MESA, Ariz. -- When Milton Bradley was traded to Seattle in December, he said he no longer wanted to discuss his controversial stint with the Cubs.
"I have no interest in speaking about Chicago," Bradley told reporters. "I'm a Seattle Mariner. I've moved on. I wish you would move on, and I wish the Chicago Cubs organization the best."
But three months later, Bradley had some interesting things to say about Chicago in an interview with the New York Times. In Bradley's eyes, the blame for his unproductive season lies with "Chicago," not him.
"Two years ago, I played, and I was good," he said. "I go to Chicago, not good. I've been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me."
Photo: Milton Bradley is all smiles at Mariners camp this spring. (Paul Connors/AP)
The Cubs signed Bradley because he led the American League in OPS in 2008 and was a switch-hitter who could fit into the middle of the lineup. They expected him to get on base, provide some left-handed power and play 130 or so games in right field.
But now Bradley blames the Cubs for a lack of communication, saying they wanted him to be a home run hitter.
"Just no communication," he said. "I never hit more than 22 homers in my career, and all of a sudden I get to Chicago and they expect me to hit 30. It doesn't make sense. History tells you I'm not going to hit that many. Just a lot of things that try to make me a player I'm not."
Bradley wound up hitting .257 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 393 at-bats. He was suspended for the final two weeks of the season for detrimental comments and a run-in with then hitting coach Von Joshua.
Manager Lou Piniella said Thursday no one put any pressure on Bradley to hit 30 homers.
"We never put any expectations on Milton," he said. "I don't really have anything else to add to that, but we never put any expecations on 30 home runs or anything like that. I think getting off to a struggling start didn't help him.
"I think he tried to make up for it with one swing of the bat, and it snowballed. Look, that was last year. I wish him well, and at the same time, we (hope Carlos) Silva does well for us here, and that's it. ... We were hoping he'd come in here and be fifth in our lineup and be productive, and that was it."
General manager Jim Hendry took the blame for signing Bradley, which he repeatedly has called a "mistake." He had no comment on Bradley's remarks Thursday.
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Milton you should really take your meds as prescribed.See what happens when you skip them.
Of course it was Chicago, a worthless POS like him will never look at himself...sadly he has kids and poisoned the genepool further
Did the Cubs and their fans expect too much from Bradley? The answer is yes. Bradley had his career year in 2008, and the Cubs expected even more production in 2009. Look at Bradley's run production in 2009. Bradley's run production was totally in line with what he has done in the past.
Let`s play ball with a healthy group of guy`s that are a team and not a bunch of arrogant, I, Me type of players. Go Cubs Go
I'm not defending Bradley because he's a head case and never takes responsibility for anything.
However, has anyone else noticed the annoying tendency of the Cubs organization to try and turn everyone into a home run hitter?
Did anyone notice what happened to Theriot last year? He had a brief streak of hitting homers and after that, he was never the same. OBP dropped, less contact - not the same.
There's a reason why we haven't won in over 100 years - and it starts somewhere in upper management.
Ricketts family: PLEASE CLEAN HOUSE!!!
Who really judges Chicago on baseball? I'm a Bear fan before anything else. Baseball is something that divides our city like the Civil War, north vs south. Soldier Field is the real battlefield. Lets get some key UFAs today
The difference between Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers is that Parker Brothers has a CLUE!
C E N S O R S H I P
The truth is that Ed is a idiot.....
Poor Bradley, he was expected to produce after he signed a 3 year 30M contract.
Shame on the Cubs for expecting production and Milton having to go out and earn his pay.
Hendry said he was the power and rbi man they wanted. but it was still bradey not the cubs who is to blame for his bad year.
Cub fans are racist, long before Milton got here , sorry if the truth hurts.
I thought he didn't want to talk about it. Why does the media even print what he has to say?
hahaha ya i guess your right miltyboy...it was Chicago's fault for paying you 30,000,000 dollars and expecting to see even half that money's worth in production lol what a pathetic loser....
typical...play the race card and blame society (sound familiar)
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so,let me get this straight. Bradley couldnt hit because of a city. Or fans or not fans. What a joke, good buy milton, Next time I do something wrong, I will just blame everyone else. Sounds good to me. hahahah.. what an idiot.
