Ex-Chicago Cub outfielder Milton Bradley is one of those such persons.

Barely pitches into the 2010 spring training schedule, Bradley put on his best - or worst - jilted lover face to give his former team some offensive shots he obviously couldn’t deliver while wearing a Cubs uniform.

In an interview with the New York Times last week, Bradley touched on his new team’s - the Seattle Mariners - 2010 potential.  But not without re-opening some of the wounds most fans of Chicago Cubs baseball would just as soon forget.

But that’s one of the many differences between the Chicago Cubs and Milton Bradley.  The Cubs and its fans have had over 100 years of practice of letting the past quietly pass. Evidently, for Bradley, eight different teams in 11 years is still part of his bitter learning curve.

Bradley’s arrival to Chicago and subsequently too long of a stay, was brought about by the Cubs need for a left-handed bat, and Bradley’s desire for that fat three-year, $30 million contract.  For better or worse (and the answer is now clear to all), it was the business of baseball at work.

And the world of baseball knew it was an ill fit, a mismatch, even before the ink on the contract had dried.  Everyone with a lick of common baseball sense - with the exception of Cubs’ general manager Jim Hendry and Bradley, knew this was neither a match made in heaven nor conceived in the bowels of hell.   It was simply a transaction that never should have taken place.

Milton Bradley is a big time bat for a small to medium baseball market.  But as his track record shows he’s not nor ever will be a ready-for-prime-time player.  Not for Chicago, not for New York or anywhere else where it demands a cool head and steady play on the big stage and the bright lights that accompany it.

He’s simply not wired that way.

Hopefully, last week’s comments will be the last from Bradley on the Chicago Cubs.  Hopefully, he’ll find the right tutelage with Ken Griffey Jr. and some inner peace with his new team - Texas Rangers North.

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.

While Gregg undoubtedly will remain in a Cubs’ uniform through the end of this season, his days as the team’s closer unofficially ended Monday night.  Chicago manager Lou Piniella made the call following Gregg’s sixth blown save of the season, pushing the Cubs deeper into the National League’s playoff abyss.

Monday’s debacle was just the latest for Gregg in a season-long string of save opportunities gone awry.  And when the veteran right-hander wasn’t blowing opportunities, he seemed forever on the  edge of doing so.

Along with his six blown saves, Gregg also has accumulated five losses.  He could have more of both if not for late-inning Cub heroics that took him off the hook.

While I applaud Piniella for making the move, it was just another one of his managerial decisions that could be filed under “Too Little, Too Late.”  Like moving slumping underachiever Alfonso Soriano from the lead-off spot to sixth in the Chicago Cubs’ batting order.

In Piniella’s defense, it was a call he shouldn’t have had to make in the first place.

”Look, I can name a few of these, believe me,” Piniella said, following the 4-1 loss to San Diego. ”They all end the same way, with the home-run ball.”

Gregg’s struggles as a big-league closer isn’t exactly a new phenomenon.  Just last year the Florida Marlins made a similar decision regarding his role as the club’s closer.

In addition to compiling a 7-8 record, Gregg also led the National League with nine blown saves before being demoted.  Not exactly the kind of numbers that would warrant a one-year, $4.2 million contract.

One would think.  Somehow that didn’t stop Cubs’ general manager Jim Hendry from pursuing Gregg and bringing the franchise to the brink of another World Series-less season.

Which brings me to my point.  Despite his miserable performances, Gregg isn’t the lone culprit in this fine mess Jim Hendry hasn’t gotten the franchise into.  With each off-season or in-season move Hendry seems bent on dismantling a team once filled with promise.

Today, Kevin Gregg is either villain or victim, depending on one’s perspective.  And while it’s unlikely Gregg will be back next season, unfortunately, Chicago Cubs baseball is stuck with Hendry.

For one, the Cubs have proven they still have enough talent to kick the crap out of the also-rans of major league baseball.  As evidenced by Friday’s 17-2 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple A team, it’s good to know that a $140 million payroll can still buy mediocrity.

Another reason for optimism is the amount of young talent, especially among the pitchers, the Cubs have been able to parade out this season.  Thus far, the Cubs have used nine rookie pitchers, one shy of the franchise record from 1958 and 1962.

There’s at least some comfort in knowing the next time Ryan Dempster breaks his toe hopping the dugout railing or Carlos Zambrano finds another way to the disabled list, the Cubs have developing young talent that will serve them well into the future.

But most of all, Chicago fans can be thankful that they don’t have to wait till October for their beloved Cubs to fold. The choke came early this year, starting about a week ago in Colorado and followed them all the way to Wrigley.

