Milton Bradley hasn’t done much good on the field this season. Now, a reporter for a Chicago radio station says Bradley’s struggles have divided the Wrigley Field clubhouse.
David Schuster of WSCR “The Score” implied Friday that the hoopla surrounding Bradley’s eleven-day media boycott is negatively impacting the Chicago Cubs’ chemistry.
Bradley refused to speak to media members for almost two weeks following his injured groin on April 12.
He broke his silence after Thursday night’s 7-1 loss to the Reds, but only took questions from the team’s MLB.com reporter.
Some will argue that it shouldn't matter whether a player speaks to the media—as long as he performs on the field, why care?
But if it's affecting clubhouse chemistry, it does matter.
Like many Cubs fans, I never liked the Bradley signing from the start. One thing I’d always heard, however, was that he was good in the clubhouse. His teammates loved him, we were told.
Well, do they really?
It seems that the team is divided between those that think Bradley needs to get his act together, both on the field and off, and those who agree that the Chicago media is to blame.
No matter which side you fall on, a split clubhouse is a percolating problem.
The Cubs enjoyed tremendous chemistry in 2008, en route to a 97-win regular season.
And remember that the winning clubhouse formula already took a hit this year with the departures of Kerry Wood and Mark DeRosa, two of the more stand-up and popular players on the team.
With that in mind, a disturbance from the newly acquired Bradley is the last thing the Cubs needed.
He's 1-for-23 from the plate on the year. He can't take the field, and when he does, he can't (or won't) give maximum effort. Now we hear that his vitriol toward the Chicago media is stirring trouble in the clubhouse.
Here’s what Bradley told MLB.com’s Carrie Muskrat:
"It's been frustrating," Bradley said. "You come in here and all [the media] want to talk about is how often you get hurt and your attitude and everything. I've given them an example right off the bat. I just don't feel like getting caught up in all the negativity."
Remember Dusty Baker's Cubs in 2004, when a couple of the players took exception to Cubs TV announcers Chip Carey and Steve Stone? That mess resulted in the team losing its focus and contributed to the Cubs meltdown that year.
At least Lou Piniella is trying to nip this in the bud. Here’s Piniella’s take following a ten-minute meeting with Bradley:
"I had a conversation with Milton. He's not 100 percent. When he's 100 percent, I'll put him out there to play. Until then, I'll use (Reed) Johnson and I'll use (Micah) Hoffpauir in the outfield.
"I told him basically that I'm going to take him out of the fourth hole when he gets back and put him in the sixth hole, where he'll be a little more comfortable. And we'll go from there. But when I get him out there, I expect him to run hard and play hard, the way he always has."
Piniella also said that while it's up to the individual, life is easier for any player if he talks to the media.
Good advice, Uncle Lou.
Let's hope that Bradley takes Lou's suggestions to heart before Bradley’s tiff with the media—and the clubhouse rift it has inspired—become untenable, come to think of it.
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