What do we make over the latest stories about Milton Bradley? His manager pulled him after two strikeouts on Tuesday, the last one with the bases loaded and indications were that Bradley did not take the benching very well. His manager stated that Bradley looked like he wasn't handling the strikeouts well and felt it was in Bradley's best interest to get out of there. The next day (Wednesday), Bradley spoke with his manager and general manager and told them he needed help with personal problems that were hindering his on-field activities. Of course, the Mariners said they would try to help him.
The cynic inside the Fan wants to think that Bradley probably knew he was out of "get of jail free" cards in his Monopoly baseball career and asked for help to try to keep his baseball job. But on the surface of things, Bradley has never been that astute to come up with such a gimmick. This is a guy who will drive off a bridge despite the sign pointing to danger ahead.
Perhaps this is the most positive story about Bradley in an awful long time. It takes a lot of guts to ask for help. And perhaps it is a real positive that Bradley has finally admitted he needs it. Of course, with privacy issues in play, the help needed wasn't provided in the news stories and it shouldn't be. But whether the problem is chemical (which would make sense due to Bradley's erratic behavior), or emotional, this is a guy whose baseball career shouts out to a falling sky of breakdown.
And so, this Fan is going to push away the cynical and hope for the best for Bradley, if not for his baseball career--which seems toast these days--but for his life. The man is one of those me-against-the-world types and man, that takes a lot of energy to maintain. It's time for Milton Bradley to get on a more even keel in life and find some peace. Let's hope it's still a possibility for him.
Showing posts with label Milton Bradley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milton Bradley. Show all posts
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sure Wish Bradley Would Hush
This Fan has long tried to give Milton Bradley a pass on his reputation. For one, the Fan is a white guy and understands that no matter how enlightened, this type of reputation is enhanced by race. Guys like Bradley and Gary Sheffield and before them, Eddie Murray and Albert Belle, seem to get little slack for their respected reputations in large part because of their race. The Fan suspects that Jeff Kent was as much a jerk as Barry Bonds, but Kent was the "gamer" and the "throwback" while Bonds was...well, Bonds. And so the Fan has tried to give Bradley a pass. But each time the Fan tries to do that, Bradley speaks up again and what he says is such garbage that it makes the innards groan.
The Fan is going to play pop psychologist for a moment and consider that Bradley might have a problem. He is at best, insecure and at worst, schizophrenic. After all, consider that he has given an entire city as the reason for his nightmare of a season last year. It gets pretty paranoid when an entire city becomes this evil lurking thing that brought you to your knees as a player.
The nagging thought is that Bradley still might have a point. Things weren't going well in 2009 for Bradley and the Cubs. Both had high expectations as a player and a team respectively. Every projection picked the Cubs to win their division in 2009. They never even got close. During the midst of that spiraling down slide, Lou Piniella, the white "old guard" manager publicly called out Bradley and belittled him in public. Bradley didn't stand a chance after that with the fans and the city.
But the problem that goes along with insecurity is that sometimes you cover it up with bravado. Bradley couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride and answer Piniella with humility and try to change the city's perception of him. He never could understand that once the press turns on you, only humility and openness can turn it around. Nixon never learned that and neither has Bradley. And so he keeps fanning the flames despite how hard some of us want to see him turn his career back around and become the player he was in Texas.
If he would just hush up and play ball and answer his critics with performance, he would be much better served. But alas, he can't seem to do that. So this Fan's message to Bradley? The Fan's been trying, man. But you got to help him here. Just hush up for a while, okay?
The Fan is going to play pop psychologist for a moment and consider that Bradley might have a problem. He is at best, insecure and at worst, schizophrenic. After all, consider that he has given an entire city as the reason for his nightmare of a season last year. It gets pretty paranoid when an entire city becomes this evil lurking thing that brought you to your knees as a player.
The nagging thought is that Bradley still might have a point. Things weren't going well in 2009 for Bradley and the Cubs. Both had high expectations as a player and a team respectively. Every projection picked the Cubs to win their division in 2009. They never even got close. During the midst of that spiraling down slide, Lou Piniella, the white "old guard" manager publicly called out Bradley and belittled him in public. Bradley didn't stand a chance after that with the fans and the city.