Let me get this straight, the only reason Milton Bradley had a bad year last year is because the Bradley hating Cubs fans and management expected too many home runs from him, by wickedly inserting him into the 5 hole in the lineup. Now he can forget about home runs and have a great season, and Seatle will be batting him 3rd. Right, got it.
I LOVE THIS GUY!
Damn Milton, keep it up because it is just SO FUNNY!
Seriously, as a Cub Fan....laugh, move on...and just take this for what it is. One stupid, bipolar idiot who wants to take no responsibility for one things that happened!
How about a start that parallels the weight of an average man? Wait, no.... less than that.
How about pitching a ball into the stands on 2 outs (my 5 year old knows the rules---you're a professional PUNK! get it right)?
You've been great your whole career? If that were the case, then why have you played on as many MLB teams as Gaylord Perry has in his 25+ seasons in only 8-9 years?
Oh, Milt..Milt..Milt...keep it coming. I need the levity in my life!
[November 29, 2005 at 1:14pm CST]
According to Bruce Levine on ESPN Radio 1000, the Cubs are talking to the Dodgers about swapping Todd Walker for Milton Bradley. Considering the devaluing of Bradley around baseball, the proposed trade sounds plausible.
Ambilfy for Milton Bradley it would fix his Bipolar.
Sir Milton deserves Jose Offerman as his last manager before retirement.
TO ZIFF SISTRUNK: Please stop playing the race card. Chicago is the home of President Obama who loves this city and the White Sox. You say the cubs are racist but you give no evidence of that except "ask Mary Mitchell". You say the Sox are racist because "they only had one black player last year". Actually, they had Dye, Wise and Owens thats 3 black players. The Cubs had Lee, Bradley and Gathright thats also 3. Now, if you knew anything about baseball you would know that black players only make up 10 percent of the MLB. Since there are 30 teams, that is an average of 3 black players per team. What do you know?? The Cubs and Sox both had 3 black players on their team. It is not Chicago's fault that black athletes choose to play football and basketball instead of baseball. Not to mention that the racist Sox GM who "only had one black player on the team last year" according to you, is Ken Williams who is BLACK and their manager and bench coach are Latino. Still somehow you think that the people running baseball in this city are members of the kkk. Milton Bradley had a horrible year last year because he probably stopped juicing and he is blaming it on white people at Wrigley. If anything, he is the racist. It is a shame that you will probably never read this post. Go Sox, Go Chicago, Go Black people Go White People blah blah blah...... can we please stop blaming everything on racism.
This just confirms the dude simply doesn't have his head on straight. Just plain stupidity.
Um...Good job Sox 05....Can't even blame spell check on that one. Hilarious...game over.
Kevin you are a jerk you don't know sh*t he attacked the fans also he sucked and had to blame someone so he had to blame the fans. soon when his year sucks again he will blame Seattle fans too.
I didn't even read article, the headline said it all. This guy is damaged goods everywhere he plays . . . do you think he needs to maybe look in the mirror?
max on March 4, 2010 3:58 PM
funny, the most racist comments I've read have come from sux fans ... just saying ...
......................
Honestly, who in their right mind would expect anything different?
Its funny. I'm listening to all of you spew hate towards Milton. you're glad that he's gone. but you want the mariners to come to Wrigley so that you can do what? call him black names? Inflict him with more of your racial Ignorance? he's gone. Carlos Zambrano throws bigger fits. why don't you call him out? tell me. what do you call Derek Lee? this Isn't about Bradley the ball player. and we all knows this. so those black ex-cubs wasn't lying after-all. ole shane Victorino gets a beer poured on him. the only thing that I don't agree with Milton on. Its not Chicago. Its the Cubs and their fans. you're classless. you represents the Chicago and Baseball shamefully!
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Dennis...you're a complete arse. I laugh when I see these type of remarks. The racist here is you.
funny, the most racist comments I've read have come from sux fans ... just saying ...
I cannot stop laughing at Sox05's post. Game, set, match. LMAO
I grew up in Chicago (sox fan) but have lived in Seattle for 23 years (now an m's fan). Seattle's sports media is indeed fluff and hype (just listen to rick rizzs on the radio, and you'll hurl). I miss Chicago sports media, even though it gets too full of itself sometimes.
I think Bradley will do OK here socially, thanks to the chill environment and Griffey to help him fit in. But as a #3 hitter? No, the Mariners will struggle to hit exactly because they will expect more of him than he can deliver, just as the Cubs did.