There will be no agonizing this year.  The wondering whether “this is the season” the 101-year streak without a World Series championship ends is, simply put, moot.

Forget about another Central Division flag flying above Wrigley Field.  Don’t even think about who the Cubs NLDS opponent might be.  And the thought of a ticker-tape parade through the heart of the Windy City is simply out of the question.

Despite what you might read or hear from the players and the Chicago Cubs baseball brass, this disastrous Cubs season is surviving on life support.

Don’t believe me?  Think of this. When paid-mouthpiece and WGN baseball announcer Bob Brenly begins questioning this team’s heart you know you’ve got problems.

And when the Cubs’ manager feels he has to respond to the charge, it only can mean one thing: the problems on this team are as much internal as they are external.  As fans we only see them manifest themselves on the field.

”I’ve said all along I haven’t seen [a lack of hustle],” Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella said. ”We got few hits with men on base, and our pitching went bad in this stretch, too. Since Colorado, we’ve given up runs — quite a few runs. But I haven’t seen a lack of hustle.”

This is not a new phenomena.  As early as this April, Chicago Cub outfielder Alfonso Soriano began questioning this team’s desire.  And when the Cubs brass refuses to recognize or address the situation when there still was time, Cubdom ends up with a team that looks like this in August.

So Chicago sports fans be thankful.  Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears take the field in four weeks.

Both within striking distance of either a third consecutive division title or a trip into the playoffs.  Both are achievable and attainable as well.

Despite the Cubs themselves and the countless number of squandered opportunities this 2009 season has wrought.

So what happens if neither of these reachable goals are attained?  How will this baseball season be judged?  Is a second or third place finish in the Central Division good enough for a nation of winning starved fans?

The mainstream media has attached any number of adjectives to the next two weeks’ worth of games.  Pivotal and critical are but two of the descriptors assigned to series involving Colorado, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.  You can throw in games against Pittsburgh and San Diego if you care to be precise.

Given the nature of the Chicago Cubs season thus far, this team is as capable of running off 10 wins in the next 16 games as falling completely flat and desperately out of contention.

And in my opinion, neither would be that great of a surprise to Cubdom.  It’s been that kind of a season.

Regardless of the outcome, the one thing the Cubs brass is certain - and counting on - is that Cubdom is a forgiving lot.   From the top of the Chicago organization on down, Hendry and brass are banking on that even with a cadre of all-star caliber talent and its $134 million payroll the underachieving Cubs are safe from the wrath of outraged fans.

Sure, grumbling will ensue if the Cubs do manage to miss this year’s playoff.  Which is extremely likely given the on-off switch the team can’t seem to find.  Whatever happens, however, Chicago Cubs baseball will not become a healthcare reform townhall meeting.

The endless stream of Cub injuries has assured the organization of that.  Talk about a built-in excuse.  I can’t remember a season in recent or not-so-recent past that a Cubs team has been beset with as many players on the disabled list as this year’s club.

And the list may have a new face added, depending on the outcome of Carlos Zambrano’s MRI.  With Zambrano, however, it’s difficult to say whether the problem exists from the neck on up or the shoulders on down.

Oddly enough, the player who’s health was considered the question mark before the season began has logged nearly as many innings as any of the starting pitchers.  Rich Harden, he of the glass shoulder, has 104 innings pitched - not that many less than either Zambrano, Ted Lilly or Ryan Dempster.

One has to wonder how good Jason Marquis would have looked in a Cubs uniform this year.  He’s on pace to pitch close to 200 innings this year and his two complete games is one more than the entire Chicago staff.

But if Hendry would have kept Marquis, along with Mark DeRosa, etc… whom would he have to blame?  Himself?

That’s correct if you believe the Sports Illustrated poll published last month.  In the poll of 380 players conducted in May, the Chicago Cubs manager received 26 percent of the players’ vote, with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen getting 21 percent and Tony La Russa of St. Louis finishing third with 10 percent.

Believable?  You betcha.

And if I were any of the managers that finished in the top five (Joe Torre of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Eric Wedge of the Cleveland Indians included) I would wear the designation as a badge of honor.

In this age of equally greedy owners and players it’s easy to see how the manager of Chicago Cubs baseball could earn such an honor.  And when I say, honor, I mean it.

Piniella possesses the same qualities as a manager as he did as a player.  He approaches the game with respect, diligence and perhaps most of all, passion.

In another era, the kind of characteristics and traits that would be embraced and admired.  Those are the qualities a dedicated professional would hope would rub off on him.

