Quotes continued...
“There's always race in everything. You see, that's another thing, white people never want to see race with anything. There's race involved in baseball. That's why there is less than 9 percent African-American representation in the game.”
This factor, from Bradley's point of view, is non-negotiable.
I wonder, BTW, at exactly what point the 9% figure was accurate. 1962?
...............
“I want people to say Milton Bradley was a pretty good ballplayer and a pretty good person. Anybody who is going to stand between me getting there, then they need to be eliminated.”
Of course he doesn't mean, killed ... but the reference to code is obvious...
...............
“I was told in spring training I was the team leader by Paul DePodesta. By Jim Tracy. By Frank McCourt. Growing up in LA, I know how to deal with all types of people, and I do it on an everyday basis. But some people don't deal with all different types of people every day, and therefore don't know how to handle situations when they arise.”
:- )
.................
“This is a special moment for baseball, a special moment for African Americans. Just like it is every time April 15 comes up. I think last year was really special because I was wearing the uniform that Jackie wore.”
and
“I'm not going to have opinions. I'm not going to cause problems. I'm going to go with the flow.”
From his own point of view, Bradley makes huge efforts to get along.
.
Q. The M's chances to keep Bradley happy?
A. I'm optimistic.
My own $0.02 would be this:
Then you could co-exist with Bradley for a year or two.
And if so, you just landed an 8.0 RC/27 player for nothing. For less than nothing.
.
Q. What do you mean, you don't need to control him?
A. The upside is, Milton Bradley is decidedly not Manny Ramirez.
Milton Bradley wants to win, wants to play well, is a very intelligent baseball player. He can motivate himself. He loves winning, loves baseball, loves the long green and loves providing for his family.
Deep down in there somewhere, he wants to be part of a baseball family, IMHO. After he went after the radio broadcaster, he (reportedly) came down into the clubhouse weeping, and said,
"I love all you guys. I really do. I just don't know why I can't be left alone to provide for my family."
"Being left alone," of course, meaning not have anybody say anything negative about him, in his presence or out of it...
Bradley is IMHO a volcanic personality, a man who demands unequivocal and unrelenting appreciation -- but under those circumstances, can be a huge asset. Just leave him alone to do his thing, and he'll take the Beach of Troy with 50 men.
"We don't need to control Achilles; we need to unleash him!"
My two cents,
-jemanji
Bradley is not the type of player who you can square-peg-in-the-round-hole. You don't acquire him without having the six hours worth of conversation with every single person who could potentially be detrimental to his psyche, and say "Look, he's a special case. Treat him accordingly and we just made the entire franchise a ridiculous amount better. All it takes is one person somewhere in the line of 40-50 people to screw all of this up. Ready? Set? Hike!"
I think that back-channel, the admin will reason with the media folks to steer around Bradley. Everybody knows where that will lead.
My worries aren't with the people employed by the Mariners. The worries are with the people who have access, who are not employed by the Mariners, who see themselves as part of the community, with corresponding rights and privileges etc., that Milton Bradley is going to have zero interest in honoring.
Right now the admin is on a honeymoon, so there's some chance of the clubhouse periphery being constructive about the whole thing.
Shannon Drayers of the world can see the writing on the wall. It's the older curmudgeons who cater to the fans who really don't like the idea of Big Bad Men out there trying to dominate their opponents that I worry about.
I don't so much worry about the online media. I think most of them are going to forever be happy about MB, since he essentially replaces Carlos Silva, who they always hated.
there are any number of media guys who react poorly to condescension. Erik Bedard took about one week to alienate the press and then for two years we've been reading articles wondering when he leaves.
We'll see :- )
Jump out to a lead in the AL West, with Jack Z and Wak coming out in public support of MB at every single opportunity, vociferously, ought to dissuade that type of bickering, though.
I can actually see it happening, too.
Capt Jack said in the papers that the key for Bradley is to give him space, so couldn't agree more that they understand how to handle him...
And am optimistic that they'll be able to help the media buy in to the same imperative...
Looking at the context for a day or so, it really does look like this could be the right place for Bradley. With Junior, Hecht, and a chemistry-savvy front office.
Quite remarkable to me, that having watched THIS franchise through Hargrove, sundry, and Wakamatsu, the importance of sports psychology / chemistry is still opaque to many. The chemistry factor is as important with this club as it was in Fortson's big year with the Sonics.
It's going to be up to his team mates. The media isn't going to give him any room unless the locker room leaders send a clear message early on. Their job is to sell papers and page views every single day, not to coddle any particular player.
I look for Baker in particular to pester Bradley with leading questions and really stick it to him early on - it's exactly what he did with Ichiro as soon as he reported in ST '09. If Griffey is standing at the back of the pack of reporters and telling them to move on, it will send a clear message to the media and to Bradley that Jr has his back. Gott think that Jr knows it, too.
I wonder if Bradley has ever actually played with an African American that can serve as a role model before?
The Rangers didn't have an African American ballplayer...lots of latinos, but no one who could share his rise from the ghetto story. The As have been an overwhelmingly white team. The Indians had a nice mix but nobody he could really relate to. It is interesting to me though that the Mariners got CHONE FIGGINS...and then Milton Bradley. Figgins...last time I checked...came up from the inner city and has a lot in common with Bradley in terms of family history.
is the most important guy in the Texas clubhouse.
The Rangers' manager is African-American, a low-key and respectful man like Wakamatsu, liked Milton Bradley and was reportedly careful not to alienate Bradley with criticism.
Comfortable with the people around him, Bradley hit 320/430/560, and (understandably) left for the big payday.
This winter Washington was reportedly trying to get Bradley back. Imagine how Washington is chipping his teeth over Bradley going to be with Griff, Hecht, and Wok in Seattle...
But I do think Bradley needs an African American role model among his peers, rather than in his manager. He needs a hero to look up to...Griffey could be that guy.
Is from Georgia and went to a high school in Florida. I don't think that connects. Maybe to Mississippi Bill Hall, but not MB.
The closest the M's have are the Venezuelans, probably. And that's not very close.
It's not LA street gangs, per say, but Figgins grew up in a poor family and experienced (likely) just as much discrimination as Bradley believes he did. In case you haven't noticed, the Southern US is still rather a bastian of ignorance.
That is a woefully igorant statement.
Urban poor and rural poor are entirely different beasts with vastly contrasting cultural and environmental factors. For pete's sake, Chone brought his mom and dad along to Seattle to sign. Whereas MB's dad named him after himself without telling his wife.
The Streets of LA and, really, Florida are different beasts. Assuming that they have 'things to get along about' because they were poor and black is like saying Japanese and Koreans are the same.
Figgins gets along with his parents and Bradley does not. That's an importnat point, and I agree that says something about Figgins' personality (something positive, I might add)...but the streets of the southern US (that includes Florida) are just as full of racially motivated hatred as the streets of LA are. It's a harder existance in LA to be sure...but it's not like Figgins never faced ignorance and racism in the heart of the south.
I believe, at the very least, that Figgins being with the team (along with Griffey), can serve as proof to Bradley that the Mariner organization is about as varied and multicultural as any in the game and that they're all here with real equality (no Jeff Kents on this team) serving the same purpose.
thread back open in a coupla days. :daps: