On Saturday, following a Milton Bradley double, Miguel Olivo was called out at first base on a play he pretty clearly beat out. Eric Wedge came out of the dugout to argue with the first base umpire, to no avail. Bradley then took that opportunity to argue with the second base umpire, and Bradley went and got himself tossed.
Now, you might've thought that would be the end of it. It was not the end of it. Several minutes ago, word got out that Bradley has been fined and suspended one game for his actions, which - according to Larry Stone's source - included Bradley making contact with Gerry Davis with the bill of his helmet. As batting helmet bills are known to be coated with a dangerous neurotoxin that readily penetrates the skin, one can understand the severity of MLB's punishment.
Bradley's appealing, so for now nothing changes, and he'll remain available. If the appeal's successful, the suspension will be dropped, and if it isn't, whatever, it's one game. For Bradley, it's the principle of the whole thing, but for us, there are worse things than being without a mediocre outfielder for three hours.
On the one hand, that call at first was so bad that Bradley had a right to disagree, having had an excellent viewing angle and all. On the other hand, if you think that umpires and the league treat you unfairly, and then you keep doing things like this, what do you expect is going to happen? Milton Bradley remains as perplexing as he's ever been.
