I hate to say it, Padres...

... but you knew what you were buying when you signed Milton Bradley!

You don't sign Manny Ramirez thinking "He's going to have his mind on the game at every pitch!"

You don't sign Byung-Hyun Kim and say "I want him to give the team a sense of invincibility!"

You don't sign J. D. Drew and say "I want him to light a fire under this team."

You don't sign Armando Benitez and say "I don't want to worry about the 9th with you out there."

And you don't bring Milton Bradley onto your team and say "He's going to keep his cool!"

He was, is and always will be a huge risk because of his uncontrollable temper. Why else would a potential 5 tool player be run out of Cleveland... and then the Dodgers... and then the A's?

All of those teams desperately needed a player with his talent and all of them practically broke out bottles of champagne when he left.

And now he went to the Padres, gave them a much needed lift offensively... and had to be tackled by his own manager before he went after an umpire, tearing his ACL and ending his season.

Now I am not excusing the umpire. He has a reputation for being an a--hole and Bobby Meachem, a stand up guy that nobody in the league seems to dislike, said the ump was being racist.

And he might well have been.
And if he was, he should be suspended. And no matter what he said, he was jawing at Bradley egging him on.

But that's not the point.
Bradley should have known to restrain himself at least to the point where his manager didn't feel the need to tackle him.

Bradley should have known the team was spiraling in a pennant race and a once safe playoff spot now is in peril... and risking a suspension is not what the team needs, no matter what the umpire said.

And it's not like there is no precedent for this!
His throwing a bottle at a fan during a game got him suspended during the last week of the 2004 season, with the Dodgers clinging to a playoff spot.

I guess the Padres thought he learned his lesson.
Or like a girl trying to reform a hot guy who has a cheating reputation, the Padres thought "he won't do it to me!"

Well he did...
Next time read the fine print!