…in beating the traffic. According to a breathless Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, M’s OF Bradley left Safeco Park last night long before the conclusion of a 5-2 loss to Tampa.
Bradley was removed from the game after a sixth inning strikeout. It was not a particularly good at-bat, with Bradley hacking away at some less-than-quality pitches early to get behind in the count, then, after battling back a bit, staring at a third strike down the middle.
From what I’m told, Bradley came back to the dugout and told manager Don Wakamatsu something along the lines of “I’m done. I’m not helping the team.”
Those probably were not his exact words, but that was the message he conveyed.
Wakamatsu had Ryan Langerhans warm up immediately and followed Bradley into a tunnel between the dugout and clubhouse to talk him off the ledge and tell him not to quit on his teammates. At some point, Bradley was about to return to the dugout, but once he saw Langerhans playing left field in his place, left again and returned to his locker.
From there, he quickly packed and exited the stadium with the game still in progress.
I should not have to tell anyone how serious this is.
Leaving the park while a game is still going on is a serious violation of every written and unwritten rule in baseball. It’s something the organization will have to address as well as the veteran players on this team.
Indeed, Bradley’s been in hot water before, but when you’re simultaneously violating written and unwritten rules, it’s safe to say a reputation has been cemented. With those who cover Bradley for a living, anyway. MLB.com’s Mariners beat reporter Jim Street has little to add other than Bradley’s teammates calling the conversation with Wakamatsu, “ugly”. In any event, it’s a fair bet Bradley won’t be in the lineup tonight against Matt Garza when Cliff Lee makes his long-awaited Seattle debut.