1. #1
    pico
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    Milton Bradley

    SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A wild-card race that was already wild turned absolutely bizarre Sunday, and Milton Bradley was right in the middle of it for the San Diego Padres.

    Bradley was ejected and then hurt his right knee when Padres manager Bud Black spun him to the ground in an attempt to keep him from going after an umpire.

    The Padres were livid, claiming that first base umpire Mike Winters baited Bradley, leading to a confrontation that overshadowed the surging Colorado Rockies' 7-3 win and an impressive three-game sweep of the wild card-leading Padres.

    Bradley, whose volatile temper has overshadowed his talent during his career, called it "the most unprofessional and most ridiculous thing I've ever seen."

    "It's terrible. And now, because of him, my knee's hurt," said Bradley, a second-half catalyst for the Padres who was in his third game back from an injury that sidelined him for nearly two weeks. "If this costs me my season because of that, he needs to be reprimanded. I'm taking some action. I'm not going to stand pat and accept this because I didn't do nothing wrong."

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    Asked about his knee, Bradley said: "I've got to get an MRI. It's killing me, though."

    The punchless Padres retained their half-game lead over Philadelphia, which lost 5-3 to Washington, while the Rockies pulled within 1 1/2 games by winning their season-high eighth straight.

    San Diego stayed 2 1/2 games behind first-place Arizona in the NL West with seven to play. Colorado is four back of the Diamondbacks with six games remaining.

    An inning before Bradley was hurt, the Padres lost center fielder Mike Cameron after Bradley stepped on his right hand while the two pursued Garrett Atkins' inside-the-park home run.

    As Bradley walked to the plate in the eighth, umpire Brian Runge asked the player if he had flipped his bat in the ump's direction after taking a called third strike to end the fifth.

    "I said, 'Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous,"' Bradley said. "He said, 'Well, it was reported to me by the other umpires that you threw your bat at me.' And I said, 'That's completely ridiculous. I've done a lot of things. I'm trying to turn it around. I would never harm anybody."'

    Bradley singled, then asked Winters if he told Runge he threw his bat. "He goes, 'Yeah, you did.' I go, 'Are you kidding me? That's completely ridiculous. If I strike out and the inning's over, why are you looking at me? Everything's always about me."'


    AP - Sep 23, 8:27 pm EDT
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    Then, a fan heckled Winters.

    "I pointed to the guy in the crowd, affirming it," Bradley said.

    Bradley said Winters responded with a string of expletives.

    "That's when I went at him and he kicked me out," Bradley said.

    First base coach Bobby Meacham began to restrain Bradley, and Black came running out. Bradley got away from Meacham, but Black grabbed him by the jersey.

    Bradley was attempting to get free and, after a few seconds, Black spun Bradley around and the player collapsed. Bradley immediately grabbed his right knee and eventually had to be helped off the field.

    "I was trying to pull Milton away from the argument," said Black, later ejected for arguing a checked-swing call against Adrian Gonzalez.

    Crew chief Bruce Froemming wouldn't allow a reporter to speak with Winters.

    Froemming said Bradley "got grumpy with Mike Winters. Winters told him to knock it off and he continued it. There is no covering up what he did. He had to be physically restrained."

    Meacham defended Bradley.


    AP - Sep 23, 8:19 pm EDT
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    "In 26 years of baseball, I can honestly say that's the most disconcerting conversation I have ever heard from an umpire to a player," Meacham said. "It was almost like he wanted to agitate the whole thing. He wanted to get Milton boiling for some reason. Milton, he held his cool. I was just appalled."

    Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, a former general manager and president of the Oakland Athletics, said he'd never seen a player injured like that. "But as far as I'm concerned, it was necessary," he said.

    Alderson used to work in the commissioner's office, where one of his duties was overseeing umpires.

    "We're not going to sit by and see an umpire bait a player," Alderson said. He added that if the commissioner's office concludes the situation was handled appropriately, "I'll be shocked."

