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What the heck happened to Milton Bradley?

By Dex

I'll tell you. That was weird. If there was any way we could lose that last game in the worst way possible, I want to say... That was pretty much it. I'm waiting on MLB.tv to put the archive up. So strange to watch Bradley get tossed by the ump and then tossed again by his manager. Bud Black needs to lay off the corporal punishment. All that said. I'll still root for Milton Bradley while he's a Padre. I mean... Who would I rather have... Milton Bradley or Barry Bonds? Who would I rather have... Milton Bradley or Jayson Werth?

Personally, I think Bud Black should've just let Milton bump the ump. What's the worst that could happen? Suspension? Pshaw. What's the best that could've happened? A really memorable act of violence against an umpire. And as we all know, umpires are hellspawn and deserve to die.

"Oh look at me. I'm an ump. I'm allowed to act like a prick and nobody's allowed to touch me because I'm an ump. Nobody can touch the Queen of England or umps."

I mean, really.

And for those of you who want to bag on Bradley, then that's fine too, I suppose. Just realize that you're siding with umpires. And once you start siding with umpires, the terrorists have won.

Update [2007-9-23 21:18:58 by Dex]: OK. So now the question is, what exactly was Mike Winters and/or Bobby Meacham doing to upset Bradley so much? And did you know that Mike Winters is an Aztec? And furthermore, is umpiring the most stressful job in the universe? Because he's the oldest 33 year old I've ever seen. Maybe I actually look like that and nobody's ever told me. le sigh.

Update [2007-9-23 21:41:29 by Dex]: OK I just watched it again. I'll say this. Umpires should not be called on for their opinions. As far as I'm concerned, they should be like the grass or the infield dirt. In other words, they are only there to call balls and strikes and decide if somebody's safe or not. There's no reason for Winters to respond to anything Bradley says. I don't care what any player says to an umpire. It's absolutely ridiculous for umpires to ever let their own personal biases interfere with the potential outcome of the game (and disliking somebody because they're jawing is a bias).

In a perfect world, there would not be umpires and Bradley would be whining, like the rest of us, at bad fortune to nobody in particular. Umpires should be banned from baseball.

Update [2007-9-23 23:7:10 by jbox]:

Padres.com: Bradley injured after getting tossed

Apparently Winters told the plate umpire Runge that Bradley had flipped his bat at him in the 5th inning after being called out on strikes.

"I get a hit and I go to first base, and I asked him [Winters] 'Did you tell him I threw my bat at him?'," Bradley said. "He said, 'Yeah, you did.' I said, 'Are you kidding me? That's completely ridiculous. Why would you do that? Why were you even watching me? If I strike out, the inning's over, why are you even looking at me.'"

They argued. Then according to Meachem, Winters called Bradley a name:

Then the umpire went off on Milton and called him a name," Meacham said. "If he had said that to me, I would have charged him."

Then Winters denied what had happened:

"When he explained it to the other umpires when Buddy came out [it was a] straight lie," Meacham said. "I heard what he said and asked him why he was lying. He explained it to me again what he said and I said, 'That's a lie. You're wrong. You made a mistake. You lied.'"

Update [2007-9-24 12:57:55 by jbox]:

Sign on San Diego:

Bradley said Winters called him "a (expletive) piece of (expletive)."

Said Meacham: "In my 26 years of baseball, that was the most disconcerting conversation I have heard from an umpire to a player. The way Winters responded was bizarre. It was almost like he wanted to agitate the situation.

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