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Milton Bradley "Overwhelmed"

Milton struggling with Wrigley, and vice versa

By Eamonn Brennan

| Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009 | Updated 1:18 PM CST

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Milton Bradley, in a swing typical of his 2009 season.

For whatever reason, Milton Bradley is struggling. We'd argue that it has less to do with his offseason change of scenery -- when Milton left the Texas Rangers to sign a free agent deal with the Cubs -- than with Bradley's swing. Frankly, Bradley's swing is a mess. He's slow on everything. His head is all over the place. And his approach, which for his entire career has focused on miling at-bats, earning walks, and making solid contact when pitchers make mistakes, appears fundamentally altered. It's a mess.

But with plate struggles -- especially when the player struggling is as emotional as Bradley -- come larger problems. Hence Bradley's run-ins with Lou Piniella in the dugout, the latest of which came when Piniella told Bradley to leave during the seventh inning of a game. That's not usual, and while Piniella and Bradley have both made up, it speaks to some larger issue. Bradley's just not getting along all that well here.

So it makes sense that he would tell WGN-AM that he was "overwhelmed" at being a Cub. Gee, Milton. You think?

But here's the bright side of Bradley's worries: If Cubs fans don't like Bradley, for the most part, it's because he's not hitting. Sure, he has his share of temper-related issues, but this is a city with a wildly popular White Sox manager whose temper is legendary. And what about Piniella? People actively root for him to lose it. It's a big funny thing.

No, the bottom line for Bradley is that if he gets his swing fixed, if he starts hitting the ball, all will be well between he and Cubs fans. Bradley hustles. He clearly cares. His blowups are a result of his anger with himself. No, Bradley will be fine. Hitting, producing, and winning -- those are to heal all wounds.