(Milton says the Bad Lieutenant has a race problem, but Dangle’s a-ok with Jonesy)
From the Associated Press :
Milton Bradley accused Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Jeff Kent of a lack of leadership and an inability to deal with black players.
Bradley’s remarks before Tuesday’s game against Colorado came only a couple of minutes after he said that the feud between the two that became public last weekend in Florida was a “dead issue.”
“The problem is, he doesn’t know how to deal with African-American people,” Bradley said. “I think that’s what’s causing everything. It’s a pattern of things that have been said — things said off the cuff that I don’t interpret as funny. It may be funny to him, but it’s not funny to Milton Bradley. But I don’t take offense to that because we all joke about race in here. Race is an issue with everything we do in here.
“Me being an African-American is the most important thing to me — more important than baseball,” said the 27-year-old center fielder, whose voice never went beyond his normal speaking level. “White people never want to see race — with anything. But there’s race involved in baseball. That’s why there’s less than 9 percent African-American representation in the game. I’m one of the few African-Americans that starts here.”
“At no time am I going to let somebody question my hustle, my injury or question my motivation for playing,” Bradley said. “I watch him on the field, and I follow in his footsteps and the things he does on the field. As far as off the field, he has no clue about leadership.
“If you’re going to be the leader of the team, then the need to mingle with the team and associate with the team. I mean, you can’t have your locker in the corner, put your headphones in and sit in the corner reading a motocross magazine. He’s in his own world. Everybody else is in this world.”
I’m gonna stand up for Dangle just this once. It might’ve looked like a motocross publication, but I have it on good authority it was really a newsletter for guys who like to wash their own trucks.
OK, OK, hasn’t Dangle paid enough for popping wheelies with his truck and claiming he was washing his bike? 😉
I guess we’ll have to ask Dusty Baker, Dave Winfield or Joe Carter, all of whom are either great character witnesses for the Bad Lieutenant, or perhaps just 3 examples of how some of his best friends aren’t white.