Bradley

[1060Ivy]

My question is has Bradley every used racism as an excuse for his failure to perform?

I get the feeling that Bradley did cite his general unease of playing at Wrigley - which may have more to do with his performance than racism.

I see the Tribune then putting his unease at playing at Wrigley and racism together into one story.

Currently, I'm waiting for the Tribune to put together the U of I admissions "scandal", the Blogavich debacle and racism at Wrigley together into one story - problem handled in a 5 to 7 part series.

[ColoradoCub]

<!--quoteo(post=60474:date=Aug 27 2009, 04:00 PM:name=Gad)-->QUOTE (Gad @ Aug 27 2009, 04:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Bradley accused the police of being racist in Ohio, his teammates(Jeff Kent) of being racist in LA, the GM(Billy Beane) of being racist in Oakland, the media of being racist in Texas and now the fans of being racist in Chicago.

Look, do I believe racism exists in this country? Absolutely. But when a guy has problems in every city he plays in to the point that he is all but run out of each town, at what point does he need to look in the mirror to see what the problem is?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Gad nailed it.

[veryzer]

<!--quoteo(post=60476:date=Aug 27 2009, 05:28 PM:name=ColoradoCub)-->QUOTE (ColoradoCub @ Aug 27 2009, 05:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=60474:date=Aug 27 2009, 04:00 PM:name=Gad)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Gad @ Aug 27 2009, 04:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Bradley accused the police of being racist in Ohio, his teammates(Jeff Kent) of being racist in LA, the GM(Billy Beane) of being racist in Oakland, the media of being racist in Texas and now the fans of being racist in Chicago.

Look, do I believe racism exists in this country? Absolutely. But when a guy has problems in every city he plays in to the point that he is all but run out of each town, at what point does he need to look in the mirror to see what the problem is?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Gad nailed it.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


yep. game set match.

[Clapp]

Phil Rogers with another gem saying to just cut Bradley. Yeah, awesome idea. Just let him walk, get nothing in return, and pay him $21 million.

[Ace]

George Ofman wrote a send up of Bradley on this stuff, which yes, I am only posting because he cited Bleacher Nation.

[dk123]

<!--quoteo(post=60475:date=Aug 27 2009, 05:20 PM:name=1060Ivy)-->QUOTE (1060Ivy @ Aug 27 2009, 05:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->My question is has Bradley every used racism as an excuse for his failure to perform?

I get the feeling that Bradley did cite his general unease of playing at Wrigley - which may have more to do with his performance than racism.

I see the Tribune then putting his unease at playing at Wrigley and racism together into one story.

Currently, I'm waiting for the Tribune to put together the U of I admissions "scandal", the Blogavich debacle and racism at Wrigley together into one story - problem handled in a 5 to 7 part series.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bradley has been great at home, and total shit on the road though....

[Brock]

<!--quoteo(post=60487:date=Aug 27 2009, 07:54 PM:name=dk123)-->QUOTE (dk123 @ Aug 27 2009, 07:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=60475:date=Aug 27 2009, 05:20 PM:name=1060Ivy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (1060Ivy @ Aug 27 2009, 05:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->My question is has Bradley every used racism as an excuse for his failure to perform?

I get the feeling that Bradley did cite his general unease of playing at Wrigley - which may have more to do with his performance than racism.

I see the Tribune then putting his unease at playing at Wrigley and racism together into one story.

Currently, I'm waiting for the Tribune to put together the U of I admissions "scandal", the Blogavich debacle and racism at Wrigley together into one story - problem handled in a 5 to 7 part series.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bradley has been great at home, and total shit on the road though....
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

We should plant some racist assholes in other parks if it makes him perform better!

[rok]

<!--quoteo(post=60493:date=Aug 27 2009, 09:02 PM:name=Brock)-->QUOTE (Brock @ Aug 27 2009, 09:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=60487:date=Aug 27 2009, 07:54 PM:name=dk123)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dk123 @ Aug 27 2009, 07:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=60475:date=Aug 27 2009, 05:20 PM:name=1060Ivy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (1060Ivy @ Aug 27 2009, 05:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->My question is has Bradley every used racism as an excuse for his failure to perform?

I get the feeling that Bradley did cite his general unease of playing at Wrigley - which may have more to do with his performance than racism.

I see the Tribune then putting his unease at playing at Wrigley and racism together into one story.

Currently, I'm waiting for the Tribune to put together the U of I admissions "scandal", the Blogavich debacle and racism at Wrigley together into one story - problem handled in a 5 to 7 part series.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Bradley has been great at home, and total shit on the road though....
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

We should plant some racist assholes in other parks if it makes him perform better!
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
And they need to be planted because there are no racists outside of the North side of Chicago.

[Scarey]

This whole thing just sucks. The guy is a good player and really, that should be the most important thing. I just wish it could all be erased. What can he do to rectify the situation?

