Major League Baseball Sloppy Cases: Milton Bradley
I used to have a neighbor growing up who was a big Dodger fan. Talking baseball, Milton Bradley would come up constantly in conversation, and he had this lovely nickname for him, “Meltdown Bradley.”
If you don’t believe me, go onto the world’s most trusted online video source and type in “Milton Bradley ejections.” Compilation videos flood the search, and within minutes, the viewer can get an easy perception of Bradley’s problematic behavior. One consists of him taking baseballs out of a bag in frustration to an ump’s call and throwing them all around the field. Let’s dive into this sloppy case of a very angry man.
Aside from this, Bradley wasn’t a bad baseball player statistically. For instance, he holds a career .271 average with 125 career home runs, even leading the AL in both on-base plus slugging as well as on-base percentage in 2008. As a result, he was an all-star for Texas this season. The problem was, he played for eight teams in his 12-year career. with teams growing tired of him sprouting from ejections and tantrums on the field. The longest he appeared on a Major League roster was parts of three seasons for the Cleveland Indians between 2001-2003.
Once his playing days were done in 2011, Bradley was charged in 2013 with crimes occurring the previous two years. Accounts of spousal battery, assault with a deadly weapon, and vandalism was cited and landed him in a 32-month prison sentence. Sadly, his wife passed away from cardiac arrest. More recently in 2018, he was charged AGAIN with spousal battery with his new wife, with Milton already on probation for his previous crimes. This landed him with 36 months of community service and 52 weeks of domestic violence training.
In conclusion, Milton Bradley is perhaps the angriest ballplayer to ever take the field, displaying more harm than good. Let’s hope Bradley can find his path and come out of his sentences actually a better person.
