Crack of the Bat

Milton Bradley and another emotional dust-up. Geez, whoda thunkit? At the risk of Milton Bradley catching a flight to Dallas this morning to come kick my ass, I’m going to re-affirm what we all already know: He’s a nut. (Quick timeout while I go double-bolt the door.) If you’re surprised...

By Richie Whitt

June 12, 2008

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Milton Bradley and another emotional dust-up. Geez, whoda thunkit?

At the risk of Milton Bradley catching a flight to Dallas this morning to come kick my ass, I’m going to re-affirm what we all already know: He’s a nut. (Quick timeout while I go double-bolt the door.)

If you’re surprised by the Rangers’ outfielder last night climbing four flights of stairs to confront (dismember?) a Royals’ TV analyst, you haven’t been paying attention. Bradley has long been an irrational hot-head. A blow-up like this was just a matter of time.

Remember, you were warned.

Bradley has been great on the field. Amazing, even. His stats say he’s an All-Star. But the Rangers knew what they were getting.

From my spring training cover story back in March:

“He’s a fired-up kinda guy,” says manager Ron Washington. “I’m not about to take that away from him. If I see something cropping up, I’ll hurry fast as I can and hope I get it in time.”

Last night Washington didn’t get there. But, fortunately, general manager Jon Daniels did.

Bradley’s stunt overshadowed another comeback victory from down 5-1 in Kansas City. It’ll be more the topic of conversation this morning than top prospect Eric Hurley’s debut at 1 p.m.

And, fittingly, it confirmed the analyst's original point: Josh Hamilton has done a better job of ridding himself of crack than Bradley has shedding his anger. -- Richie Whitt

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