As Milton Bradley episodes go, his first “moment” of spring training was barely a blip on the rage-o-meter. The Mariners’ left fielder was ejected in the third inning of tonight’s 8-1 loss to the Texas Rangers after he was called out on strikes by plate umpire Dan Bellino.
Bradley stood at the plate and dropped his bat after the third strike but never said anything or looked back at Bellino, who quickly tossed him.
Bradley, whose career has been marked by conflict with umpires, teammates and management, has had a calm camp with the Mariners. Even during the ejection, he didn’t say anything.
“I didn’t understand it,” manager Don Wakamatsu said. “In all fairness to Milton, I actually thought he thought it was three outs. He started taking his gloves off and his bat dropped, and he picked up his bat and walked off. That’s what I told the umpire, that I didn’t think it was called for and it was an over-reaction on his part.”
The Mariners’ fear, of course, is that Bradley’s reputation will have umpires on edge long before any of his actions do. Wakamatsu was pretty convinced that was the case tonight.
Seems pretty benign for a hitter to be thumbed because he dropped his bat after a spring training strikeout. He didn’t use it to mark a spot in the dirt where he thought the pitch was, didn’t say anything, didn’t show any body language that made it seem he was showing up the ump.
Wakamatsu showed more animation than Bradley when he spent a minute asking for an explanation, then telling Bellino how wrong he thought he was. A short time later, Bradley left the dugout with his bag slung over his shoulder as he walked out of the stadium toward the Mariners’ clubhouse.
He passed within a foot or two of the umpire and said nothing. But he high-fived and shook hands with several fans along the rail down the right-field line before he left the premises.
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