Bradley may have burned last bridge
By Tim Brown
“Get outta my face,” Milton Bradley once told me in a clubhouse in Oakland,
which wasn’t unusual.
Over 12 seasons, spread across eight organizations, he had that kind of
relationship with a lot of people.
When he wasn’t in theirs’, he was requesting that they get out of his.
“滾你老木”Milton Bradley 曾經尋常地在奧克蘭的球員休息室這樣嗆過我。12個
球季，待了8隊之後，他依然故我的和許多人結怨。當他融不進那個球隊，他就叫別人
滾。
Now the Seattle Mariners have told him to get out of their faces, along with
their clubhouse. After one full season and six weeks of another, all coming
after the Mariners swapped out Carlos Silva’s bad contract for Bradley’s,
Bradley was designated for assignment Monday. The Mariners will end up
swallowing about $15 million in the transaction, because nobody’s going to
clean up after Jim Hendry’s or Jack Zduriencik’s blind ambitions.
現在換水手隊叫他滾了。自水手把Carlos Silva那張爛約換了Bradley那張合約的1年又
6個星期後，Bradley本週一被DFA。因為沒人想收拾Jim Hendry或是Jack Zduriencik出
的包，導致水手得中止合約，吞掉這次交易大概一千五百萬的虧損。
In 101 games in Seattle, Bradley, who turned 33 last month, batted .209. Yes,
he was going to get along with manager Eric Wedge this time. Yes, he was
going to get help for his anger issues. Yes, he was going to stay on the
field. Yes, he was a handful or two.
And yet, in a team environment and having chosen a very public life, Bradley
was barely tolerable when he was healthy and hitting. As baseball went,
hitting was his redeemable quality, and sometimes he did it well.
Bradley，上個月滿33歲，在西雅圖出賽101場，打擊率0.209。
沒錯！這次他會和教頭Eric Wedge和睦相處。
沒錯！這次他會克制他的脾氣。
沒錯！這次他會乖乖待在場上。
沒錯！他是一兩次會失控。
然而，在他所挑球隊環境以及非常公開場合之下，Bradley 的健康和上場實在是讓人難
以容忍。當比賽開打，打擊是他可取之處，偶爾他也幹得不錯。
Probably, his moods and behavior were not his choices, and that’s why I
usually viewed Bradley sympathetically. In so many areas of his life, he
seemed to seek the fight. Likely, before it came to him.
He found it in umpires, fans, managers, cops, sportswriters. Reportedly, he
found it in companions as well.
也許他的心情和行為不是他能控制的，這也是為什麼我覺得 Bradley有夠悲哀的。在許
多有他生活之處，他似乎愛找人幹架。而且可能每次都他起頭的。幹架除了找裁判，球
迷，教練，警察，運動作家之外，據傳他也跟隊友幹。
Yet, I liked Bradley. We had a mutual friend. We spoke like adults and we
kept it as such when I was the national baseball writer for the Los Angeles
Times, in a city that – like the others – had turned on him.
So, on a spring afternoon in 2006, months after he’d been traded to the
Oakland Athletics, I approached him meaning to say hello, to ask how he was
getting along with new teammates and in a new environment.
“Milton,” I said, and held out my hand.
He turned, his eyes darkened, and he spat his favorite words,
“Get outta my face.”
“What’s that about?” I asked.
“I saw what you wrote,” he said.
“What I wrote?”
沒錯，我是喜歡 Bradley，而且我們有一位共通的朋友。當我還是LA時報專欄作家時，
我們像是成人一般閑聊，不過LA這城市“跟其他城一樣”唾棄他。
所以，在2006某個春天的下午，那時他已經被交易到運動家一個多月，我跑去向他打招
呼，而且問他最近在新環境跟隊友處的如何，
“Milton”我說，並且伸出手。
他轉頭看了一下，給了我白眼，然後吐出他喜歡的那句，“滾你老木”。
“你幹麻這樣？”我問。
“我看到你寫的東西了”他說
“我寫三小？”
I’d covered his trade to the A’s for the paper. The deal brought Andre
Ethier to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I’d also covered the story of an emergency
call from his home to the police after a disturbance with his wife.
It was sad, personal stuff that I believed I’d handled professionally and
without judgment.
我是有為報紙發表一篇關於他交易到運動家的事。這交易內容讓道奇拿到Andre Ethier，
另外我也寫了篇關於他騷擾老婆，結果被他老婆報警處理的事情。
對此我有點難過，關於這私人鳥事的新聞，我相信我處理的夠專業，而且也沒有在報導上
做任何的批判。
“I saw it,” and then he quoted from a story he’d read supporting the trade
of him, “…’Well, at least Andre Ethier’s OPS isn’t .911.’ I saw that.”
“Milton,” I said. “I didn’t write that.”
“Get outta my face,” he repeated, raising his hand and shooing me away.
“All right,” I said. “All I can tell you is the truth. Remember who picked
this fight.”
“我看到那篇了”然後從他所讀那篇支持交易掉他的文章引述了一句
“.......，好吧，起碼Andre Ethier的OPS不是.911(編按：報警專用電話)”，
“我看到那句了”
“Milton，那個我沒寫，”我說
“滾你老木”他重覆一次，舉起他的手而且叫我快滾
“好吧”我說，“我說的都是真的，記住誰先開頭吵架的”
I walked away, never to talk to Bradley again. It was then I realized Bradley
would find battles where there were none, that even those who’d taken up his
side – out of fairness, sympathy, pity, whatever – were fair game. Maybe he
didn’t want to. Maybe he’d regret it. Then, probably, he’d be too proud to
admit he was wrong, because there was security in living on the edge of
anger, and with the presumption that the world was waiting for him to wobble
in order to take another bite out of him.
走了之後，從此再也沒和Bradley聊過天了。因為這件事我就知道Bradley老愛在沒事的地
方引戰。就算那是公平的比賽，大家聊到他的毛時，內容不外乎是他又再哭八不公平，感
覺他很可悲，可憐。也許他也不想這樣做，也許他真的有反省過。那麼，他大概是太自大
讓他無法承認他有錯，因為在激怒中讓他有安全感，那麼大概可以推論他是十足的被害妄
想症。
Now Bradley, on the far edge of his prime, is out of work, carrying a .218
batting average and a reputation for instability. I don’t think he’ll be
back.
But now he has what he’s always wished for.
Now everybody is out of his face.
現在的Bradley，離他巔峰時期的能力非常遙遠，
失去工作的他只剩下0.218的破打率，以及爛脾氣的惡名。
我認為他回不來。
但現在他得到他想要的，每個人從他眼前消失了。
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