Bradley has little to say for Chicago media

PEORIA, Ariz. - Chicago baseball writers looking for a quote from former Cub Milton Bradley got precious little Sunday.

It was little. And it was precious.

Minutes after Bradley's new team, the Seattle Mariners, emerged from a meeting with umpires (no, Bradley was not ejected from the meeting), reporters entered the Mariners' clubhouse hoping for a quick word with Bradley, who was not in the Seattle lineup for the game against the Cubs.

Bradley did not wait for questions.

"No chance," he said as he eyed three newspaper reporters coming toward his locker. "Beat it. You guys ran me out of town. Never again."

A suburban reporter responded by telling Bradley that they didn't run him out of town.

"Peace," Bradley said over his shoulder as he headed for a practice field while finishing getting dressed.

Sunday's game was the only one of the spring between the Cubs and the Mariners. The two teams will meet for interleague play in Seattle from June 22-24.

The Cubs suspended Bradley for the final two weeks of the 2009 regular season for conduct detrimental to the team. The final straw was a dugout confrontation with then-hitting coach Von Joshua in St. Louis and comments by Bradley to the Daily Herald, in which he was critical of the Cubs and Chicago.

Earlier this spring, Bradley and Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said Bradley should "look in the mirror" after Bradley made critical comments about his treatment in Chicago.

Most players on the Cubs were happy that Bradley was traded to the Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva in mid-December. Current Cub Marlon Byrd played with Bradley in Texas two years ago and considers him a friend.

Bradley earlier said he hoped Byrd could do what he couldn't do and enjoy Chicago.

"He wanted to go to Chicago; this was his choice," Byrd said Sunday morning. "This is a great place to play, and he didn't get a chance to enjoy his time here and the atmosphere. He knows the type of guy I am, and he was like, 'Hey, start off slow, start off fast, whatever it is, just enjoy it.' "

One person who disputes the notion that the writers ran Bradley out of Chicago is Cubs manager Lou Piniella, who wanted only a little to do with questions about Bradley.

"I don't think that the media was unfair to anybody," Piniella said. "The amazing thing about Milton is that he played, he played a lot of ballgames, and he played hard when he played.

"Offensively, he didn't do the things that Jim envisioned when we brought him over here. He's a Mariner. We got Silva. He's in our rotation. So let's hope both players have positive impact for both teams."

Bradley seemed to be having a good time Sunday during stretching drills and batting practice, as he worked out with Ken Griffey Jr. Byrd said he didn't necessarily want Bradley to smile more.

"I want him to be him," Byrd said. "In Texas, he didn't smile at all. He put up ungodly numbers. He has to go out there and be himself. That's the only thing he can do, and that's the only way he can play. I want to see him do 162 (games), all out, because he has MVP material."

Since Chicago people didn't ever find out what drives Bradley, Byrd provided his own answer.

"Being great," he said. "He's a perfectionist. Sometimes when he doesn't reach that, he's very tough on himself. I think a lot of guys in baseball are like that."

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