Dear Milton Bradley

Dear Milton Bradley:

You believe that the Cubs fans are racist and that the reason why we dislike you so much is because we are racist fans.  Really?  Well, if that is true then can you explain why we love and respect Derrek Lee so much?  Can you tell us why from 1993-2004 we loved and respected Sammy Sosa in right field the same position you played this year?  Can you explain why Cubs fans loved and respected Andre Dawson from 1987-1990 in right field and, to this day, revere and admire "Hawk"?  Perhaps you can tell me why the racist Cubs fans love and respect Ferguson Jenkins and Billy Williams, too. 

Milton, from the day you arrived in Chicago I knew that you carried more baggage than O'Hare International Airport.  Your outbursts in Cleveland and Los Angeles got you traded to other teams.  You had a great year in 2008 with the Texas Rangers, but I still think that Jim Hendry made a mistake signing you because I know your history and I wouldn't have signed you to play for the Cubs.  Derrek Lee was a Florida Marlin in 2003 and he was on the team that knocked us out of the playoffs and prevented us from our first World Series since 1945.  Yet Lee won over the fans because he's a hard worker, a great player and he's a good person.  However, in 2008 the Cubs signed Jim Edmonds, a former Cardinal, and initially there were some Cubs fans who booed him and didn't accept him as one of us.  Now, it should be noted that Edmonds is white.  Was that racism, Milton?  Or was it that some Cubs fans had a grudge against Edmons because he used to play for our biggest rival? 

Chicago is not a racist town, Milton.  The last time I checked Barack Obama was pretty successful in this town and he carried the state of Illinois in last year's election.  And I know that it wasn't just black people who voted for Obama.  The Cubs fans would have accepted you, Milton, if you just played and kept your mouth shut.  If you would play the game the way Derrek Lee does you never would have had a problem with us and vice versa.  However, you showed your true colors and what we witnessed was more of "Milton being Milton." Blame everyone else for your failures except looking in the mirror.  Right, Milton? 

Milton, I wish you all the best in your future.  But I don't want you back with the Cubs in 2010.  Guys like you are a distraction and you hurt the morale of a team.  If some other team is stupid enough to sign you or acquire you in a trade, let them do it.  I just hope that the Chicago Cubs isn't one of them. 

Sincerely,
Jeff M.