Chicago Cubs Baseball

Thank goodness for Milton Bradley.

In this, the most disastrous season since 2006, the off-field and on-field Chicago Cubs have given its fans plenty of directions to point fingers.  From an incompetent front office to an anemic offense to just plain lackadaisical performances all around, the Chicago Cubs once again have resumed their place as baseball’s lovable losers.

Except, whether these Cubs are “lovable” is open to debate.  These aren’t your father’s Chicago Cubs.

In fact, this group of players assembled under the misguided hand of Chicago general manager Jim Hendry isn’t even close to resembling the 2008 ensemble.

You remember those guys.  That was the group that won a National League best 97 games during the regular season and for the first time in a long time, made back-to-back playoff appearances.  But most of all, when the 2008 Chicago Cubs took the field it looked and acted like a team.

As in T-E-A-M.

Thanks to Hendry’s off-season decisions instead of that we got this: a group of surly, selfish, overpaid, under-performing players whose only interests seem centered on individual statistics and getting away from Wrigley as fast and as far as possible.

Since Chicago Cubs baseball began its near-free fall in early May, with each passing month its become clear that a darkness resided in the underbelly of this year’s team.  And before more is read into that statement than intended, it has nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with attitude.

Step up to the plate, Milton Bradley.

Thanks to Bradley, the volatile Chicago right fielder has provided the perfect fodder for Cubdom’s ire.  Whether deserved or not, Bradley has become the poster child for everything that’s gone wrong in 2009.

Cubdom, as a rule is a forgiving lot.  Lord knows its fans have had decades of practice.  There’s just a few basic requirements, including playing hard and embracing the city that the player represents.

Bradley did neither of those this season.  Instead he chose to go his own path - like he’s done with every team he’s been associated with.   And for that’s he’s paying the price in the hearts and minds of Chicago Cub fans.

As such, the Cubs brass are stuck with a problem that will undoubtedly be harder to get rid of than it was to get. Bradley is not going to change.  Not this year. Not next nor during any length of time he has left in the majors.

The only thing that Bradley has accomplished this season is giving what’s left of interested Cub fans something to jeer about.