But that was then and this is definitely now. And for that, one-fourth of candy-assed major league players designate Piniella an honor better fitted to the parade of baseball managers who never lasted beyond the length of their contract, who’ve never advanced the game beyond their own ego and a trip to the bank.

If anything, the Sports Illustrated poll speaks more of the players than of any of the mangers on the list.  Piniella, Guillen, La Russa and Torre all have World Series titles to their credit, and Wedge has taken his team to the post-season with a small market team.

Piniella obviously didn’t help his ranking when he told the Cubs’ biggest underachieving headcase, Milton Bradley, that he was closer to the crap one scrapes off the bottom of their shoe than he was to a major league player.  This came after another pathetic Bradley at bat and the $30 million flop tried to up his batting average against a Gatorade machine.

If there was a sad ending to this story, it wasn’t that Piniella used profanity in chastising Bradley.  It was the fact the Chicago Cubs manager later apologized.

So what we can gather from this little tale is that overpaid, under-performing players can act as childish as they like, disrespect the game at their bidding and expect no consequences for their actions.

I’ve disagreed with Piniella’s managerial style and decisions in the past.  And will likely do so in future.  But, if I’m acting like the south end of a horse going north, Piniella or anyone else has my blessing on pointing me in the right direction.  And I won’t hold it against them.

But, like everything else that seems to enter the Cubs’ world, there’s a mixture of good and bad news.  Giving the worse first, the Cubs meet the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies,  a team as solid from top to bottom as there is in the National League.

On the bright side, in playing the Phillies in a three-game set, there’s no better yardstick for the Cubs to measure themselves than facing a championship ball club.  There’s no better time than the present to find out whether there’s stagger or swagger left in these Cubs steps with a bit more than two months of baseball left.

Especially after the quadfecta the Cubs pulled off against Washington.  What Chicago accomplished was the equivalent of a beer pong shot that lands on top of four cups simultaneously.

And it carried as much impact as a hole-in-one on a Putt-Putt course.

How hapless are the Nats?  Aramis Ramirez cracked his first home run since returning from two months on the disabled list with a dislocated shoulder, and one day after telling reporters not to expect any display of home run power in the coming months.

If that wasn’t enough even Alfonso Soriano managed to break out of a 0-for-eternity home run slump to hit a pair of home runs in the weekend series.  And that after he dislocated his pinky finger sliding into first base in Thursday’s game.

As nice as those wins were, the Cubs needed a reality check.  Unfortunately, those in Cubdom quickly found out that reality bites.

Just one game into their series with Philadelphia, the Cubs came back to earth.  The landing wasn’t for the meek of spirit or the weak of heart.

The Phillies disposed of Chicago, 10-1, and made the Cubs’ lone all-star representative, Ted Lilly, look like he was a mercy pick.  The only thing missing from the pounding was Lilly slamming his glove to the ground ala NLDS 2007.

Regardless of the outcome of the remaining two games, there’s little doubt the Cubs needed this series.  With seven home games coming up against Central Division rivals, Chicago’s mettle and its mental states required a measuring stick.

And if the Phillies happen to sweep the Cubs?  Well, there’s always hope.  That’s something every Chicago Cubs fan is used to.

Injuries, inconsistent play and a general ineptitude at the plate has turned the race for a playoff spot into a daily trek on the treadmill.  Sure, the Cubs have got their miles in, but at the end of the workout have essentially gone nowhere.

Despite it all, the Cubs find themselves in the thick of the Central Division logjam entering tonight’s game with the Washington Nationals.  Chicago joins Milwaukee and Houston for second place and trails division-leading St. Louis by three games.

Not bad for a team that could - and in many ways, should - be making a run for the bottom with Pittsburgh rather than staying within striking distance of a third consecutive Central Division crown.

If nothing else, this 2009 ride has produced one of the stranger seasons in recent and not-so-recent memory.  In some ways it’s reminiscent of the 2006 season when the Cubs all but quit at the end of May after a rash of injuries sidelined key players, including Derrek Lee.

Unlike then, and as frustrating as it has been to watch this team, these Cubs haven’t shown any signs of quit.  Yet.

Maybe there really is such a thing as “Cub swagger,” that mentality manager Lou Piniella vowed to instill when he came to Chicago.  If so, it’s like so many other traits about the Cubs that create the ultimate sports’ love-hate relationship:  They just have a funny way of showing it.

And not to be overlooked in this oddball season, has been the work done by pitching coach Larry Rothschild.  The Cubs staff, despite itself at times, is fourth among National League teams with a 3.75 ERA.  Only division leaders Los Angeles and St. Louis, as well as wild-card leader San Francisco has better team ERAs.