But the problem that goes along with insecurity is that sometimes you cover it up with bravado. Bradley couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride and answer Piniella with humility and try to change the city's perception of him. He never could understand that once the press turns on you, only humility and openness can turn it around. Nixon never learned that and neither has Bradley. And so he keeps fanning the flames despite how hard some of us want to see him turn his career back around and become the player he was in Texas.
If he would just hush up and play ball and answer his critics with performance, he would be much better served. But alas, he can't seem to do that. So this Fan's message to Bradley? The Fan's been trying, man. But you got to help him here. Just hush up for a while, okay?
Friday, January 08, 2010
Winning or Losing Cultures?
One of the thoughts that has percolated in the brain all winter long was Milton Bradley's comment about the Cubs' culture. Obviously, Bradley didn't make himself any friends with the comment, especially on his own team. The timing of the thing was obviously stupid as Bradley was in the midst of a season with those same Cubs. It is also obvious that Bradley was treated harshly by the media and by the fans during his sure tenure with the organization. So why then has his comments stuck so long in the Fan's subconsciousness? Could Bradley have been at least partically correct? Do some clubs have "winning cultures" and "losing cultures"?
The Fan supposes that the answer to the question relies on how broadly you define "culture." If you are talking about culture as a group of players that are tougher fighters than the next team, you know...guttier, grittier, determined, battle tested and all of those time worn expressions, then you are probably buying into someone's propaganda. For every gritty Paul O'Neal reference to the late 90's Yankees, the Fan could give you a statistic on why the Yankees won. So that definition of culture doesn't thrill this writer.
If you broaden the definition to include the quality of leadership in the dugout and front office, the leadership of ownership, serious committment to player development and evaluation and a long term expectation of excellence, than you might be on to something.
Thanks to wonderful data collectors like baseball-reference.com, we have access to information at our fingertips. Sometimes you have to do a bit of spreadsheet work to use it, but no problem there. The Fan has included some data that seems to show teams that have good cultures, teams that have bad ones and those that settle on mediocrity (defined as .500).
Some teams have cultures that have remained consistent over long periods of time. The Rockies, as the data shows, have always been around the .474 mark for its entire history. Sure they have an up and down here and there, but overall, their long term results remain the same. Other teams seem to change their culture for the better. The White Sox, Twins, Angels, Athletics, Phillies and Athletics are all examples of teams that have fared better in the last ten and twenty year timesets than historically.
Other teams' cultures seem to take dramatic downshifts. The Pirates are one of the successful franchises historically. Their historic winning percentage is over .500. Many of us can remember when the Pirates were a force to be reckoned with. But the last twenty years have been painful, particularly the last ten years. The Royals have taken a bad culture to the maximum. Their last twenty years have been awful. But the Orioles and Nationals aren't too far behind those two.
Then you have a culture of what the Fan calls, "Small Man Syndrome." These teams like the Indians, Blue Jays, Tigers and others seem to behave like they can succeed once in a while, but it all gets torn down until they rise again once or twice a decade. You can see this in the fluxuation of their data. Up and down, up and down.
Then you have long-term elite teams. These teams have historic success and success over the last twenty years and the last decade. These teams may fall off now and then, but the fall is never that far and the successes come in more clusters and more often. The Cardinals, Yankees, Dodgers, Giants and for the last twenty years, the Red Sox. Sure money may be a part of that "culture," but it has to go beyond that. The Orioles have spent a lot of money as have the Mets without significant benefit to the culture.
The Fan isn't a math wiz. So others may be able to see patterns in the data that are missing from this text. But it's all interesting. Click on the enclosed charts to see them better.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Milton Bradley - What Gives?
