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Stupid Controversy
LAist is embarrassed to be a Dodger fan today. We had been trying to ignore the silly squabble between Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent, but it has now became national news thanks to Bradley telling the media that Kent is practically a racist. You can read all of the dumb jibes back and forth in these articles here. Bradley and Kent's behavior and comments are almost childish.
First off, we wonder why this issue ever had to be made public when it initially flared. Did Jim Tracy really need to close the clubhouse to reporters for a 20 minute private meeting with Milton Bradley? Couldn't they have met privately, and not drawn attention to themselves?
But once it became public, why did the comments have to persist? Why did it have to blow up to racial accusations? Couldn't they have kept this private? Now the Dodgers are embarrassing themselves.
We doubt that Milton Bradley wasn't hustling around the bases, because every time LAist watches him, he always seems to be playing hard. We also doubt that Jeff Kent can't deal with African-Americans, considering he has the unyielding respect of Dusty Baker, Dave Winfield, and others.
What we do know is that Jeff Kent and Milton Bradley are the best two hitters on the Dodgers on right now. We know that they are both supposed to be team leaders. They both should know how easy it is create a media controversy, and they should recognize that they just walked right into one looking like total idiots.
If the Dodgers want to have any prayer of catching the Padres, then they need these two grown men to settle their differences, and stop firing pot shots through the press. If Milton Bradley has to go back to anger management class, then so be it. If Jeff Kent has to actually talk to the media and learn how to conduct himself so that the team is viewed in a positive light, then that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. The two should recognize that they have let their garbage become national news, and figure out how to move on together constructively, because right now they are sounding like babies.
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