Bradley traded??

[BT]

he also claimed people threw bottles at him.



I don't believe him.

[Butcher]

I'm looking forward to his first 0-4 in Seattle so he can stop obsessing about Chicago and the Cubs and start getting on with the crazy with his new team.

[ruby23]

<!--quoteo(post=82181:date=Mar 10 2010, 09:30 AM:name=BT)-->QUOTE (BT @ Mar 10 2010, 09:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->he also claimed people threw bottles at him.



I don't believe him.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
On Mike and Mike this morning, they were basically saying that they didn't believe him and saying the reason he's was booed was because he was bad. Just about every call/email said the same thing.

[rok]

Next thing you know, he will start blaming Cubs fans for global warming and for world hunger.

Fuck.

Him.

[The Dude]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Cubs' players respond to Bradley's claims
March 10, 2010 10:40 AM | No Comments

By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz. -- Moving on from the Milton Bradley nightmare has been more difficult than anyone in the Cubs' organization imagined, because Bradley continues to level charges at the team and manager Lou Piniella.


Bradley told ESPN it's difficult for a black player to play at Wrigley Field unless you're a Hall of Fame-type player.

Ryan Dempster disputed that notion, mentioning Derrek Lee as an example.

"D-Lee seems to really like it there," Dempster said. "I know that he's really enjoyed Chicago and loves playing there. And some other guys that I've played with have just really had a good time playing there. I know Marlon (Byrd) is going to have a blast playing there. I think anytime you struggle it can be tough, no matter what the color of your skin is."


Lee was unavailable for comment. Cubs Hall of Famer Billy Williams declined comment.


Photo: Milton Bradley told ESPN that he felt like a prisoner in Chicago. (AP)

Bradley also told ESPN he wanted Piniella to apologize to him in front of the team for calling him a "piece of (expletive)" during a confrontation in the tunnel at U.S. Cellular Field last June, but that Piniella refused to do so.

Should Piniella have apologized to Bradley in front of the club?

"I didn't really hear what even happened that day," Ryan Theriot said. "But no, I don't think he needed to. I think that's for Lou to talk about. From my standpoint, I'll tell you what, it's pretty unfair to Lou because he did apologize, I do know that. It would've been different if it was something that happened in front of the whole team. We didn't even know about it until the following day."

Alfonso Soriano agreed with Theriot.

"If Lou apologized to him, then that's enough," he said. "If the manager apologizes to you, that's because the manager loves you. I don't know whether Lou did that or not, but if he did, then he showed a lot of respect for him."

"We don't have to think about that," Soriano said. "It's 2010. He played one year here. Now he's in Seattle, so he has to be happy and focus about Seattle, and we have to focus about our season. We can't win anything if we're paying attention to Milton and what he says. Everybody's happy now, and there's no pressure. It's nice."

Bradley brought Soriano's name into his complaints about Chicago, repeating the story that a Chicago waiter was badmouthing him, and adding that the waiter was badmouthing Soriano as well. Soriano said Bradley never mentioned the story to him and he doesn't get upset when he's criticized by Cubs fans.

"It's part of the game," Soriano said, "When I hit a homer, everybody's happy. When I strike out, the people boo. So it's 50-50. It's not hard to play there. I love it."

Dempster said he hadn't heard Bradley's comments.

"I didn't see what was said," he said. "What was it? Bad coffee in Seattle or something?"

Should Piniella have apologized in front of the team?

Dempster said he couldn't "remember" what happened between Piniella and Bradley at the Cell.

"It was so long ago, I just forget," he said. "I have a tough enough time remembering what happened yesterday."

Dempster said the secret to handling angry Cubs fans is "to play as hard as (you) can" every day.

" I think if you give 100 percent and you prepare as hard as you can and take pride in what you do, that seems to work for no matter where you are playing or who you are," he said. "I care a lot about winning and doing things the right way. I don't always do things the right way, and I'm not perfect.

"But they're fans, and they have every right to boo if they feel you're not giving 100 percent or not giving you best effort. But at the same time, I've always said about Chicago, they love their Cubs and they're very forgiving people and just want you to do well."

As for the hate mail Bradley said he received without postage, Dempster joked that Kevin Millar was sending him hate mail.

"He usually puts a postage stamp on it and then hands it to me," he said. "But he's going to get some bad stuff back."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[vegascub]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Dempster said he hadn't heard Bradley's comments.

"I didn't see what was said," he said. "What was it? Bad coffee in Seattle or something?"<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Freaking Dempster. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

[AnnoCatuli]

I love Dempster. He might be one of my favorite Cubs of all time.

[jstraw]

<!--quoteo(post=82181:date=Mar 10 2010, 09:30 AM:name=BT)-->QUOTE (BT @ Mar 10 2010, 09:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->he also claimed people threw bottles at him.



I don't believe him.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

It's too bad the games weren't televised.

[jstraw]

"If the manager apologizes to you, that's because the manager loves you."

"When I hit a homer, everybody's happy. When I strike out, the people boo. So it's 50-50."

