Milton Bradley (baseball)

Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley
San Diego Padres – No. 15
	Left Fielder
	Bats: Switch Throws: Right
debut
	July 19, 2000, for the Montreal Expos
Career statistics ; (through August 28, 2007)
Batting average	.335
Home runs	11
RBI	33
Hits	56
Walks	25
Teams
	Montreal Expos (2000-2001); Cleveland Indians (2001-2003); Los Angeles Dodgers (2004-2005); Oakland Athletics (2006-2007); San Diego Padres (2007-present);

Milton Obelle Bradley (born April 15, 1978 in Harbor City, California, USA) is a Major League Baseball outfielder who currently plays left field for the San Diego Padres.

He was drafted from high school in the second round of the 1996 draft by the Montréal Expos. He is 6'0" and weighs 205 pounds. He is a switch-hitter and throws right-handed. His first Major League Baseball game was on July 19, 2000 for the Montreal Expos. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians on July 31, 2001 for Zach Day. Days before the start of the 2004 season he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for prospects Franklin Gutierrez and Andrew Brown, following an altercation with Indians manager Eric Wedge. In 2004 he earned a salary of $1,730,000. He was a regular member of the lineup for the Dodgers in 2004, where he posted a batting average of .265. On December 13, 2005, Bradley was traded to the Oakland Athletics along with infielder Antonio Pérez for outfielder Andre Ethier, who at the time was a minor league prospect. He has a career batting average of .269 with 54 home runs and 233 RBI in 534 career games over six Major League seasons. However, Bradley is frequently criticized in regards to his defensive skills for failing to execute the fundamentals of baseball. Bradley is also known for his disregard for his body in diving for balls hit in front of him in the outfield, occasionally robbing players of base hits in spectacular fashion.

Since the 2002 season, his first full season in the majors, Bradley has had an increasingly larger role in the offense for his teams. He improved his on-base percentage to .421 in 2003 before it dropped off in 2004. He performed well in the 2005 season, which was injury-plagued once again. He has logged over 500 at bats in a season only once, in 2004.

On Thursday, June 21, 2007, the Oakland Athletics designated Bradley for assignment, cutting ties with a player who was expected to play an important role on the team this season. The A's had 10 days to trade or release Bradley. Because he has more than three years of major league service time, Bradley can refuse an assignment to the minor leagues. On June 22, 2007 the A's would have traded Bradley to the Kansas City Royals for pitcher Leo Nunez, but Bradley was injured and the Royals voided the deal.

On June 29, 2007, the San Diego Padres acquired Milton Bradley and cash considerations from the Oakland A's in exchange for minor league pitcher Andrew Brown, marking the second time the two had been traded for each other. The Padres did not require Bradley to pass a physical examination before signing him, as he would have failed it and gone elsewhere. Bradley started his tenure with the Padres on the 15 day disabled list, but came off it right before the All Star break. After the break, he has been a continual starter in left field and one of the most consistent hitters for the Padres.

Community work

Bradley has made an effort to have an active role in the community. He founded "Bradley's Youth" while still with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a program for kids to get a chance to meet Bradley before games. And in LA, with nothing for kids to do, can you imagine the excitement this program created???

External links

Community work

See also

External links