The Game Of Life

The other day, the Chicago Cubs suspended Milton Bradley for the final 15 games of the season effectively ending his reign of terror and ineptitude. He was by far the worst free-agent signing in the history of Chicago sports. The team can only hope that some General Manager, one stupider than our own Jim Hendry, will take a chance that this once-decent ballplayer might jell with his team like Hendry foolishly thought Bradley might with the Cubs. It could happen but, I doubt it. It could happen if, just to get rid of the clown, the Cubs pay his contract and a GM picks up on that and decides: "What the Hell- he's free..."

Can you imagine a team and a city being so happy to be rid of a guy that they would pay $21 million for him to go away? Or not even play at all? You can if you can imagine a guy who has enough talent to make it to the major leagues but not enough heart or common sense to stay.

In the movie "Field of Dreams", Burt Lancaster played a character named Moonlight Graham, a guy who had played one game in the majors but never got to bat. The season ended, his contract with the New York Giants wasn't picked up and he went off to Minnesota and became a doctor.

There was, in baseball, an actual player named Moonlight Graham who played in one game for the New York Giants in 1905. He did not bat. If a man ever played an inning in the majors, his stats are in the Baseball Encyclopedia. You can look it up. As for him being a ghost and getting a big league at bat with Shoeless Joe Jackson and some other ex-ballplayers who live in a cornfield in the hereafter, well, the official encyclopedia of baseball doesn't cover that. You just gotta believe the movie.

The man played a part of one game in the majors and never got a chance at the plate. But, he was a big leaguer. A ball player. A part of history.

Milton Bradley is in the book too even if he never plays another inning. He, however, is not in the same league as Moonlight Graham or any other man who played the game at it's highest level. You see, Milton Bradley doesn't give a damn about baseball, the city of Chicago or it's fans. He only cares about himself. What a shame. Chicago is the greatest city in the world, home to the greatest fans in baseball, who watch fairly decent teams play year after year in the best ballpark for baseball that there ever was or will be.

Bradley is pissing all that away. He'll collect his $21 million- the Players Association and, perhaps, Al Sharpton will see to that. Fuck him. Take the money. Cash in your dream. You were not worthy anyway.

Late in September of 1905, a young man named Moonlight Graham stood in right field for the New York Giants.

THAT man, was a ballplayer.