Milton Bradley Has Anger Problems, and I’m Racist
If you angrily storm towards the press box to “introduce yourself” to the team broadcaster who just happens to be exercising his freedom of speech by criticizing you for having anger problems, wouldn’t it be fair to say you just proved that broadcaster’s point?
Yes, I would say Milton Bradley has anger problems and so would many other fans, but the fans and I would be wrong.
Not only would we be wrong. We’d be racist.
Yes, if you criticize Milton Bradley for his “fiery passion,” you are racist, according to the New York Times. (link to the story using the nofollow tag)
Bradley has a track record of violent outbursts extending far beyond his attempt to assault the broadcaster who made racist comments saying that he was “volatile.” (Yes, volatile is a racist word.) He has in the past thrown a plastic bottle at fans, got into a physical confrontation with an umpire (that ended in his own injury), thrown a bucket of balls onto the field, and, off the field, driving away from a speeding ticket without signing it.
Of course none of these instances are the reason for his bad reputation. The real reason is that he’s black.
Milton Bradley himself has said that his image problem were the result of his race in the past, but now that the New York Times has attacked the issue, I finally agree with him.
Here’s what he said to the Times:
They have their image that they made of me, and that’s what it is. They don’t want it to change. I’m that guy. You got your Terrell Owens in football, you’ve got your Ron Artest in basketball, you’ve got your Milton Bradley in baseball.
His allegations are preposterous considering the fact that it’s Pacman Jones, not T.O., who is the football player most assaulted by racism. However, if he wishes to talk about T.O., the fact that he accused his quarterback of being gay, choking, not throwing him the ball enough, then constantly held out for more money, doesn’t have anything to do with his selfish image.
As for Ron Artest, yeah, I guess his image has nothing to do with him fighting with fans in the stands. I will give Bradley credit, though, when a fan threw a bottle near him, he just did a wrestling pose and chucked the bottle back at them. He didn’t randomly pick a guy in the crowd and get in a fight with him.
The article notes that when white players go crazy, they are noted as “fiery,” not “volatile” or “angry.”
Really? Then why did Rangers GM John Hart say “Kenny is having anger issues right now,” after Kenny Rogers threw a cameraman down?
He must have gotten Rogers’ race confused.
The bulk of the article compares reactions to Josh Hamilton to Milton Bradley. Hamilton, is the white guy who overcame drug use to be one of the best players in baseball. Bradley is a black guy who continues to expose his angry outbursts even as recently as June 11 and is also a good baseball player.
The comparison makes absolutely no sense for so many reasons.
1.) Hamilton was addicted to drugs. He was hurting himself. He didn’t assault umpires or threaten broadcasters.
2.) Hamilton overcame his addictions and apologized. Bradley continues to be a problem and blames others for being racist.
When you make a mistake, you must first admit that you made a mistake. You must then take actions to try to fix your problems that are contributing to the mistake. You must apologize to those you hurt.
Hamilton knew he had a problem, took actions to fix it, and apologized.
Bradley blamed his fights on other people, said they didn’t understand him, that he wasn’t doing anything wrong, and continues to keep repeating his acts of rage.
Those would be the only differences between them.
Oh, wait, the New York Times is calling. They say there’s something I’m missing. Apparently Milton Bradley is black.
And I’m the racist one…
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Good article Mitch. I agree with you. The race issue in sports i getting ridiculous. White, black, green, orange, if you’re a pompous jerk, you’re a pompous jerk. People aren’t being racist at Elton Brand calling him selfish and fake after he left a verbal agreement with the Clippers. They’re being honest. If Brad Miller or Jason Kidd did the same thing, people would think the same thing. Are people racist. Yes there are plenty of racists out there. But, that doesn’t mean all of us are, and grouping us together is unfair and aggravating. To Bradley: just because you’re an All Star doesn’t mean you’re off the hook!
Great column, Mitch. I agree with everything you said also. In fact I got into a pretty heated debate with some commenters on another site when this incident first ocurred.
I was amazed how many people backed this jackass despite all the things he has done in his career, as you mentioned in your post. Although few classified the venom directed his way as racist, they still fought for the man and claimed he was wrongfully portrayed as a malcontent, that he has turned himself around.
But as you point out in your first paragraph, the guy went after an annoucer who was pointing out his anger issues in the first place! Is that ironic or what?!
Bottom line is Bradley is, was and probably always will be an anger-prone, arrogant, a-hole, and if he was batting .250 with 3 homers and 25 RBI instead of mashing the cover off the ball, those same people who are defending him would be calling for his head.
And that has nothing to do with race.