We Don't Hate You, Milton Bradley...You Just Stink

On Tuesday, after an embarrassing 15-6 loss to the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley said he feels "hatred" from Cubs fans and the city of Chicago.

"When I go home and look in the mirror, I like what I see. My family is there I have people I can talk to who are very supportive, in spite of everything and all the adversity and the hatred you face on a daily basis. But I'll be all right. I always have.

"I'm talking about hatred, period. I'm talking about when I go to eat at a restaurant. I've got to listen to the waiters badmouthing me at another table, sitting in a restaurant. That's what I'm talking about. Everything."

I don’t condone talking behind someone’s back, or badmouthing them in public. Cubs fans don’t hate you, but at the ballpark, come on Milton, what did you expect?

You signed a three-year, $30 million deal in the offseason. That’s more than $61,000 per game to play baseball. Each game you earn more than most of us make in a year. Think about that for a minute.

And that’s assuming you play 162 games, which we all know is nothing more than a pipe dream with your injury history. The economy is terrible, yet fans are still paying $50 or more per ticket and $6.50 per beer to come watch you play. When you don’t perform, they are going to get upset.

You’ve hit 11 home runs so far this year, which have cost the Cubs just under $1 million each, and your 35 RBI are currently coming at a cost of over $285,000 apiece. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

The Cubs brought you in because they needed left-handed hitting, yet you are batting just .238 from the left side. Teams are walking Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez in order to face you from the left side. Not good.

There isn’t much to complain about your fielding, with just three errors in 90 games, but there was the good old "throwing the ball into the stands with just two outs" incident against Minnesota in June.

All those stats give us Cubs fans good reason to be upset with you, but what you also need to realize is that you’re part of an offseason overhaul that has dramatically worsened a 97-win Division champion.

Thanks to your signing, the Cubs traded fan-favorite Mark DeRosa, who, to rub salt in our wounds, is now playing for the playoff-bound rival St. Louis Cardinals. His replacement, Aaron Miles, is batting just .177 with no homers and five RBI, and has made two trips to the DL. While that isn’t your fault, it doesn’t really help your cause.

To top it all off, with fewer than 40 games left in the season, the Cubs are all but out of it, trailing St. Louis by nine games in the Central Division and facing a seven-and-a-half game deficit in the Wild Card.

So, Milton, as a Cubs fan, I’m sorry you feel hatred aimed toward you. You were brought into a situation with extremely high expectations that you barely had a chance to meet.

So yes, I feel disappointment, aggravation, frustration, but not hatred. We’re not out to get you, Milton. We just want you to play baseball better.

This article originally posted on Cubicle GM.

All quotes taken from ESPN Chicago.