Milton Bradley, Six Year Old Child

Originally I planned on writing a post on one of my favorite Mariners throughout the years, Mike Cameron, today. Unfortunately, Milton Bradley ruined that, much like he does with many things.

I've often thought Milton has been nothing but a man with a large temper problem caught in some very unfortunate situations. He takes a lot of heat still for trying to fight an umpire in San Diego, though everyone seems to forget that it has been confirmed by many of the players nearby that the umpire had thrown some racist slurs at Milton beforehand. Honestly, I've always felt bad for the guy; it's tough enough to be the guy that goes off at the smallest thing, I can only imagine how bad it must be when you must spend every day in front of millions of people.

Even so, I can't in good conscience forgive him any longer. Sure, I'm a Mariners fan, so what he's doing now hits closer to home than a lot of his other crap. And sure, his lack of hustle these last few weeks is nothing different than what he's done anywhere else. However, never have I heard of an athlete in any sport simply walking out on his team, let alone in the middle of the game.

If you didn't hear what happened, or simply didn't care enough to read about it, Milton Bradley struck out looking in a recent game with the bases loaded. As such, Milton berated the umpire, going so far as to continue yelling at him from the dugout (your guess is as good as mine as to how he didn't get thrown out). Manager Don Wakamatsu did his best to console him, which of course led to Milton Bradley declaring he would no longer play for the Mariners, packing his locker, and leaving the game in the 6th inning.

This is ridiculous. I've seen plenty of kids in youth baseball leagues quit in the middle of a game because they were doing bad, but a 31 year old professional? There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of behavior. Hell, even the kids who do it usually get reprimanded and I've never seen one leave their team forever over it. Milton Bradley seems to think he is above everything around him and can do whatever he wants, and frankly I'm tired of him feeling so entitled. I say, let him leave.

Of course, if he does leave the team, that means we can void his contract, pay him nothing, and instead pay Jermaine Dye to hit better and be half the asshole. Problem solved.