Article

 

Bradley feuds with teammate

Meets with Tracy after win over Marlins

 

By Tony Jackson, Staff Writer

 

Although neither Tracy nor Bradley gave specific details about the reason for the meeting, Bradley offered several cryptic comments after he left Tracy's office, showered and dressed. What he said made it clear there had been an incident between him and a teammate, and although he never identified the player, Bradley left little doubt he was referring to Jeff Kent.

 

Bradley, whose past problems with anger management have been well chronicled, said in a passionate tone that he continues to work hard to put that issue behind him.

 

"I have a life besides baseball," Bradley said. "This isn't my life. I play because I can. A lot of people say Milton Bradley is a good person. I'm trying to be a good person. But anybody who stands between me getting there, they need to be eliminated. Something needs to be done. I'm not going to revert to the person I was last year and in the past.

 

"I'm starting to get respect because I earned it."

 

And then, Bradley said something that clearly pointed at Kent, who was seen leaving the clubhouse several minutes earlier and therefore was unavailable for comment.

 

"For some people, all their life is baseball," Bradley said. "All they care about is how many hits they get, how many runs they drive in and how many plays they make. They're just looking for a plaque."

 

That was an obvious reference to a Hall of Fame plaque, and Kent is the only current Dodgers player who has received mention as a Hall candidate. Kent doubled in Hee-Seop Choi with the tying run in the seventh inning, but Bradley, who was running off first, didn't score on the play. He came home with what turned out to be the winning run on a bases-loaded walk by Jayson Werth, but it isn't clear if Bradley's failure to score on Kent's hit is what led to the incident.

 

Bradley also made reference to the other player having had "problems in the past with teammates." Kent's stormy relationship with Barry Bonds during their six seasons together in San Francisco is well-documented and included a dugout shoving match caught by television cameras. Bradley also made a thinly veiled reference to Kent's long-held reputation as a clubhouse loner who doesn't interact much with teammates.

 

"(Teammates) gravitate towards me," Bradley said. "I'm not introverted."

 

Bradley also made reference to the fact he is the Dodgers' only African-American player. But one source said that the incident had nothing to do with race and declined to comment further.

 

Tracy declined to speak about what he discussed with Bradley except to make it clear it wasn't a disciplinary matter.

 

"It's internal," he said. "I had a chat with him, period. It has nothing to do with him or whether he did anything right or wrong. I talk to my players. Virtually every time I get asked questions about it, I say it's internal. I don't talk about things like that."

 

At one point during Bradley's comments, a tear streaked from the corner of his right eye to his upper lip and fell to his shirt.

 

"That's my pops in there," he said, pointing toward Tracy's office. "My dad wasn't around for me growing up. Jim Tracy is a good man. I'm trying to be a good man, too."

 

Tracy has taken a keen interest and involvement in Bradley's efforts to improve his reputation after a series of on-field incidents last season that led to Bradley seeking anger-management counseling. Beyond the occasional show of frustration, Bradley hasn't been involved in any notable on-field incidents this year and has not been ejected from a game.

 

As for the game, the Dodgers (56-66) got four shutout innings from their bullpen after Brad Penny allowed six runs over the first five. Kent's RBI double keyed a three-run seventh that proved decisive. Choi went 3 for 3 with a double, triple and sacrifice fly.

 

--

Tony Jackson,(818) 713-3675

 

tony.jackson@dailynews.com

haha eliminated

 

Can always count on Milton Bradley for a comical story

"For some people, all their life is baseball," Bradley said. "All they care about is how many hits they get, how many runs they drive in and how many plays they make. They're just looking for a plaque."

Um, Milton...that is the point of playing the game...

"For some people, all their life is baseball," Bradley said. "All they care about is how many hits they get, how many runs they drive in and how many plays they make. They're just looking for a plaque."

Um, Milton...that is the point of playing the game...

911055[/snapback]

I think what he meant was to talk about how people care too much and only about their own personal statistics. For example, a statistic-minded player who is upset that, even though you scored what turned out to be the game-winning run, you didn't score it on their hit, costing them an RBI.

I find it a bit ironic that Milton Bradley is calling out others for not being a team player. Talk about calling the kettle black...

I find it a bit ironic that Milton Bradley is calling out others for not being a team player. Talk about calling the kettle black...

911300[/snapback]

Well, he's turned over a new leaf.

Link

LOS ANGELES -- Milton Bradley accused Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Jeff Kent of a lack of leadership and an inability to deal with black players.

 

Bradley's remarks before Tuesday's game against Colorado came only a couple of minutes after he said that the feud between the two that became public last weekend in Florida was a "dead issue."

 

"The problem is, he doesn't know how to deal with African-American people," Bradley said. "I think that's what's causing everything. It's a pattern of things that have been said -- things said off the cuff that I don't interpret as funny. It may be funny to him, but it's not funny to Milton Bradley. But I don't take offense to that because we all joke about race in here. Race is an issue with everything we do in here.

 

"Me being an African-American is the most important thing to me -- more important than baseball," said the 27-year-old center fielder, whose voice never went beyond his normal speaking level. "White people never want to see race -- with anything. But there's race involved in baseball. That's why there's less than 9 percent African-American representation in the game. I'm one of the few African-Americans that starts here."

 

Bradley did not like what Kent said to him after Bradley failed to score from first base on a double in Saturday's victory over the Marlins. Bradley initiated a 25-minute closed-door meeting with manager Jim Tracy after that game.

 

"I was told in spring training I was the team leader by Paul DePodesta. By Jim Tracy. By Frank McCourt," Bradley said of the Dodgers' general manager, manager and owner. "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."

 

Bradley accused the media of coming to his locker first Tuesday because he is black. Kent had not yet arrived at his locker.

 

"At no time am I going to let somebody question my hustle, my injury or question my motivation for playing," Bradley said. "I watch him on the field, and I follow in his footsteps and the things he does on the field. As far as off the field, he has no clue about leadership.

 

"If you're going to be the leader of the team, then the need to mingle with the team and associate with the team. I mean, you can't have your locker in the corner, put your headphones in and sit in the corner reading a motocross magazine. He's in his own world. Everybody else is in this world."

 

Kent, a former NL MVP who feuded with Barry Bonds in San Francisco, defended himself following Bradley's accusations.

 

"He can go ahead and say those types of things, and it comes from an incident that he still doesn't get. And that's a shame," Kent said. "If you think that I've got a problem with African-Americans, then go talk to Dusty Baker. Go talk to Dave Winfield, who took me under his wing. Go talk to Joe Carter -- all the guys that I idolized in this game and all the veteran players who taught me how to play this game.

 

"That's a shame, and I take offense to that. That's just absolutely pathetic if it comes from his mouth."

 

 

:lol

haha...good man that milton bradley

I'm shocked that it's taken this long for these two to start feuding...who didn't see this coming?

A guy with a an awful temper and the maturity of a 12 year old vs. a selfish racist redneck who never gets along with teammates