Well, it finally happened. The Cubs got tired of Milton Bradley and sent him home for the rest of the season. The suspension is probably without pay? The union will probably have to get involved with that. Apparently, Bradley said some negative things to the press about his time in Chicago. The Cubs called their decision: "Actions that were a detriment to the team." The whole thing just seems to be the final straw to what has been a long, unhealthy season for the Cubs and for Bradley. Certainly that has to be the case since a man has a right to say what's on his mind in this country, doesn't he?
Reed Johnson, Bradley's teammate, was quoted as saying that he couldn't understand how anyone could be unhappy playing in Chicago for great fans and a great organization. It's a good question. The Fan can add: And for good money. It seems that whatever chip Bradley has on his shoulder could be softened by the immense amount of money he makes performing his task. But that's now how it goes for Bradley. He's a, "me against the world," kind of guy and apparently, he hasn't grown out of it. He seems like the Carl Everett of today.
As the Fan has stated in this space before, when it seems that it is me against the world, some times the world may be right. Maybe Bradley got teased a lot as a kid with a board game company for a name. Who knows. But man, Milton, you are more fortunate than 99.9 percent of the people in the country to make the money you do playing this game that we all love. Shouldn't you get over it by now?
There are always two sides to a divorce and there has to be another side here to be fair to Bradley. After the Cubs made their decision, manager, Lou Pineilla, was quoted as stating that he supports the decision. The manager was also quoted as stating that he doesn't know what more he could have done to help Bradley." But come on. Pineilla probably chuckled after that interview and pumped his fist in the air in victory. Pineilla isn't exactly a teddy bear and that's probably part of the problem. The manager is prickly at the best of times and that intensity has been his salvation and his undoing during his long career as a player and a manager.
Of course, if Bradley had played better this year, a lot of his "sins" would have been more tolerated. But the Cubs have an out with this decision. The bad performance can be chocked up to Bradley's bad behavior instead of the real problem, which was that he was a bad fit for the Cubs in the first place and Hendry and his team made a terrible personnel decision. Hendry can be off the hook now since it's all Bradley's fault. Except that it isn't.
Ultimately, you do have to lay this at Milton Bradley's feet. He had a great opportunity to cash in on his successful run in Texas. He could have been a better teammate. He could have been more supportive of his team and more gracious in his struggles. He seems to be the kind of person that blames others for his problems and bites at every supposed slight. Sooner or later, you have to grow up and understand that fighting the world doesn't end up as a progressive strategy. Sooner or later, you have to enjoy simple things and find contentment where you can find it.
The Fan hopes that Milton Bradley can work it out as it's not too late. He doesn't want to end up like Carl Everett and spend the latter part of his career playing for Newark in the independent leagues. Who knows, maybe the Dodgers will take him. They already have Manny, Jeff Weaver and Vicente Padilla.
Reed Johnson, Bradley's teammate, was quoted as saying that he couldn't understand how anyone could be unhappy playing in Chicago for great fans and a great organization. It's a good question. The Fan can add: And for good money. It seems that whatever chip Bradley has on his shoulder could be softened by the immense amount of money he makes performing his task. But that's now how it goes for Bradley. He's a, "me against the world," kind of guy and apparently, he hasn't grown out of it. He seems like the Carl Everett of today.
As the Fan has stated in this space before, when it seems that it is me against the world, some times the world may be right. Maybe Bradley got teased a lot as a kid with a board game company for a name. Who knows. But man, Milton, you are more fortunate than 99.9 percent of the people in the country to make the money you do playing this game that we all love. Shouldn't you get over it by now?
There are always two sides to a divorce and there has to be another side here to be fair to Bradley. After the Cubs made their decision, manager, Lou Pineilla, was quoted as stating that he supports the decision. The manager was also quoted as stating that he doesn't know what more he could have done to help Bradley." But come on. Pineilla probably chuckled after that interview and pumped his fist in the air in victory. Pineilla isn't exactly a teddy bear and that's probably part of the problem. The manager is prickly at the best of times and that intensity has been his salvation and his undoing during his long career as a player and a manager.
Of course, if Bradley had played better this year, a lot of his "sins" would have been more tolerated. But the Cubs have an out with this decision. The bad performance can be chocked up to Bradley's bad behavior instead of the real problem, which was that he was a bad fit for the Cubs in the first place and Hendry and his team made a terrible personnel decision. Hendry can be off the hook now since it's all Bradley's fault. Except that it isn't.
Ultimately, you do have to lay this at Milton Bradley's feet. He had a great opportunity to cash in on his successful run in Texas. He could have been a better teammate. He could have been more supportive of his team and more gracious in his struggles. He seems to be the kind of person that blames others for his problems and bites at every supposed slight. Sooner or later, you have to grow up and understand that fighting the world doesn't end up as a progressive strategy. Sooner or later, you have to enjoy simple things and find contentment where you can find it.
The Fan hopes that Milton Bradley can work it out as it's not too late. He doesn't want to end up like Carl Everett and spend the latter part of his career playing for Newark in the independent leagues. Who knows, maybe the Dodgers will take him. They already have Manny, Jeff Weaver and Vicente Padilla.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Just One of Those Days
Ever have one of those days where the entire day seemed uphill? Where everything you picked up or tried to pick up ended on the floor and every job you attempted had to be done twice or three times to get correct? Yeah. It's been one of those days. Not sure what this post will do to correct things. Surely moods aren't the best moods to write posts from. Heck, that was a lousy sentence with poor construction. See?
As long as things seem more of the dark cloud variety today rather than the silver lining, this post might as well focus on some negative things. Some of them this space predicted long ago and some were just so surprising that it would have been impossible to predict. Either way, there is no joy in reporting on them. They just are what they are.
Let's start with the Cubs. Harden pitched another game on Wednesday and bears no resemblance to the pitcher he has always been before. He lasted all of three innings, walked three and gave up five hits. Granted, the Cubs played shoddy defense behind him and maybe that is the most telling thing about the Harden this year and last. But that can't completely explain how last year he was a combined 10-2 in 25 starts with a WHIP around 1 and 96 hits in 148 innings. This year, he has the same 25 starts and his WHIP is around 1.3 and he's given up 117 hits in 138 innings. That's still pretty impressive except that he only gave up eleven homers last year and has given up 23 this year. Plus, he's only averaged about five and a half innings a start.
For a while, it seemed that by the time Milton Bradley finished the season, his stats would be fairly respectable. But he has gone into another tailspin and is now likely to finish the season below .400 in slugging percentage and below .800 in OPS. Hardly what the Cubs were hoping for. He did manage to play his 123rd game Wednesday night, so that, at least, exceeded expectations.
What about Geovany Soto? He was one of the best catchers in the game last year. This year, he's just a shell of that and his stats in almost every category (except errors) are down this year.
When it is all said and done, it just seems like Lou Piniella is not the right guy for that team. Sure, he has a right to be upset and disgusted with the likes of Bradley and Zambrano. But that's the nature of today's players. Pineilla is a throw back to another era, and people aren't the same as they were then.
There are three teams that fielded starting line ups Wednesday night that did not include a .300 hitter. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Is there something wrong with the water in that middle section of the country?
The Fan was feeling a little sorry for Mike Hampton today after it was learned that he had surgery to repair a completely torn rotator cuff and will miss all of next year. After all, the guy has tried really hard to compete and just can't stay healthy enough to do so. Then the Fan remembered all the money Hampton has made in the game of baseball and the sympathy went out the window. Hey, that's just the way the mood is today.
Speaking of health, Josh Hamilton will probably miss the rest of the year now. If you could have put Hamilton's numbers of a year ago on this year's Rangers team, how many more wins would the Rangers have? Would they still be in the race? As it is, the Rangers have died and Hamilton's season was stillborn from the start. It's hard to root against Hamilton who overcame so much to have a career again in baseball. His fragile health and his embarrassing bar fiasco have put an end to what was a pretty baseball story. Maybe next year.
Jimmy Rollins had an OBP of .287 the first half and .292 the second half. His second half has been more productive as his slugging percentage went from .355 the first half to .490 the second half. But even so, he has only walked ten times in the second half. Ten times. Can the Phillies really get away with a lead off batter in the playoffs who gets on base that seldom?
