Honestly, I’m a little tired of talking about Milton Bradley.  While he was with the Cubs, he seemed to always be the topic of conversation.  He not only was a distraction in the clubhouse, but he was a distraction to anyone writing about the Cubs.

Unfortunately, Bradley is back in the news.  Despite the fact that he was traded to Seattle more than two months ago, Bradley continues to talk about his time in Chicago.  He is a man that needs constant attention, and he knows that if he continues to talk about his days with the Cubs, reporters will keep paying attention to him.

In his latest diatribe, Bradley claimed that he was a virtual prisoner in his own home while with the Cubs.  He claims that fans harrassed him so much that he was afraid to go out in public.

He also talked about the hate mail he got.  There’s no way I can justify the hate mail — especially the racial stuff — that Bradley allegedly received, but he’s not the first person to receive that kind of mail.  And by the way, Chicago isn’t the only place it happens.  It is a sad fact of life that athletes, particularly African-American athletes, receive hate mail.  Even the all-white U.S. Curling Team received some hate mail (and texts and tweets) when they failed to meet expectations at the Vancouver Olympics. 

But the thing that irritated me most about the hate mail issue is that ESPN reporter Colleen Dominguez asked him if he thought the hate mail was coming from within the Cubs lockerroom.  Has anyone every suggested that Bradley was receiving hate mail from his own teammates or from within the organization?  Has Bradley ever suggested it?  This was just a piss-poor effort on a reporter’s part to try to stir up trouble where none existed. 

Bradley also was critical of Lou Piniella for not apologizing in front of his teammates after calling Bradley a “piece of shit.”  Piniella called Bradley into his office and apologized in person, behind closed doors.  Given the circumstances, Piniella’s apology seemed entirely appropriate.  He (Piniella) was upset that his angry remark concerning Bradley had gone outside the confines of the tunnel between the dugout and the clubhouse where it was uttered, and didn’t want to make more of a spectacle of the entire incident.

But the fact is, the apology was just something else for Bradley to complain about.  Had Piniella apologized in front of the entire team, Bradley would have complained about that.

Finally, Bradley reiterated his charge that students, teachers, and parents at his child’s daycare were calling the child derogatory names.  Back in September 2009, Bradley and his mother claimed that Bradley’s three-year old was subjected to a “slew of racial slurs” from students, parents and teachers at the daycare the child attended. 

As I stated at the time, although I take racism very seriously, these claims simply do not hold water.  They sounded then, and they sound now, like the desperate claims of a desperate man.  As I understand it, children of all races attended the daycare, but no one else ever complained of similar treatment and the daycare was never cited for any type of bad behavior toward the children.

Bradley is a walking, talking car wreck.  You just can’t turn away from the ridiculous statements he makes.  And he knows that.  That’s why he keeps making them.  He just needs reporters to pay attention to him.  And the reporters are only too happy to oblige.