Milton Bradley leaves game early

[Vote4Pedro]

I saw this on the bottom of the screen on ESPN. He left after a strikeout against Tampa Bay...apparently packed his bags and took off.

 

Milton Bradley Article

Edited May 6, 2010 by beckham15

[justBLAZE]

I think this might be drugs.

[EvilJester99]

Good maybe noone else will ever deal with him again and he will have to leave baseball....probably won't be that lucky of course.

[Brian]

I think this might be drugs.

 

Drugs would actually help his mental state

[knightni]

This proves that MB is the craziest player ever. The dude just walks away from multi millions because someone pissed him off.

[Middle Buffalo]

I blame the Cubs. I'm sure Milton will agree with me.

[Vote4Pedro]

he probably recieved too much racist hate mail up there in seattle

[The Critic]

Are their fans racist, too?

Always someone else's fault with that guy.

Good riddance, and don't come back.

[caulfield12]

KW will sign Bradley and Dukes to replace Kotsay and Nix on the roster....

[MHizzle85]

KW will sign Bradley and Dukes to replace Kotsay and Nix on the roster....

I smell sitcom!

[Palehosefan]

There is no way this guy isn't BiPolar.

[ptatc]

I think this might be drugs.

 

Believe it or not, from what I understand he doesn't do drugs or really drink.

 

Maybe he should start.

[lostfan]

I read somewhere that he had a personal issue or something that he talked to the team about.

 

I am still kind of bewildered that there was that small but vocal group of posters that really wanted the Sox to sign him.

[scenario]

I read somewhere that he had a personal issue or something that he talked to the team about.

 

Yep. He went to management after his latest meltdown and asked for help.

 

First time he's actually fessed up to having a problem.

 

 

[caulfield12]

More than meets the eye to this story...

 

 

"He's going through some things in his life right now that are very personal and very emotional," Zduriencik said. "We firmly believe that we manage people first. Certainly we are about winning baseball games ... but most important is the employees that work with us. We will join together and help him receive the assistance that he needs."

 

Two hours earlier, Bradley revealed yet another emotional side.

 

Joined by fellow speakers Wakamatsu, Ichiro Suzuki, Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Sweeney, Bradley stood before students and teachers at Lakeridge Elementary school in south Seattle and openly discussed what motivates him.

 

The man who in March told The Associated Press he was baseball's Kanye West interrupted himself at one point because he was getting overcome with emotions during an impassioned five-minute talk to students on the Mariners' annual education day.

 

"I grew up in Long Beach, Calif., me and my mother," Bradley said softly through a microphone while in front of a stage in the school's lunchroom. "She worked in a grocery store, checking out groceries every day, 40 hours a week. Every day she'd come home, get the mail. She'd get in the same chair with the bills. She'd put in one pile the bills she could pay. In another pile she'd put the ones she couldn't pay. Bill collectors would call. I saw her fall asleep in that chair.

 

"I saw that every day. That was my motivation," to reach the major leagues.

 

Then, Bradley - who recently complained that no one ever asks him where he's from, what he's about - shrugged. With a previously buzzing student body nearly silent and teachers watching intently, Bradley said through glistening eyes: "I'm kind of getting a little emotional right now, because this is my heart."

 

Then he waved his hand over the kids.

 

"The whole world's ahead of you," Bradley said. "Someone in here might change the world. Motivation is what's most important."

 

As Bradley sat down, Sweeney hugged him. The five-time All-Star then gave Bradley's back a comforting pat. The slugger smiled.

 

After the school event, Sweeney said the Mariners are going to help Bradley.

 

"The way we're going to do that is just, to love on him," Sweeney said. "His track record shows he's had some ups and downs. But we can embrace him and get him to click the way he did in Texas (in 2008, Bradley's All-Star season).

 

"He's a beautiful man, with a beautiful heart."

 

---

 

AP Sports Writer Tim Booth contributed to this report Seattle Post-Intelligencer

 

 

 

 

 

from yahoosports.com

 

So, Bradley isn't producing and he's acting out. But this is worse than giving fans the finger. This is giving the finger to your team.

 

Here's part of what Baker (Seattle Times) reported:

 

From what I'm told, Bradley came back to the dugout and told manager Don Wakamatsu something along the lines of "I'm done. I'm not helping the team.''

 

Those probably were not his exact words, but that was the message he conveyed.

 

Wakamatsu had Ryan Langerhans(notes) warm up immediately and followed Bradley into a tunnel between the dugout and clubhouse to talk him off the ledge and tell him not to quit on his teammates. At some point, Bradley was about to return to the dugout, but once he saw Langerhans playing left field in his place, left again and returned to his locker.

 

From there, he quickly packed and exited the stadium with the game still in progress.

 

It will be hard for the Mariners to forgive him for literally walking out on his team in the middle of the game. Look, I've given Milton the benefit of the doubt before. I even like him — or one of his personalities, anyway. He was a good Answer Man back in '08.

 

But his inability to cope in a game that is all about how one deals with failure is pretty telling. No amount of hugs from Ken Griffey Jr.(notes) and Mike Sweeney(notes) are going to fix him.

 

The Cubs told him to leave last year. Before it happens again, I guess, he's telling the Mariners: "You can't fire me! I quit."

 

OK. See ya.

 

Edited May 6, 2010 by caulfield12

[Stocking]

sad, I hope he finds what makes him happy.

[Kyyle23]

Im sick of hearing all of this "he is a beautiful person" s*** from the Mariners. Beautiful people dont accuse an entire city of racism, nor do they accuse their employer. Beautiful people dont try and charge into a pressbox because they disagree with what an announcer said. Beautiful people dont flip off fans or threaten fans with beer bottles. Beautiful people dont fight with teammates, they dont routinely argue with everyone they work with(coaches, managers, umpires).

 

He is a headcase who can play ball, sometimes.

[southsider2k5]

Well at least he gave them the possibility to just suspend him without pay.

[shipps]

But money is supposed to make everyone happy... I dont get it.

[Steve9347]

Im sick of hearing all of this "he is a beautiful person" s*** from the Mariners. Beautiful people dont accuse an entire city of racism, nor do they accuse their employer. Beautiful people dont try and charge into a pressbox because they disagree with what an announcer said. Beautiful people dont flip off fans or threaten fans with beer bottles. Beautiful people dont fight with teammates, they dont routinely argue with everyone they work with(coaches, managers, umpires).

 

He is a headcase who can play ball, sometimes.

 

f*** him

[hogan873]

Im sick of hearing all of this "he is a beautiful person" s*** from the Mariners. Beautiful people dont accuse an entire city of racism, nor do they accuse their employer. Beautiful people dont try and charge into a pressbox because they disagree with what an announcer said. Beautiful people dont flip off fans or threaten fans with beer bottles. Beautiful people dont fight with teammates, they dont routinely argue with everyone they work with(coaches, managers, umpires).

 

He is a headcase who can play ball, sometimes.

Post of the day. You hit the nail on the head.

[SouthsideDon48]

Didn't Sammy Sosa kind of do the same thing a couple years ago?

[Texsox]

Scotty Pippen pulled one of those also.

 

If he is struggling with a mental illness, sports is probably the toughest arena to get well in. It's kind of funny, but if he didn't give a s*** and just sat down on the bench, there is no story.

[caulfield12]

I'm trying to think of other recent examples.

 

Zach Greinke with the social anxiety order that almost deprived the game of one of its best young hurlers. I remember the interview he gave where he said he would rather be out there mowing lawns with his headphones on than pitching for the Royals, I was flabbergasted.

 

Ankiel and all those pitchers who suddenly "lost it" and couldn't ever find the strike zone again.

 

Catchers and infielders like Mackey Sasser, Chuck Knoblauch and Steve Sax that couldn't make a simple throw to the mound or 1B to save their lives.

 

 

[witesoxfan]

Khalil Greene really fell off the tracks with an anxiety disorder, and Dontrelle Willis was suffering from anxiety disorders as well.