Earlier in the season, the Fan said that Jason Varitek was done. Comments were to the contrary as he started the year hitting some homers and stuff. But come on. His average is down to .213 and has particularly tanked since Victor Martinez came over from the Indians. He has had a brutal year with base runners stealing all over the place. Varitek's OPS and OPS+ are up slightly from a year ago, but slightly better than awful is still pretty bad.
And yeah, David Ortiz has hit 24 homers and his OPS the second half is .841 but he is still only batting .251 the second half. He is going to finish the season 30 points below last year in average, 40 points below last year's OBP, 50 points below last year's slugging percentage, 100 points behind last year's OPS and at least 25 points below last year's OPS+. And last year was a down year. Just to put things in perspective, Nick Swisher has a better OPS this season than Ortiz.
Incentive clauses are in the news these days. Magglio Ordonez reached enough at bats to automatically pick up his $18 million in salary next year. That's a lot of tamales for what is now a singles hitter. Kevin Millwood's next start will guarantee him $12 million next year. There is a lot of call for the Rangers to shut him down for the rest of the year. They can't. If they did, they would lose to the union and it will cost them that much anyway. And yeah, $12 million is a lot of money for a league average pitcher this year (his best in quite a while too).
As long as things seem more of the dark cloud variety today rather than the silver lining, this post might as well focus on some negative things. Some of them this space predicted long ago and some were just so surprising that it would have been impossible to predict. Either way, there is no joy in reporting on them. They just are what they are.
Let's start with the Cubs. Harden pitched another game on Wednesday and bears no resemblance to the pitcher he has always been before. He lasted all of three innings, walked three and gave up five hits. Granted, the Cubs played shoddy defense behind him and maybe that is the most telling thing about the Harden this year and last. But that can't completely explain how last year he was a combined 10-2 in 25 starts with a WHIP around 1 and 96 hits in 148 innings. This year, he has the same 25 starts and his WHIP is around 1.3 and he's given up 117 hits in 138 innings. That's still pretty impressive except that he only gave up eleven homers last year and has given up 23 this year. Plus, he's only averaged about five and a half innings a start.
For a while, it seemed that by the time Milton Bradley finished the season, his stats would be fairly respectable. But he has gone into another tailspin and is now likely to finish the season below .400 in slugging percentage and below .800 in OPS. Hardly what the Cubs were hoping for. He did manage to play his 123rd game Wednesday night, so that, at least, exceeded expectations.
What about Geovany Soto? He was one of the best catchers in the game last year. This year, he's just a shell of that and his stats in almost every category (except errors) are down this year.
When it is all said and done, it just seems like Lou Piniella is not the right guy for that team. Sure, he has a right to be upset and disgusted with the likes of Bradley and Zambrano. But that's the nature of today's players. Pineilla is a throw back to another era, and people aren't the same as they were then.
There are three teams that fielded starting line ups Wednesday night that did not include a .300 hitter. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Is there something wrong with the water in that middle section of the country?
The Fan was feeling a little sorry for Mike Hampton today after it was learned that he had surgery to repair a completely torn rotator cuff and will miss all of next year. After all, the guy has tried really hard to compete and just can't stay healthy enough to do so. Then the Fan remembered all the money Hampton has made in the game of baseball and the sympathy went out the window. Hey, that's just the way the mood is today.
Speaking of health, Josh Hamilton will probably miss the rest of the year now. If you could have put Hamilton's numbers of a year ago on this year's Rangers team, how many more wins would the Rangers have? Would they still be in the race? As it is, the Rangers have died and Hamilton's season was stillborn from the start. It's hard to root against Hamilton who overcame so much to have a career again in baseball. His fragile health and his embarrassing bar fiasco have put an end to what was a pretty baseball story. Maybe next year.
