Bradley Injured because of an Ump
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by Romiezzo
Apparantly, Milton Bradley of the San Diego Padres believed umpire Mike Winters made such a bad call that it was worth tearing a ligament in his leg while trying to go after the ump during a 7-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Manager Bud Black spun him around and Bradley is injured, yet again. What a way to end the regular season, huh Bradley?
Anyways, Mike Winters will miss some games as well. In fact, he'll miss the rest of the season. Why? Because Winters used profanity against Bradley from the conclusion made by Major League Baseball's commissioner's office. This was tole by a baseball official 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. Winters became the first umpire suspended since 2003, when Bruce Froemming and John Hirschbeck each were suspended for 10 days. Froemming made an anti-Semitic slur about an umpiring administrator and baseball said Hirschbeck threatened a senior official in the commissioner's office.
According to the commisioner's office, Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, has not decided whether to penalize Bradley or not. 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 didn't mean that much to the Padres anyways, as he batted .167 in September with only 1 home run and 2 RBIs.
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. 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.
What do you guys think? Is the penalty made for Mike Winters too harsh, just right, or too lenient?
