http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3438827

Upon returning to the clubhouse, Bradley screamed at teammates and broke down in tears.

He reacts to some pretty lightly negative comments from a broadcaster by going after the guy? Grow the hell up, Milton. You made a bad play and then half-assed it in the field. Ryan called you on it. And you have a history of being a jerk. So you really can’t be surprised when people call you a jerk. Bradley, like Guillen, and Pierzynski have earned a reputation of being assholish (and lazy in Bradley’s case). Grow up and get over it. What a moron.

But as soon as Ryan brought up Bradley’s name in contrast to Hamilton, I thought it was a really odd juxtaposition. Bradley has never had substance abuse issues. He’s having a terrific season. It was a really weird comparison. But he should have ignored it. He’s only making the issue worse.

Lefebvre can say what he wants about Bradley. Bradley would be better served by getting a better handle on his emotions (real news flash there). So Lefebvre may have been less then kind to Bradley, but Bradley, in his position as a professional athlete with a track record, can’t deal with criticism through confrontation.

When I read about Bradley the impression I get is someone who actually has a psychological problem. He seems like a bright guy who knows he has a habit of making the same mistake again and again, yet he can’t seem to stop himself once he gets a rush of blood to the head. He has accepted responsibility for his actions in the past, at times almost immediately after the incident when he cools down. So I don’t classify Bradley as an asshole so much as a guy with a problem who I wouldn’t want to hang around with.

about Bradley is that of the three guys NYRoyal mentioned (AJP, Guillen, and Bradley), Bradley is, when healthy, clearly the best player. He’s having a career year. And he has overcome a tough upbringing. He is the guy we should be cheering rather than Josh Hamilton. In a way, it’s like Barry Bonds—this is a guy we should all be enjoying, but he makes it almost completely impossible to do so.

(Yes, I realize a lot of people think Bonds’ public relations problems are just a product of the evil media out to get him, but I think the point regarding MB is there anyway).

http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=84bcc668-adfc-4a30-b092-3afcce2bdb52

realizes this but Milton Bradley is a constant spot of conversation between the announcers. Split, White and Ryan bring his name up constantly even when KC isn’t playing Texas. Always saying Milton is Ryan’s favorite player so somethng tells me there is something else between the two of them we don’t know.

That being said Bradley is a FREAK. How long is this guy gonna continue to act like a spoiled brat. Did everyone see his dance into second base Monday night? Then he was jawing with the fans putting his hand to his ear. Washington even pulled him in the 9th inning, maybe for defense but mostly because the guy wasn’t focused.

It’s too bad that this guy can’t control himself. He has made alot of money but I wonder how much he has cost himself.

Where’s the game thread?

I’ll say I agree with LeFebvre but man, this post is even more biased than Ryan. Milton Bradley, besides being a headcase, is a darn good player when healthy. Yeah he makes the occasional errors but they are not quite Manny’s hilarious level yet. And please, before you say anything about him being a so so player, look up his number this year.

Is as far as I can tell, Milton’s been on his best behavior in the clubhouse this year. How does Ryan know he’s still a jerk? Does he travel with the Rangers or something?

Ryan said it, Bradley backed it up by letting it get to him and going to find him. It’s pretty easy to see that Lefebvre was partially right in that Bradley could still use some guidance. That’s it….he didn’t say that he was crazy, he didn’t call him any names, he just said he could learn about “turning it around” from Josh Hamilton. It wouldn’t have been an issue if Bradley didn’t make it one.

I think we tend to underestimate the talent it takes to be on the air for 2 hours and continuously come up with new filler material without repeating the same stuff over and over again, and I think he is fairly smooth with that. The problem I have with him is that he tends to be too nice to Royals players by always spinning the positive with regard to both on field play and off field incidents. He won’t say that Billy Butler is a below average 1st basemen, he’ll say Billy Butler has made pretty much all the plays. He won’t say that Tony Pena is just not a good hitter; he will say he’s out there working every day to improve. I don’t recall exactly what he said about the Guillen incident, but I am sure he spun the positive, something along the lines of "He’s a passionate guy and he said things that maybe needed to be said." I think part of that is the fact that he spends everyday with the Royals and he doesn’t want to call them out and create animosity.

The problem I have is that with players from other teams he tends to be a bit harsher. He can hide in the fact that he doesn’t spend every day with those guys. During the game in question, the comparison to Josh was not the first time he made reference to Bradley’s attitude, he was making snide remarks the whole game, to the point where Frank even facetiously referred to Bradley as Ryan’s "favorite player." So, my question at the end of all this rambling is: If Bradley was playing for the Royals, which he almost did; would Ryan have made the same criticisms or would he be more vanilla and spun the positive, saying things like "he hasn’t done anything THAT bad" ? I have to think the latter is the case.

If you want to be opinionated, fine, but be objective and do not let the uniform the players are wearing affect how you spin it. Otherwise, just give me the play-by-play please.