[jstraw]

People are booing and taunting Bradley...and for the most part, this is knucklehead fan behavior. But he's had the kind of year where that's going to happen.

Ok, now I'm willing to stipulate that some of those knuckleheads are SUCH knuckleheads that they go racial. I believe it.

That said...how is focusing on that component NOT all about diverting attention to why he's getting heat from the fans to begin with.

Is it news that there are knuckleheads...that there are racists? I'm sorry...it's just too easy to go there. Tell me Derek Lee plays great and gets treated like dirt because his skin trumps his abilities. No? I didn't think so.

Yeah there are people that resent highly paid black men in the public eye. Yeah there are people that can't resist pushing a racial hot button when they want to get someone's goat. But Milton Bradley is getting booed for a number of reasons and none of them are because he's black.

Should the race-baiting be tolerated? Hell no...but Bradley is still may be using this issue for a purpose.

[veryzer]

i echo everything straw just said and let me add this: given the volitile nature of bradley, are we to believe that he's hearing all these racial taunts and just taking it? this is a guy who once slammed a water bottle into the stands. i think that if people were really getting personal with him, he would have flown off the handle by now. this is a dude who thinks the umpires are out to get him, who was called a piece of shit by his own manager, who's been traded or let go by every team he's ever played for almost on a yearly basis. but people are making racist comments and he's just sucking it up? please.

i'm sorry, but the perceived racism just doesn't fly. he's getting booed on a daily basis and instead of admitting it's been because he's sucked and because of some of the things he's said, he's trying to say it's because he's black, just like hawkins and jones. play well, shut up, and none of this is an issue. trust me, if he was white, he'd be getting the same treatment. ask bob howry.

[Kid]

<!--quoteo(post=60510:date=Aug 28 2009, 08:14 AM:name=veryzer)-->QUOTE (veryzer @ Aug 28 2009, 08:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->i echo everything straw just said and let me add this: given the volitile nature of bradley, are we to believe that he's hearing all these racial taunts and just taking it? this is a guy who once slammed a water bottle into the stands. i think that if people were really getting personal with him, he would have flown off the handle by now. this is a dude who thinks the umpires are out to get him, who was called a piece of shit by his own manager, who's been traded or let go by every team he's ever played for almost on a yearly basis. but people are making racist comments and he's just sucking it up? please.

i'm sorry, but the perceived racism just doesn't fly. he's getting booed on a daily basis and instead of admitting it's been because he's sucked and because of some of the things he's said, he's trying to say it's because he's black, just like hawkins and jones. play well, shut up, and none of this is an issue. trust me, if he was white, he'd be getting the same treatment. ask bob howry.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The problem with that is that you don't know that's the case. It's what you presume to be the case.

I fully acknowledge that I don't know it to definitively be the case that he's telling the truth. What I do know is that 6 different African Americans to wear a Cubs uniform in the last 7 years have said it's a problem. I'm not going to take the time to count, but if that's not a majority of the total number of African Americans to wear a Cubs uniform over that time, it's at least a significant minority.

I don't think it's the case that racial taunting begins the moment an African American player steps foot in Wrigley (with the apparent exception being Jacque Jones, who was treated mercilessly from his first game because people didn't like the fact that he'd been signed to begin with). And it's definitely true that any player that performs poorly gets treated harshly now at Wrigley. But the possibility of racial taunting and that harsh treatment are not mutually exclusive. Is it impossible that when it is an African American player who performs poorly, that racial taunting cannot become part of that same harsh treatment among a small but vocal minority?

[Kid]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->What if Milton Bradley is right?

Isn't that the only question that matters? What if Bradley has been subjected to racial abuse at his workplace -- in this case, Wrigley Field? What if the Friendly Confines aren't so friendly? What if a handful of closet racists, fueled by hatred and too many cold beers, empowered by their anonymity and ticket purchases, are flicking racial epithets at Bradley like so many cigarette butts?

Then what?

Just because Bradley is the centerpiece of this controversy doesn't make it any less true. If anything, it makes it more plausible.

Bradley rubs people the wrong way -- no surprise there. He's sandpaper, they're balsa wood. His career has featured a series of mushroom clouds, and six different teams in the past seven years. He is the radioactive ballplayer.

He arrived in Chicago with enough baggage to fill the belly of a tanker ship. And his first (and possibly last?) season as a Cub has been a disaster. Bradley got hurt. He forgot how many outs there were. Most of all, he forgot how to hit.

But nobody deserves to stand in right field and hear hatred. It doesn't matter that Bradley has hit only seven more home runs than starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano, or that part-timer Jake Fox has just one fewer RBI than Bradley in less than half the at-bats. The back of a player's baseball card isn't an excuse for racism.

Maybe Bradley is a nut job. Maybe he needs an entire line of Black and Decker equipment to tighten the loose screws. In the few times I've spoken with him he was helpful and agreeable enough. To some fans, though, he seems as embraceable as a cactus.

