<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->"I'm pretty sure in a lifetime, everybody has cussed somebody out at some point," the Cubs' new right fielder said. "I just want to be treated fairly, like everybody else. Get the same strike zone as everybody else. Get asked the same questions as everybody else.
"People are going to ask me about my attitude, but if I didn't have an attitude, I probably wouldn't be playing baseball because I wouldn't have an edge. If I was going through the motions and didn't care and collected my check, then people would talk bad about me. ...
"I'm an emotional person. I care strongly about everything. Either I care or I don't. There's no in between."
He definitely cares about the strike zone. While with the Rangers last year, he was ejected from a game against Oakland after twice striking out looking. He called Bob Watson, Major League Baseball's discipline chief, and asked him to look at tape of the pitches.
Lots of good things came out of that conversation.
"After he reviewed the pitches, he told me that one pitch was 41/2 inches outside and the next strikeout was 51/2 inches outside, that the umpire had been reprimanded, that my fine was rescinded and that he was sorry I had to deal with it but that there's a certain way to go about it," Bradley said.
"So now I have Bob Watson on my speed dial, and if I feel like I'm being treated unfairly, that's what I'm going to do. There's a way to go about everything. I'm not going to be disrespected. I'm not going to be treated unfairly.
"I go out there and play a game just like everybody else. If you have a grudge against me or think I just don't like umpires … umpires are fine. You have to do something wrong for me not to like you. But the umpire better call his pitches right or Bob Watson will be getting a phone call."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->If you're of the opinion the Cubs need more fire — and if you aren't, why not after seeing last year's playoffs? — then it doesn't seem fair to turn around and be offended by Bradley's combustibility.
"I play this game because it's my passion and because it's what I love doing," he said. "It's hard. It's not easy. I think I enjoy the challenge more than I enjoy baseball. It's not easy to go out every day and hit a baseball.
"I think it's the ultimate team sport. It takes so many different aspects to be successful. That intrigues me and excites me to no end. That's what I enjoy about the sport."
There's going to come a point where Bradley will get sick of being asked about his infamous temper. That point hasn't arrived yet.
"The media is crazy," he said. "They try to call me crazy, but I think the media is crazy. The worst thing I've done in my baseball career is throw a bunch of balls on the field and slam a plastic bottle down.
"If you do that in any other realm, it's not a big deal. If you dump out a bucket of paper clips or slam down a Gatorade bottle in the office, nobody's going to care. I've done nothing bad, really.
"If you want to blow it up, say this guy does this, that, whatever — I'm not breaking any laws. I've never had a problem in my life until I started playing baseball."
Baseball gets him going, brings out the best in him and the rest in him. Last season he got upset at an opposing team's broadcaster and had to be restrained from going after him. That doesn't happen in an office too often, though perhaps you always have wanted to confront Chuck from human resources.
The goal for the Cubs is to keep Bradley healthy, so they're proceeding slowly with him now. He had a tight thigh muscle in his first spring training at-bat and left the game. He hasn't played more than 141 games in a season. His second-highest total came last year, when he played in 126. The Cubs want him in the lineup for his ability as a switch-hitter, but they also want his effort and attitude to rub off on teammates.
That attitude isn't going to change.
Will he get a fair strike zone every time?
"I doubt it," he said. "But I'm still going to hit .320. It don't matter."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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Link(Rick Morrissey)