    Brad Hawpe homered for the second time in three games and Jeff Francis earned his 17th victory for the Rockies, who roughed up Greg Maddux.

    The Rockies won their franchise-best 84th game as they try for the second playoff appearance in their 15-year history.

    "Their actions speak louder than anything I can tell you guys," manager Clint Hurdle said. "I'm just proud of the way they're going about their business."

    Hawpe went 8-for-13 with two homers and five RBIs in the series. He is 12-for-21 with 10 RBIs in his last five games.

    Francis (17-8) held the Padres to two runs and seven hits in eight innings to tie the franchise mark for wins in a season. He struck out eight and walked one.

    Maddux (13-11) lasted only 3 2-3 innings, allowing five runs and eight hits.

    Bradley homered to center in the third. Josh Bard connected in the ninth.

    Notes

    The Rockies tied the 1997 franchise record with 36 road wins. ... Francis' 17th win tied Kevin Ritz (1996) and Pedro Astacio (1999) for the franchise single-season record.

  2. #2
    jjgold
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    An ump like this should be thrown out of the leauge

  3. #3
    cincy_1
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    The worst thing that could happen to Winters is that the Padres' CEO is Sandy Alderson and it was Alderson's master plan that broke the MLB Umpires union.

    Alderson will complain to MLB and his complaint isn't taken lightly by Selig.

  4. #4
    bigboydan
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    There was no reason at all what so ever for the ump trying to instigate this type of thing out of a player no matter what sport it might be.

  5. #5
    jon13009
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    I think both were wrong

    Winters should lose his job for bating a player. Period. Regardless if Bradley threw his bat at him, Winters job is to make calls, not to converse with the players.

    Bradley should have ignored what Winters was saying, and filed a complaint against Winters after the game. Clearly anger management classes have not made Bradley understand that furious outbursts of anger will not settle situations where he is at a disadvantage. The umpire held all the cards in that situation, and looking at Bradley try to confront the umpire while his manager was trying to restrain him was exactly what the umpire wanted to happen. If Bradley thought more about his team instead of himself, he would have backed off and let the coaches handle things.

  6. #6
    bigboydan
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    Looks like the Umpire got what he deserved.

    What he did was just flat out uncalled for.

    NEW YORK -- Umpire Mike Winters was suspended by Major League Baseball for the remainder of the regular season on Wednesday because of his confrontation with San Diego Padres outfielder Milton Bradley last weekend.

    The Padres claimed Winters baited Bradley, who has a history of losing his temper. Bradley tore a knee ligament when his manager spun him to the ground while trying to keep him from going after the umpire during Sunday's 7-3 loss to Colorado in San Diego.

    Winters was suspended because the commissioner's office concluded he had used a profanity aimed at Bradley, a baseball official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the reasoning for the suspension was not announced.

    The 48-year-old Winters became a major league umpire in 1990 and worked the World Series in 2002 and last year.


    Padres manager Bud Black declined to comment.

    "In this case, I think it's best for my position to just stay away from it," he said by phone from San Francisco, where the Padres were to finish a series against the Giants on Wednesday night.

    Bradley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will need surgery, which is expected to sideline him for at least six months. His injury was a blow to the Padres, who began Wednesday with a one-game lead over Colorado and Philadelphia in the NL wild-card race.

    Trouble began when plate umpire Brian Runge asked Bradley if he had flipped his bat in the ump's direction after taking a called third strike that ended the fifth inning. Runge indicated that Winters told him that Bradley had.

    The dispute escalated after Bradley singled, then asked Winters if he told Runge he threw his bat.

    First base coach Bobby Meacham and Black said Winters used profanity. Bradley called it "the most unprofessional and most ridiculous thing I've ever seen."

    "It's terrible. And now, because of him, my knee's hurt," he said after the game. "If this costs me my season because of that, he needs to be reprimanded. I'm taking some action. I'm not going to stand pat and accept this because I didn't do nothing wrong."

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