Which makes everyone wonder - from the top of the Cubs organization through the clubhouse and into the midst of Cubdom - where would this team be if even a couple of the bats that were counted on in spring training had come through.  While it’s a waste of good brain matter to ponder, it does, it does bring to the forefront something equally as puzzling: did Hendry really need to go out and spend millions when the organization’s minor league system seems full of capable players?

As of today, the Cubs’ roster includes no less than seven players that weren’t with the parent team when the season started.  For example, Randy Wells is scheduled to start tonight’s game against the Nationals, while Kevin Hart was called up for tomorrow’s series finale.

Now with pitcher Ted Lilly and outfielder Alfonso Soriano ailing, more roster moves are likely.  This Cubs team has had enough players on the disabled list to keep a M.A.S.H. unit busy.

Given the state of Chicago Cubs baseball, injuries and ineptitude and all,  it’s a difficult call to say how the season will progress.  The only thing certain about this 2009 team is that it’s future is undeniably uncertain.

Or to put it more bluntly, a ho-hum 41-41 record.  And as we’re reminded nearly daily, with all the underachieving - not to mention the never-ending parade of injured Cub players to the disabled list - how lucky we are they’ve given us this much.

And the sad truth - from GM Jim Hendry to manger Lou Piniella to each and any of the players - is they’re right.  Both the Chicago Cubs and their fans are “lucky” to have a break-even record and remain within striking distance of the Central Division leaders.

It’s as important to note that the National League Central is probably the weakest division in baseball.  And in case you haven’t looked the Cubs are nearly equal distance from the bottom as they are from the top.

Just be thankful, when the Baseball Gods were aligning divisions the Pittsburgh Pirates were thrown into the Central mix.   And the Pirates brain trust with it.

If the Pirates were able to keep half the players they give away in each season’s fire sale, the club could likely be perennial contenders.  And where would that put the Cubs?

At least Cubdom has Hendry and his Wall Street-like payroll.  And for as little as the Cubs (and its loyal fans) have gotten for their money, so far this season no catcher has come away with a fat lip ala Michael Barrett.

In fact, the only thing Cub batters have been able to hit with consistency has been the Gatorade dispenser.   Even that’s been removed for a less hittable model.

But the Cubs have enough “big names” on their roster to fill any Times Square marquee.  And don’t worry about them going anywhere.  Thanks to Hendry these star-power players have contracts so big and so long that no clear thinking general manager in baseball would be willing to touch them.  Or want to.

These guys are locked in tighter than an AIG bonus and better yet, they’re all of ours to watch and groan over for the next ump-teen years.

Besides a Cubs uniform, there’s no place else where you can find that kind of security - except maybe, Bernie Madoff’s prison cell.

As Hendry has shown us, mediocrity doesn’t come cheap.  There’s a price to pay for kissing your sister and Hendry has proven he’s willing to spend it for that kind of thrill.

Now do you see how lucky we Cub fans are?

When Lou Piniella arrived as Cubs’ manager two-and-a-half seasons ago,  he made it clear that one of his top priorities was instilling a winning attitude.  To hell with this “Lovable Losers” stuff.

He was going to create a new breed  of Cubs player - one that bit back, instead of licking its wounds.  These new Cubs would have confidence and play like it.

They would have … swagger.

And for about a season-and-a-half, I actually believed Piniella could get it done.  Beginning in the second half of the 2007 season and for much of last year, as surprising as it seemed, the Cubs played and acted like a franchise where winning was more of an expectation than an afterthought.

Chicago’s two Central Division titles are testament to it.  The Cubs mental approach to this wonderful game of baseball was equal to their on-field abilities.

For the first time in a long time Chicago Cubs baseball not only realized its potential but fulfilled it.  Well, at least during the course of the regular season they did.

Then came consecutive three-and-outs in the NLDS playoffs.  And perhaps those post-season nosedives can be attributed to contributing to this season’s stagger as much as anything.  After two straight years of folding like a cheap tent in the playoffs, it’s not beyond probability that the Cub swagger has been acting like it’s been taking season-long shots to the groin.

Whatever “swagger” cream Piniella had the players apply, this season has shown its clearly worn off.  The loss of Aramis Ramirez for the past six weeks certainly was a blow.  But winning franchises don’t bemoan setbacks.  They go out and perform despite them.

These are the Cubs, however.  No matter how much money GM Jim Hendry can throw at continually re-building this team or how many marquee names fill the roster.

If Piniella was looking for a miracle to perform he should have chosen something simpler.  Like turning water into wine.  Or making Alfonso Soriano an actual lead-off hitter.  The degree of difficulty has to be less for both.