THE MILTON BRADLEY DISASTER

When the Chicago Cubs were courting Milton Bradley this winter, every Cub fan on the planet had to be hoping against hope that this marriage would not happen. It was just inconceivable that the Cubs could be interested in the troubled Bradley. Especially when they could have had all-stars Bobby Abreu, Raul Ibanez, Adam Dunn or Pat Burrell at either less or the same cost as Bradley.

Unfortunately, our nightmare became an all-too-real reality when the Cubs inked Bradley to a three-year, $30 million deal on January 8th. To make matters worse, the Cubs then traded the scrappy Mark DeRosa to fit Bradley's contract into their budget. For a franchise counting every penny with new owners supposedly coming in (ugh, another story for another day), the move didn't make sense in any possible way.

For a player with so much potential, why is he on his sixth team in nine years? Well, it's been well documented that Bradley has been a more than a troubled soul ever since he stepped on a baseball field in 2000. Every umpire in baseball can't stand the whiner. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg. He was basically thrown off the Cleveland Indians in 2004 for throwing a hissy-fit at his manager. Then, with his next team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, he challenged a fan to a fight. With the San Diego Padres, he tore his ACL and was lost for the season when cursing off an umpire who called him out. Finally, during his so-called career year with the Texas Rangers, he furiously darted up to the press box to challenge a broadcaster who said he had a troubled past. That certainly proved the broadcaster's point!

So, why did management sign this clown then? The Cubs said they wanted to put Bradley's left-handed bat in a lineup that desperately needed some left-handed hitters. Well, Bradley had never played more than 126 games in a season, and that's counting pinch-hit appearances. And last I checked, those other free agents I mentioned, besides Burrell, bat left-handed. They then said they wanted to get his glove in the outfield. With his history of knee issues, what person in their right mind could think he could adequately patrol right field? The reason he has not had many errors over his career is two-fold. For one, his range is dreadful. Unless you get a glove on the ball these days, official scorers hardly ever give errors anymore, so a ball that drops in front of him, goes over his head, or he is unable to cut off, are not shown in the box score. The second reason is more obvious. He simply does not play enough games in the outfield. In his "career" year with the Texas Rangers last year, he only started 75 games in the outfield! That's less than half the season. That's a career year? Sad.

For the Cubs, it has taken all of two months to prove this signing has been an utter disaster. In May, Bradley bumped an umpire and was suspended two games. He then claimed there was a conspiracy growing against him. Yeah, great way to apologize to the umps. Oh and what a shock, Bradley has missed a great deal of time to various injuries, and when he is actually in the lineup, he is not performing. He is hitting a robust .225 with only five home runs and 16 RBI.

It can't get any worse, right? I thought so, but that was until the Cubs hosted the Minnesota Twins last night when Bradley apparently forgot a simple rule of the game. YOU NEED THREE OUTS TO END AN INNING! With one-out in the top of the eighth, Joe Mauer hit a lazy fly ball to Bradley. Instead of throwing home in hopes of cutting off a run, Bradley thought the inning was over and tossed the ball into the crowd. Are you that lazy that you can't remember how many outs there are in the inning? Then, he had the nerve to get on fans who booed him.

Here's Bradley's quote:

"That's life," Bradley said. "These people have high expectations. I have high expectations for myself. I never made a mistake like that (losing track of the outs) in my life. Sue me!"

Sue you? I am sorry, but the man has serious mental issues. The fans have every right to boo your sorry play. Where did the Cubs get off giving this moron $30 million? We are stuck with this buffoon for the next two and a half years. I am already ready to rank this signing as one of the worst MLB signings of all-time. I don't have an exact place for it yet, but it is definitely near the top. The Cubs should fire their general manager, Jim Hendry, and any front-office person who was for this move. Any person with a brain knew it would be a disaster! Just look at his resume! No wonder this franchise has not won a World Series in 101 years. How long till football season?

Pat Morgan