Hey Cubs Fans, Stop Blaming Milton Bradley and Just Enjoy His Hilarious Comments
Listen guys, I know you all hate Milton Bradley. Even I have piled on from time to time. The thing is, I believe there is enough blame to share for the whole team: Jim Hendry, the bullpen, Lou, injuries, Lee’s slow start, Soto’s sophomore slump, etc. As a fan, you are entitled to be upset with the guy who just signed a $30 million contract and came in botching flyballs and hitting well below the Mendoza line for most of the first half of the season.
The problem, fellow Cubs fans, is two-fold. The first is that Bradley is hitting now. I mean hitting pretty well. His on-base percentage has been among the elite of the National League all season, and now his power numbers are finally coming along. In the 18 games he has played since the Cubs were in 1st place on July 31, his numbers have been some of the best on the team: G: 18 / HR: 3 / RBI: 9 / BA: .303 / OBP: .410 / SLG: .500 / OPS: .910. The second is these quotes the Tribune and Sun-Times bring us. Let’s be honest: Paul Sullivan, Gordon Wittenmyer and Phil Rogers are not exactly the greatest sportswriters. They are grubbing for quotes and cornering a tired, beaten down Bradley for quotes that will make him look bad night after night. Could you deal with it? I would lash out for sure, and in all reality Bradley hasn’t even done that. He’s just answered honestly.
So if you want to boo Bradley when he screws up a play in the field or strikes out in an important late-inning situation, then by all means indulge. But if you hate Bradley personally based on either his play on the field or his personality, relax. He’s just a regular guy going to work everyday and being attacked from all sides. Instead of hating, why not just enjoy the hilariousness of the quotes that the Cubs writers are able to cobble together from their interrogations of him. Here’s a few recent ones:
On why he came to Chicago: “Ain’t nothing I’d rather do. If I could do anything, one, I might cure the lupus my aunt has; two, another aunt got both legs cut off because of diabetes; I might give her legs back. But No. 3 on the list would be win a championship in this city so that people can have what they deserve. The good people. The bad people can jump on the bandwagon when the time comes. But everything in my heart is to win a championship here. And I ain’t done yet.”
On racial taunts from Cubs fans: “America doesn’t believe in racism,” he said sarcastically before repeating the remark.
On being the victim of racial slurs from the bleachers: “All I’m saying is I just pray the game is nine innings, so I can be out there the least amount of time as possible and go home,” he said.
In reference to the Cubs losing 15-6 to the Nationals: “We got a Rodney King beatdown tonight.”
He does seem a little preoccupied with the racial issue, but who am I to say that he shouldn’t be? It is the official stance of NQTC that there are most likely racist Cubs fans in the bleachers, and if I were in Bradley (or Jacque Jones) position, I’d be pissed off too. So we can boo him when he under-performs (hell, I even made the case for booing him), but let’s not judge too harshly. You know when you just have a terrible day all around, and then you come home and you forgot to DVR some show and that makes you fly off the handle and go crazy, but really it wasn’t the DVR thing but just everything that has happened all day? That’s like the Cubs and Milton Bradley. You can blame Bradley if you want, but that wasn’t really the central issue, was it?
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Comments
Pingback from Taking a Friday Link Dump
Time August 28, 2009 at 4:24 pm
[...] Hey Cubs fans: stop blaming Milton Bradley and just enjoy his comments — (Not Qualified to Comment) [...]
Comment from Kevin Tapani Fan Club
Time August 28, 2009 at 4:46 pm
3 more hits and 2 more runs today. Even though some will say “too little, too late” I think the fans need to recognize that he’s playing well. If a player plays well, you cheer him on. If he sucks, you criticize. It’s unfair to do only one. I’m liking Bradley a whole lot more than Soriano these days, that’s for sure.
Pingback from Linked And Loaded – Weekend Edition | Paneech
Time August 29, 2009 at 2:55 pm
[...] Qualified To Comment is another Chicago-based Blog that is telling Cub fans to lay off Bradley and just enjoy his [...]
Comment from Bernie Dyme
Time August 29, 2009 at 9:54 pm
You are right. we should leave Milt alone. After all, he is about the only entertainment we are getting in Chicago.
Pingback from Not Qualified To Comment » Milton Bradley Doesn’t Understand How His Knee Injury is Related to Baseball
Time September 18, 2009 at 7:23 am
[...] Taking himself out was fine, but the post-game interview was odd as hell. And of course if you can laugh at such things, the interview was highlighted by another hilarious Bradley exchange: Asked about a problem with [...]
Comment from Elyse Lemaire
Time February 2, 2012 at 9:54 pm
“Great, thanks for sharing this blog. Great.”
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Time April 19, 2012 at 11:46 pm
I smarter more than biden and i am full of …….
I too, expected math to be culture fair. I’m quite surprised at the scores of blacks though, considering they are far better established in the U.S. than other minorities. It seems there really is a racial and/or cultural factor….
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Comment from Rule 5 Draftee (Golan)
Time August 28, 2009 at 8:30 am
So is there a different reason on why your girlfriend has bruises, or are you sticking with the “she fell down the stairs” excuse even though you don’t have any stairs at your place.