But none of that changes the essential truth he spoke Wednesday, when reporters asked him to provide specific examples of racial taunts. His sarcastic reply: "America doesn't believe in racism."

Dusty Baker, when he was manager of the Cubs, received hate mail. So did former Cubs reliever LaTroy Hawkins. Former Cubs right fielder Jacque Jones said he was the victim of racial abuse from Cubs fans. Now Bradley is suggesting he's the target of racial remarks. At some point, this quits being a coincidence and becomes a reality.

If racism exists outside the ballpark, then it can exist within it too. Just because Wrigley Field security says it is unaware of any reported racial taunts directed toward Bradley doesn't mean they haven't happened. It only means nobody has complained about them. It doesn't take a leap of faith to envision a scenario where some overserved Bleacher Bums go racial on Bradley.

Bradley hasn't done himself any favors when it comes to his nonrelationship with Cubs fans. But manager Lou Piniella, without even realizing what he's done, has indirectly enabled the fringe meathead fans to single out Bradley. That's because on more than one occasion, Piniella has done the same.

Piniella sent Bradley home during a June game because of a dugout tantrum. (Other Cubs players have had similar outbursts this season, but stayed.) And more than once, Piniella has been overheard ripping Bradley. You don't think the meatheads see this and think they can do the same to Bradley -- and worse?

Don't misunderstand: This isn't Piniella's doing. But perception has become reality. Bradley's troubled history made some fans predisposed to dislike him or, at the very least, be suspicious of him. So when he struggled on the field and the Cubs struggled with him, Bradley morphed into the official fall guy.

Bradley isn't the reason the Cubs are all but eliminated from playoff consideration. He's one of the reasons -- but so is the shoulder injury that sidelined Aramis Ramirez, the seven-win record of supposed ace Zambrano, the blowups by the back end of the bullpen, the clunker seasons of Geovany Soto and Alfonso Soriano, and an overall lineup that has exactly one player with at least 20 home runs.

But Bradley is the most convenient target. He has that three-year, $30 million deal. He has attitude. He says he's counting the innings until he can get the hell out of Wrigley.

Bradley chooses not to do what management and some of his teammates suggest he do: Ignore the taunts. But there is a difference between heckling and hating, a difference between booing and bigotry. Until you've stood in right field, in Bradley's cleats, and listened to the taunts he's been subjected to, how can you simply write it off as being thin-skinned?

Skin is the issue here, but it has nothing to do with the thickness of it. You might not like Bradley, or his big-money contract, or his disappointing offensive numbers. But just because you buy a ticket doesn't mean you can reduce someone to subhuman status. Or to put it another way: How would the meatheads like it if Bradley stopped by their offices and started ragging on them?

If this were Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, not Bradley, playing the race card, I guarantee you the credibility factor would increase tenfold. Lee is respected, Bradley isn't. Lee produces, Bradley hasn't.

But I don't doubt Bradley heard what he heard. Just as I don't doubt what Baker, Hawkins and Jones heard. Just as I don't doubt what other African-American big leaguers hear in stadiums around the country.

They check your bags, not your prejudice when you walk into Wrigley. Racism has at least one seat in the bleachers or the right-field stands. Sometimes that's all it takes.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Gene Wojciechowski nails it

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->One day after the Wrigley Field bleacher creatures were accused of being verbally abusive, even racist, they hurled unapologetic invective at the black right fielder before them, mocking the player's speed, paltry power statistics and his team's sorry record.

That player, however, was Elijah Dukes of the Washington Nationals.

Milton Bradley, the Cubs' outfielder who made the allegation about the home fans, received nothing but sarcastic tenderness.

"We love you, Milton," catcalled Andrew Mehrhoff, 38, of Hinsdale.

Two Tribune reporters in the stands for the entire game heard no vicious comments directed at Bradley, and nothing racial.

Bryon Moore, 34, of Des Moines said he'd never heard racial insults during his visits to Wrigley.

"He's just whining," said Moore, who is black.

Spectators interviewed by the Tribune were unanimous that Bradley's complaints were proof of a thin skin, not a bigoted crowd.

They said Dukes, who smirked at the fans' taunts and made an occasional comeback, handled the jibes with far more aplomb.

In the bottom of the ninth, Bradley had the chance to change a few minds. But with two outs, the Cubs down one and the tying run on second, he dribbled a weak grounder to second to end the game, capping an 0-for-5 day and unleashing thousands of boos and a few bleacher curses. Still, nothing seemed over the line.

"I don't think the booing is racially motivated," said Robert Marlow, 50, of Hazel Crest, who is black. "It's disappointment in his performance and what he's doing. ... We brought somebody in paying [him] $30 million, so we expected more."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Or maybe not.

[Butcher]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->But none of that changes the essential truth he spoke Wednesday, when reporters asked him to provide specific examples of racial taunts. His sarcastic reply: "America doesn't believe in racism."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
C'mon. Really? He had a chance to provide a specific example and this was his reply?