When he throws a live ball in the Safeco stands, Rizzs will say something like "What a tough break for Bradley, but he's giving a lot of effort this year." Bleah.
I am tired of his act. Gee Milton, remember when you were here in LA playing for the Dodgers and you had the same issues that you had in Chicago? How about the rift between you and Jeff Kent that ended with you crying on TV before getting blown out of LA? It was never your fault, was it? You are a cancer no matter what team you play for, hence you can't keep a home for more than a year. How dare you play the race card. You do not deserve to play for any team and you are a disgrace to the league.
Milton is mentally ill and the Cubs did not provide him with an in-house shrink. That's the problem.
Oh, yes, I agree, the Cubs and their fans are nothing but racist. We don't ever want those black guys playing or succeeding with the Cubs. You know, like Ferguson Jenkins, Billy Williams, Derek Lee, Bill Madlock, Ernie Banks, Leon Durham.....Oh, wait....
Milton is a legend in his own mind. Stop writing about that idiot.
The Sox not have problims like this ever. This is Cubs fan problim. Bradly is righte.
This guy has never taken responsibility for anything that has happened in his life. It will blow up for him in Seattle too...then someone else will give him a job and the cycle will repeat.
And the racist continue to attempt to play the race card.
Most people can count to three.....I think there are still three outs each half inning? Aren't there?
I'll start listening to Bradley when he can count past 10......
WHY do we care whatthis loser has to say? Remember, this is the same guy who has been on 6-7 teams in the last 8-10 years. Why is Seattle going to be any better for this loser?!!?! I guaranttee that he will be having problems (somebody else's fault) in Seattle very soon!
I can't believe Bradley would blame the Cubs! Our fans always respect our players, they would never EVER scream racial slurs or run out on the field and attack players. I mean just ask Jacque Jones or Bob Howry or Randy Myers or...
Its not just Bradley, you all should blame guys like Sullivan and the knuckle-head from the other paper too.
THEY are the ones that just wont let this story go !
Whatever Bradley, you BIG BABY!!!!
I am a crappy player, therefore it is Chicago's fault. Hey-u i like that. Good luck seattle! Ha Ha...............
Would anyone really expect Bradley to say anything else?
Seattle is next.
Geronimoron on March 4, 2010 12:39 PM
Goats on March 4, 2010 12:25 PM
Who would want to play for a loosing franchise anyway!
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What do you know, a Sox fan who can't spell, who could have ever seen that coming.
50-1 this guys lips are moving as he reads the reply's.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Only a Cubs fan would misspell a word after calling out a Sox fan for misspelling a word.
It's "replies", Ace.
Priceless!
Milton Bradley,,, the gift that keeps giving.
Still think Jim Hendry should be fired for this one (not to mention DeRosa). Cub fans should flood the stadium when seattle plays the white sox.... just to boo him everytime he steps on the field.
Seattle looks like a good team on paper this year, but I just can't seem to see them going to the playoffs for some reason.
Dennis,
I'm a "black man" (and Sox fan) and the point of criticizing Milton is that he blamed his performance issues on the Cubs. Most folks are taught to accept responsibility for one's own actions.
Sorry. Until I hear about the actual incidents of racial slurs (which he refuses to detail), I'm still calling him a juicehead. I've built my relative success on recognizing when I'm the problem and making the necessary changes to correct it.
Geronimoron on March 4, 2010 12:39 PM
Goats on March 4, 2010 12:25 PM
Who would want to play for a loosing franchise anyway!
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What do you know, a Sox fan who can't spell, who could have ever seen that coming.
50-1 this guys lips are moving as he reads the reply's.
Geronimoron....agree 100%. However it's replies not reply's.
Its funny. I'm listening to all of you spew hate towards Milton. you're glad that he's gone. but you want the mariners to come to Wrigley so that you can do what? call him black names? Inflict him with more of your racial Ignorance? he's gone. Carlos Zambrano throws bigger fits. why don't you call him out? tell me. what do you call Derek Lee? this Isn't about Bradley the ball player. and we all knows this. so those black ex-cubs wasn't lying after-all. ole shane Victorino gets a beer poured on him. the only thing that I don't agree with Milton on. Its not Chicago. Its the Cubs and their fans. you're classless. you represents the Chicago and Baseball shamefully!
