Milton Bradley Packed Up And Peaced Out
Shared with us from the head honcho at FanFeedr HQ…
Bradley was removed from the game after a sixth inning strikeout. It was not a particularly good at-bat, with Bradley hacking away at some less-than-quality pitches early to get behind in the count, then, after battling back a bit, staring at a third strike down the middle.
But that’s not why he got benched.
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 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.
I should not have to tell anyone how serious this is.
Leaving the park while a game is still going on is a serious violation of every written and unwritten rule in baseball. It’s something the organization will have to address as well as the veteran players on this team.
Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik told me this morning that he’s not going to comment on any issue that may have taken place in the dugout or clubhouse. Nor will he verify whether our description of what took place was accurate.
“If there is an issue, it will be dealt with internally,” he said.
At first glance I was surprised to see this. Then I thought to myself, “If my name was Milton Bradley I’d stick to Monopoly.” Ha…
Alright, maybe that’s not as funny as I thought it was, but in all seriousness… If his heart ain’t in it, let him go. Like, get rid of him now. If you give Milton Bradley a Get Out Of Jail Free card for that type of thing, the whole dynamic of the team is likely to change. I repeat, DO NOT LET HIM PASS GO AND COLLECT HIS SALARY. Boot him to the Boardwalk NOW.
