milton’s poor play this season. While his .259 BA/11 HR/35 RBI this season looks bad, the numbers are actually a little misleading. First and foremost, let me say that as my love for sabermetrics grows, so too does my love Bradley. The guy has an impressive OBP (a vital stat for using sabermetrics) but he also has a keen eye for the strike zone. Simply put, the guy can get on base aside from hitting. Very important, which I will explain later. Anyway, it is undeniable that Bradley had a shit-turd first half. Then again, so did every other Cubs player outside of Theriot and D-Lee. In the post ASG world however, Bradley has quietly become one of the best players on the Cubs. Check this stat line: .289/.414/.456 with 5 homers and 14 RBI. Granted the power numbers aren’t there, but that doesn’t concern me. Just look at that BA/OBP/SLG though. You know why those numbers are so good? Because Lou finally put Bradley where he bleongs and kept him there: in the No. 2 spot. For most of the season, Lou and Hendry were trying to make Bradley a run producer. They wanted him to drive in runners and hit some homers…but that is NOT what he does best. At the beginning of the season I (as well as many many many many others) were calling for Bradley to be moved to the No. 2 hole. Looks like we knew what we were talking about, eh? The probably isn’t that Bradley has lost his skill, it’s just that the Cubs have been using it the wrong way until recently. Bradley might be the best No. 2 guy in all of baseball next season. He won’t be a run producer but he will certainly be a run creator. Something the Cubs have lacked for most of this season.

Kyle the Bad: As like most of you, I’m tired of Bradley’s attitude. The distraction is just too much. Usually I shrug off his comments like they mean nothing, but this most recent “issue” just pushed me over the edge. I don’t doubt for a second that Bradley has heard racist comments at some point this season (although I do not believe they are as serious or frequent as some might like us to believe), but what he to reporters the other day was inexcusable for a professional athlete.

”All I’m saying is I just pray the game goes nine innings so I can go out there for the least amount of time as possible and go home.” – Milton Bradley, August 26, 2009, Chicago Sun-Times.

Wow. Just wow. This has nothing to do with race or class or any other inappropriate commentary from Cubs fans. Bradley just doesn’t want to play…the ultimate sin for an athlete. This is on par with when Randy Moss openly admitted that he took plays off and didn’t try his hardest at all times. Except I believe this is worse. I would almost prefer that the reason Bradley said this is because of fan-hatred, but it really sounds like the guy has just given up. I don’t want that on my team and neither should any other respectable baseball fan. Athletes do some bad things when they are off the field, but admitting that you don’t want to be ON the field is a federal offense in the realm of sports. Of course anyone who knows me would recall that I said Bradley played with a fire and passion unlike any player I’ve seen on the Cubs for a while. Sure he had a bit of a hot head, but it was because the guy only wanted to win. He torn his ACL arguing with an umpire for God sake. The guy is a cold-blooded killer. That I can respect. But now that image is gone in the blink of an eye. From here on out, his commitment will always come into question.

Conclusion: Many see the signing of Milton Bradley by Jim Hendry as one of his biggest errors as the Cubs general manager. I don’t fault Hendry however. At the time, he was trying to make the Cubs a better team. You don’t go sign a $30 million player because you’re rebuilding. So Hendry is off the hook in my mind. Bradley’s attitude bothers me as a fan of baseball. He’s trying to put himself above the game, but no player is when it comes to actions on the field. Unfortunately for those of you who want to see Bradley exiled from the North Side, I don’t think it’s going to happen. His contract is to big to trade or cut…but this is a GOOD thing. As I mentioned above, I believe Bradley is the best No. 2 hitter in the league. Assuming he has at least an average start to next season, I predict Bradley will be the toast of the town and one of the key players to whatever success the Cubs have in 2010.

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