Mr. Bradley, What Did He Say?

Milton Bradley had been rescued by the San Diego Padres and had the opportunity to thank them by helping them reach the playoffs. That dream took a weird turn yesterday when he tore his ACL in his right knee after a freak accident in the eighth inning of yesterday's game.

The Padres will have to somehow muster up some offense without Bradley in their lineup; they are also without Mike Cameron as well.

There are reports that the umpire Bradley confronted, Mike Winter, used profanity that triggered his tirade. This is the worst possible scenario that could have happened to Bradley, who has a history of losing his cool at the wrong times.

I have read various articles in which his Padres teammates praise him for his attitude and demeanor in the clubhouse. I want to believe them and I think I truly do. But why did it have to happen at such an inopportune time? No matter what, Bradley is going to look like the bad guy because it happened with a week to play and his team fighting for a playoff spot.

Despite the Padres' poor offense I thought they would wrap up the wild card. I was talking with a friend of mine who is a Padres fan about their chances on Saturday. One of his points involved Bradley being back in the lineup and would provide the offense they needed to get them over the hump.

A day later my friend is no doubt scared about their chances. The Padres lost today and are now in a tie with the Phillies for the NL wild card (the Phillie Phanatic is practicing his dance moves as I am writing this).

Bradley noted that Winters should get reprimanded like Joey Crawford did following a game in which he targeted Tim Duncan. If Winters did in fact use profanity towards Bradley he should definitely get suspended. Whatever was said, Winters knew it would set off Bradley. Umpires are there to help the game work, not interrupt it.

Winters pushed Bradley's button on Sunday, and now the Padres may be pushing the eject button from the playoffs.