I'LL SHOW YOU BALLS!
I must start by saying it’s been a while since my last post. My wife and I recently celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary and have been planning our 2nd honeymoon to Disney World with our three kids (we leave on Wednesday). Plus, lots of travel for work has left me bereft of free time.
That free time that I had? I certainly didn’t want to waste it writing about the disaster in DC. We suck; and my mom always told me that if I couldn’t say anything nice about someone I probably shouldn’t say anything at all. So I took a hiatus. But now I’m about to throw mom’s advice out the window.
Now what fun would it be to pile on the lowly Nats, though? Everyone knew we were going to struggle this year. That’s like giving the nerd in high-school an atomic wedgie - WAY too easy. Just once I'd love to see the nerd slip the smokin' hot cheerleader a rufee and nail her - thereby embarassing the high-school football team she's been laying pipe with. So instead of giving the Nats the atomic wedgie, I’d like to take a moment and once again laugh at the Cubs and nail their girlfriend.
After the 2008 season the Cubs were said to be desiring a RFer with some pop in his bat (an opinion I find curious since they really had an average CFer and a defensive hack in LF, but okay). They focused on Milton Bradley and Bobby Abreu. The Angels moved pretty quickly on Abreu once they stopped focusing on Mark “the Anti-Christ” Teixeira.
Once Abreu signed with the Angels the Nationals offered a contract to Adam Dunn for 2 years at $20 million. He begged the Cubs to match the offer and the Cubs instead decided to offer a three year/$30 million dollar contract to the often volatile Milton Bradley. Dunn ends up with the Nationals.
So the Cubs who were already in bed with one hot-head (Carlos Zambrano) added Bradley and all his baggage. Almost immediately – as could’ve been predicted by anyone with any common sense whatsoever – Bradley started lashing out at the Chicago media and the Cubs fan base. The big blow came in late August when he interviewed for an article by the Associated Press which include these clips:
"I'm talking about hatred, period. I'm talking about when I go to eat at a restaurant. I've got to listen to the waiters badmouthing me at another table, sitting in a restaurant. That's what I'm talking about. Everything."
"All I'm saying is I pray the game is nine innings, so I can go out there the least amount of time possible and go home,"
So does he regret signing with the Cubs, who are his seventh major league team?
"I don't regret anything," he said. "I regret that there are idiots in the world, that's what I regret."
Bradley is the idiot. I hate the Cubs; and even I wouldn’t say that the fans are brimming with hatred. Their fans don’t strike me as the types of fans who would “badmouth” him while at a restaurant with his family.
Lately, events transpired that led to a quick spiral into the abyss.
Bradley was pulled from his game early on in a double switch. Apparently, the move really angered Bradley and he pulled himself from the Thursday game with knee soreness. After the Thursday game Bradley had this exchange with members of the media:
Reporters: What happened with the injury?
Bradley: "I'm not talking about that. What else you got?"
Reporters: Why did you come out?
Bradley: "I got knee inflammation. I got two knee surgeries. That happens when you got knee surgery, in case you don't know. What else you got?"
Reporters: How long will you be out?
Bradley: "What else you got? Anything significant?"
From there, Bradley refused to play in Saturday’s game which precipitated a verbal argument with Cubs hitting coach Von Joshua. The following day (yesterday) Bradley interviewed with the Daily Herald. The following is an excerpt from that story:
Bradley claimed to have no opinion on where he bats - “In the lineup,” he said of his preferred spot - and the only time he became expansive at all was when he was asked if he had enjoyed his first season in Chicago.
“Not really,” he said. “It’s just not a positive environment. I need a stable, healthy, enjoyable environment. There’s too many people everywhere in your face with a microphone asking the same questions repeatedly. Everything is just bashing you. You got out there and you play harder than anybody on the field and never get credit for it. It’s just negativity.
“And you understand why they haven’t won in 100 years here, because it’s negative. It’s what it is.”
Asked whether he was talking about the fans, the media or even the Cubs organization, he replied: “It’s everything. It’s everybody.”
This finally led to Cubs GM Jim Hendry suspending Bradley for the rest of the season. The following is an excerpt from the Tribune quoting Jim Hendry:
Hendry mentioned the "issues we've all lived with during the year," referring to Bradley's publicized battles with umpires, fans and the Chicago media.
"The last few days became too much for me to tolerate," Hendry said. "I'm certainly not going to let our great fans become an excuse. I'm not going to tolerate not being able to answer questions from the media respectfully. Whether you feel like talking or not, it's part of all of our jobs."
There's a right way to do it and a wrong way. I'm not going to allow disrespect to other people in that locker room and uniformed personnel, and I'm certainly not going to let a player, as was mentioned in the article today, (talk about) negativity of the organization."
Hendry added the "only real negativity" was Bradley's production (12 HRs, 40 RBIs in 393 at-bats).
This leaves him only with the option of finding some sucker to actually give him more than a cup of coffee for Bradley. If the Cubs fail to find a trade partner for Bradley’s services, they’ll have to cut him and eat the contract.
They could’ve had Adam Dunn for the same salary with less commitment. Dunn has had a great year at the plate hitting nearly 50 points higher than his career batting average and hitting his usual 40 homeruns and 100 or so RBI. Ao they instead signed Bradley who caused problems with the fans, the media and the team all while hitting 12 homers and 40 RBI in nearly 400 at-bats. He embarrassed the franchise, embarrassed his manager and now forced his general manager to eat his contract.
It's sorta like we actually did nail the girlfriend AND we got to give the starting quarterback the atomic wedgie.
All of this while they’re trying to sell the team.
Hilarious.
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