[funkster]

He's such a turd. Seriously dude...let it go and move on.

[rok]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->"Everybody's happy now, and there's no pressure. It's nice."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes indeedy.

[ColoradoCub]

I don't think any more needs to be said on the subject. Nice job Hendry:

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Hendry: Bradley needs to 'look in the mirror'
March 10, 2010 12:05 PM | 2 Comments

By Paul Sullivan
bradleyhendryblog400.jpg

MESA, Ariz. -- After spending the last six months biting his tongue about his feelings toward Milton Bradley, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry ripped into his former player Wednesday morning at HoHoKam Park.

Hendry called Bradley's implication to ESPN that he received hate mail from within the organization "absolutely ridiculous," and said Bradley needs to look "in the mirror" and accept responsibility for his poor 2009 numbers.

"We're all brought up in life to accept responsibility when we fail, and to judge people by how they act and how they carry themselves when things don't go well," Hendry said.

Listen to the entire Hendry interview:

Bradley told ESPN some of the hate mail he received had no postage, suggesting it could've been in-house.

"Obviously, that couldn't be further from the truth," Hendry said. "I think maybe it's time Milton looks at himself in the mirror. It is what it is. He just didn't swing the bat. He didn't get the job done. His production, or lack of (production), was the only negative."

Photo: In happier times, Jim Hendry introduces Milton Bradley in January 2009. (Phil Velasquez/Tribune)

Hendry said people drop off mail at the front desk at Wrigley Field, which could explain why there was no postage on the alleged hate mail. He added that Bradley never mentioned the claim to anyone in the organization, and that the Cubs said the organization "couldn't have bent over backward any more than they did for the entire season, before (the suspension) in St. Louis."

Hendry was also upset that Bradley told ESPN that Piniella should've apologized to him in front of the team after their incident during a Cubs-White Sox game at the Cell last June, instead of simply apologizing to him personally and through the media.

Asked about the remark, Piniella said: "I apologized to Milton. Listen, I did the best I could, and I'm human like everybody else. I think I bent over backward to make it as comfortable as I possibly could, and that's all I can do, nothing more, nothing less."

While Hendry played the bad-cop, Piniella was the proverbial good-cop, taking the high road and asking everyone to "move on."

"Look, the thing with Milton is, it's behind us," he said. "I'm concerned about this year's team. We've got good chemistry here, we're getting ready for a championship season and that's all I'm concerned with. Anything else in the past, we've just got to go forward."

Piniella said he didn't know "why we keep re-visiting these things," and declined to get into a war of words with Bradley.

"I guess we can talk about the Los Angeles Lakers, we can talk about the Chicago Bears and the players they got," he said. "I think we let this subject go and concentrate on what we have here, and not re-visit it any more. I don't think there's any need to."

Hendry denied Bradley's claim that African-American players have a difficult time playing in front of Cubs fans at Wrigley Field unless they are Hall of Fame caliber players.

"We have a lot of players from a lot of countries and a lot of nationalities that love playing here," Hendry said. "I think it's the total (cop-out) when you don't perform up to the expectations that are expected of you, (then) blame it on a variety of different excuses."

Hendry said the Cubs have never had problems with players who wanted to stay in Chicago.

"We have a long history of quality people that want to play here, and I don't believe in the last seven or eight years under this regime we've lost a free agent player that we wanted to keep," he said. "And that's still the case. We just heard (in the media) from Aramis (Ramirez) and Derrek Lee the other day how strongly they would like to end their careers here. I do find it ironic, too, that if there was any truth to any of the things that are coming up now about (the difficulties of playing at Wrigley Field),

"I'd like to think that Kevin Millar and Marlon Byrd, who are represented by the same firm, the Levinsons... I don't think they would've been dying to have their clients come here. I think Kevin and Marlon will both tell you we were clearly their first choice. It's really unfortunate you get to that situation (and) deflect the lack of production you did in the year you were here, and t6hen try to use the other areas for excuses."

Hendry again accepted the blame for signing Bradley to a three-year, $30 million deal, repeating that it was his "mistake" and his alone. He thought he helped Bradley by sending him to a situation where he could thrive, only to see Bradley rip the Cubs in separate interviews with ESPN and the New York Times.

"I think we've all done our best to move on," Hendry said. "We've got a great bunch of guys here and a really quality thing going in our clubhouse and our organization. We thought we helped Milton move on too, by putting him in another place. And that's how we approach it.

"It's time to go about our business. Obviously, it was a one-year situation that I brought him in here to try and help us from the left side. Obviously it was a mistake and he didn't get the job done. You move on from your mistakes and you make life better for both sides, and that's what we did."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Jody]

Commercial: Try the new Milton Bradley crackers, all of the bad flavor and none of the guilt!

[Destined]

Ernie and Billy played during the Civil Rights Movement, and they're the most dedicated/beloved ex-Cubs there are. I love you Hendry, all those excuses <i>are </i>just cop-outs.

[funkster]

Its just part of his pattern never taking a scrap of responsibility for his own actions. What else is new. He's ALWAYS done that. Man up Milton.