Bradley needs to lead with bat, not his mouth

Leadership comes in all sorts of sizes, shapes and forms.

The Cubs expect it to come in a 6-foot, 225-pound package of explosives.

You know, as in Milton Bradley, as odd as that seems.

The Cubs figured they needed a bit of edginess in their clubhouse, and Bradley is as edgy as baseball has.

Well, Bradley finally provided the Cubs with some leadership Monday night with a double, a home run and 4 runs batted in against the Pirates.

"Milton had a nice night," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

The problem was that Bradley's teammates, especially the pitchers, didn't follow and the Cubs' 10-8 loss was their eighth straight.

Anyway, when Bradley hits like that he's the presence and personality any major-league team would want.

A couple of extra-base hits and a few RBI and Bradley is considered a pleasure to be around, quite playful and even a little madcap.

Bradley is one of those polar-opposite guys who is a genius when he's hitting and a jerk when he isn't.

Until this game Bradley was more latter than former during his first season with the Cubs. He came to town with a reputation for being flammable and has done little to prove that wrong.

First there was the suspension for an altercation with an umpire. Lately there was more fallout from that incident. In between lingered an undercurrent of tension.

Over the weekend Bradley insisted to a Chicago reporter that umpires are widening his strike zone as retribution for his earlier spat with one of baseball's blue man group.

What a dumb thing to say. Even if it were true, which it probably isn't, it was a dumb thing to say, a senseless Milton Bradley thing to say.

"Nothing good can come of it," said Piniella, himself an incendiary type during his playing days.

All Bradley did by condemning umpires was reveal he was paranoid and imagining another conspiracy theory.

More likely umpires will remain more professional than Bradley is. Somebody has to behave like an adult on the field, right?

"Getting on the umpires is not a good situation," Piniella reiterated.

The truth is, that all will be OK if Bradley produces runs the way the Cubs need him to. If that happens - or when that happens, if you prefer - Bradley's indiscretions and transgressions will be considered self-motivational.

Let's face it, sports teams and sports fans tolerate anything if an athlete helps win games and dare we say championships.

For those 2 at-bats against the Pirates, as Bradley made Wrigley Field's scoreboard dance, he no longer was a distraction waiting to happen.

Instead Bradley was the leader the Cubs needed in the lineup to tie Pittsburgh and then put them ahead in what was destined to be a high-scoring game.

"He wants to do well," Piniella said of Bradley, who came into the game hitting .188. "He probably puts undue pressure on himself."

Maybe Bradley could relieve some of the pressure if he'd just shut up and quit believing that everybody from umpires to fans to the media is out to get him.

Better Bradley should lead with offense rather than by being offensive.

mimrem@dailyherald.com