Jimmy Rollins had an OBP of .287 the first half and .292 the second half. His second half has been more productive as his slugging percentage went from .355 the first half to .490 the second half. But even so, he has only walked ten times in the second half. Ten times. Can the Phillies really get away with a lead off batter in the playoffs who gets on base that seldom?
Earlier in the season, the Fan said that Jason Varitek was done. Comments were to the contrary as he started the year hitting some homers and stuff. But come on. His average is down to .213 and has particularly tanked since Victor Martinez came over from the Indians. He has had a brutal year with base runners stealing all over the place. Varitek's OPS and OPS+ are up slightly from a year ago, but slightly better than awful is still pretty bad.
And yeah, David Ortiz has hit 24 homers and his OPS the second half is .841 but he is still only batting .251 the second half. He is going to finish the season 30 points below last year in average, 40 points below last year's OBP, 50 points below last year's slugging percentage, 100 points behind last year's OPS and at least 25 points below last year's OPS+. And last year was a down year. Just to put things in perspective, Nick Swisher has a better OPS this season than Ortiz.
Incentive clauses are in the news these days. Magglio Ordonez reached enough at bats to automatically pick up his $18 million in salary next year. That's a lot of tamales for what is now a singles hitter. Kevin Millwood's next start will guarantee him $12 million next year. There is a lot of call for the Rangers to shut him down for the rest of the year. They can't. If they did, they would lose to the union and it will cost them that much anyway. And yeah, $12 million is a lot of money for a league average pitcher this year (his best in quite a while too).
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Cubs Sure Are a Fun Bunch
It never ceases to amaze this observer that a bunch of guys making millions playing a children's game they always dreamed of playing can be so stinking grumpy and unhappy. Take the Cubs. Please. Sorry. Couldn't resist. The Cubs have lots of talent. Everyone predicted them to take the NL Central. But all year long, there has been one controversy after another.
Much of the controversy seems to swirl around Milton Bradley and Carlos Zambrano. Bradley has crabbed about the umpires and the fans and it hasn't helped that he had a terrible start and can't seem to get untracked. Zambrano had his famous meltdown. Soto tested positive for pot while playing in the World Baseball Classic. Oops. Got to give him a sly smile on that one. After all, nobody has ever smoked weed in the Caribbean before, right?
Tonight seems to be the apex of the grumpiness. It seems that Milton Bradley had a couple of bad at bats and decided to throw things and beat up on the water cooler. Lou Piniella had seen that act one too many times and told him to take off his uniform and go home. Lou said in the press conference that he'd seen it one too many times and was sick of it. Apparently Piniella never got mad after an at bat before. Cha. Right.
It's doubtful that this is too much of a big deal. Bradley will probably come back apologetic. Piniella doesn't have a memory for such things and is not a grudge holder. But the bottom line here is: Come on, Folks. This is the major leagues. Have a little fun, will ya? Piniella's been around a long time. He's had feisty players before. This will settle down and if the Cubs can settle down and have some fun, they still have a great shot at winning the division.
Much of the controversy seems to swirl around Milton Bradley and Carlos Zambrano. Bradley has crabbed about the umpires and the fans and it hasn't helped that he had a terrible start and can't seem to get untracked. Zambrano had his famous meltdown. Soto tested positive for pot while playing in the World Baseball Classic. Oops. Got to give him a sly smile on that one. After all, nobody has ever smoked weed in the Caribbean before, right?
Tonight seems to be the apex of the grumpiness. It seems that Milton Bradley had a couple of bad at bats and decided to throw things and beat up on the water cooler. Lou Piniella had seen that act one too many times and told him to take off his uniform and go home. Lou said in the press conference that he'd seen it one too many times and was sick of it. Apparently Piniella never got mad after an at bat before. Cha. Right.
It's doubtful that this is too much of a big deal. Bradley will probably come back apologetic. Piniella doesn't have a memory for such things and is not a grudge holder. But the bottom line here is: Come on, Folks. This is the major leagues. Have a little fun, will ya? Piniella's been around a long time. He's had feisty players before. This will settle down and if the Cubs can settle down and have some fun, they still have a great shot at winning the division.
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