I would have to agree with Classic .. look who the president is .. Obama isn't bright either
Wish the door had slammed on that big mouth of yours on your way out of the Cubs organization, Mr. Bradley! The less attention the media gives you, the better. The Mariners are going to wonder why in the heck they took you on as their next project in a couple of months.
Good riddance to that cancer of a player.. You're in for a treat Seattle... Be sure to let him know how many outs...
And I am sure in 365 we will read how it is all Seattle's fault.
Milton is due for an injury...aside from the unfixable ailments betw his ears.
"The only common element in all of your failures is YOU!"
The Cub fans put to much pressure on these players. They boo when they don't hit. They throw crap at players like little girls. Who would want to play for a loosing franchise anyway!
He's lucky he is on the Mariners, because the only time he'll play in Chicago this season is if the Cubs and Mariners meet up in the World Series. He deserves to get ripped a new one.
I think the problem with guys like Milt is that they don't realize how different Chicago is from other places they have played before.
In Chicago, the media is a lot harder on athletes than any other market except for maybe New York. You can be king here if you play well and do your job. If you suck and act like a d-bag, you aren't going to last long. The media will call you out and you will be talked about by every sports radio show and news outlet. Most sports writers will tell you their real opinion and not hold back.
In other markets, like Texas and Seattle, the media is much softer. A lot more fluff. This is what athletes who didn't come up in this area expect when they get here.
This is not an easy place to play and it's much worse if you're a jerk.
When do the Cubs play the Mariners in Chicago? I want tickets to that game just so I can thoroughly enjoy the thrashing he's sure to get from the fans. He deserves every bit of it after the crap he pulled!
Like "sigh" said below, I also pulled for him and hoped for the best when I found out they signed him, and I even gave him the benefit of the doubt all the way until about midway through the season. But then when I saw him make that "yapping" gesture toward the fans with his hands, I wanted to join the crowd and ride him for all the crap he deserved to hear after that! No matter how much a player gets booed (deservedly so in his case), you just DO NOT mock your home town fans like that and think it's ok! What a jerk!
I'm surprised he didn't blame Bernie Madoff, the swine flu, and Hamid Karzai as well. This guy is such a cry baby loser. He's lucky there are so many sucker GMs to keep giving him a job or he'd probably be the night janitor at a Hardee's who goes around yelling at the mop bucket for being too full.
Good thing you don't get paid for your braibs because you would starve to DEATH!! Be thankful you found someone stupid enough to take you. You won't be that lucky next timellhnmqa
It's ALWAYS the same with this idiot. In every single response from him, it's always someone else's fault. All during the season last year, anytime something went wrong for him he cast blame on someone or something else...NEVER accepting responsibility and never considering, just once, that maybe, just maybe HE is to blame for his own problems! What a delusional, self-righteous jerk. Good riddance!
"Two years ago, I played, and I was good," he said. "I go to Chicago, not good. I've been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me."
Obviously.
Whatever...100% certified psycho...
What a MORON!! You must be Terrell Owens brother? Both of you idiots never won ANYTHING or EVER will!! The Mariners will do NOTHING this year. And Expect some chin music this year MiltonVkcbpp
Way to blame the victim Milton.
this is what losers do.It's always someone elses fault. Just go away and never come back Milton.
What a tool. He had problems in LA, San Diego and Cleveland and can't count (2 outs anyone). That guy belongs in a small market, preferably the Island of Misfit Toys. I hope one of his bats break and hits him in that fat stupid mouth.
I really rooted for Milton to get a fresh start when he came to the Cubs. I suspect like many others, I was foolish drawn in to the idea of him fitting in well. He can blame the Cubs, management, the fans, the city, Mayor Daley, Wrigley Field, the Tribune, whatever he wants. But bottom line, he doesn't seem to like the guy staring back at him in the mirror every morning. I almost feel a little sorry for him...then I realize he made 30 million bucks off the Cubs for being a d-bag. Someday, he'll look back and regret the way he conducted himself during his career.
This guy is delusional.He was brought here because idiotic lou piniella insisted we needed "Lefty bats to balance out the line up".Soriano,ramirez and lee have all hit 30+ Hr's in the last 4-5 years we didn't need hr hitters.Bradley is one of those people who just doesn't get it and never will.
Does he ever shut up, seriously? He's still harping on his time in Chicago when he should be talking about the future. It's only a matter of time before his teammates in Seattle get fed up with him just like they have everywhere else he's played. Next year's headline: "It was Seattle's fault, not mine."