Kids! Play Nice!

Guess Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent won’t be signing up as a doubles team for the Dodgers off-season tennis tourney (This competition doesn’t actually exist. I invented it for the sake of making a metaphorical point). Depending who you believe, Kent is an alienating loner who has a problem with black people, or Bradley will play the race card the minute anyone says anything negative about him, someone dares criticize his performance, or simply because the opportunity presents itself (Bradley himself said, “Me being African American is the most important thing in my life – more important than baseball,” a statement which, depending on how he applies that mindset, doesn’t bother me. It’s his right. And don’t give me the “As a baseball player, baseball should be his first priority” speech. We pick on athletes all time- Bonds, for example- when they claim to only care about their sport, calling them selfish and isolated, with priorities out of whack. Here’s a guy with an interest and conscious outside the game, and everyone will say he’s unfocused. That’s ridiculous. Whether Bradley’s applying his racial awareness in a rational manner is debatable, but don’t muck it into an entirely separate issue.)

            It’s hard to know which guy’s seeing the conflict through the most objective set of eyes. Kent’s told people to talk with Dusty Baker, Dave Winfield, and Joe Carter, among others, as proof that skin doesn’t matter to him. (I did hear one ***** counter that with, “I don’t hear him asking you to talk to Bonds,” an argument that barely qualifies as a flip side, considering you won’t find a guy in Major League Baseball who’d claim to have chummed up with Bonds.) But the fact remains Kent’s spent his career with a rep as a locker room downer. If Bradley’s not digging Kent’s vibe, he certainly wouldn’t be the first. This has nothing to do with whether Kent’s actually prejudice or not, but it could have something to do with whether the guy’s riding Bradley as if he were.

            On the other hand, when hasn’t Milton Bradley had a problem with somebody or something? The dude isn’t even a year removed from a bottle-throwing incident that landed him into anger management therapy. Combine that with a self described hyper-sensitivity towards racial issues, and misinterpretations are a given. Bradley’s made real strides this year, according to everyone around him, and even the L.A. media, who always look for a chance to pounce. But he still doesn’t understand the value of putting his emotions in check, at least momentarily, until he can bring it in up in private to Tracy, DePodesta, or whomever he deems the best option, as opposed to a bunch of reporters, where the odds of good results are small at best. (It mystifies me how athletes never seem to get that. The media is a horribly destructive sounding board for their problems. Although, if they did get it, I might not have a gig, so I guess I’m thankful.)

The whole thing seems pretty silly, and it’s a little odd that nobody’s told them to shut their yaps or get fined. I would imagine the truth lies somewhere between Jeff Kent making Russell Crowe look sunny and Milton Bradley being more sensitive than a six-year old girl. Honestly, the real problem lies with whichever ***** determined putting these two on the same team as supposed co-leaders was a recipe for success. That's a decision that makes Knicks rosters look well thought out by comparison.

On the plus side, this feud is pretty entertaining.  And it’s really about the only thing that could make The Dodgers remotely exciting right now, aside from their middling battle to finish first in an absurdly weak division. Even a lame soap opera is better than watching static.