Bleachers Other Sports When Ballplayers Attack
| 04 May 2009
Legend has it that Ty Cobb was the biggest asshole the history of baseball. He was a notoriously arrogant and violently racist drunk and that was all before even stepping on to the field. The bad-tempered, lightning-quick Detroit Tigers star of the early 1900's was known for sliding into second base with his spikes up. He may rank as the most antisocial personality in Major League Baseball history. In a professional sport with such a long tradition that's really saying something.
Here are some guys from recent years who've participated in America's pastime while walking the lines of legality and professionalism. From an outfielder with a penchant for woman beating to several guys known for frequent fights with umpires to a gangbanger turned All-Star who is alleged to have cut a off cat's head in a fit of rage, some of these players are known as much for their talents as being cancers on a clubhouse. If put on the same team, things would certainly get interesting.
Milton Bradley, in his first at-bat for the Chicago Cubs this season, was given a standing ovation by fans at Wrigley Field. It was a bases loaded situation and a big spot for the Cubs but instead of getting a big hit, Bradley ended up getting himself tossed after arguing a called strike three. It was merely one of many incidents in which Bradley's rage has gotten the better of him. In 2007, with his San Diego Padres leading the NL West by a few games, Bradley was injured while being restrained by his manager during an argument with an umpire. The Padres would end up coughing up the lead to the Rockies. Two seasons prior, the outfielder went ape shit in a home game for the Dodgers and threw a dozens of baseballs out on the field following an difference of opinions with an umpire. Although Bradley made it to the All-Star game last year with the Texas Rangers, he is currently on his seventh team in just 10 seasons, the mark of a burdensome personality in any clubhouse. In his own house, Bradley's explosive personality has gotten him in trouble with police, who intervened during an alleged assault of his wife, who was pregnant at the time. Bradley may have problems with authority figures in addition to umpires. He has also been arrested for disorderly conduct after interfering with police in a separate incident while playing with the Cleveland Indians.
Carl Everett to my knowledge has been arrested only once - for failing to intervene while his wife was beating their children while he was on the Mets. The charges were later dropped. The vociferous and sometimes violent outfielder had a decent career but one could only speculate where it may have taken him were it not for an incredibly bad attitude. In a 14-season career, Everett played for eight different clubs due in part to the fact that he burned bridges with fans and teammates very quickly. The most enduring memory of his career was a 2000 incident in which Everett head butted home plate umpire Bill Kulpa at Fenway Park in a game against the Mets. Kulpa had ruled his notoriously closed batting stance was too far over the plate. Up to that point Everett was well-liked by the obnoxious fans at Fenway Park, but it appears even they took exception to his extended conniption fit when he tossed his own first base coach out of the way for trying to restrain him. The switch-hitting Everett would help the Chi-Sox win the World Series five years later, but will be known instead for denying the existence of dinosaurs and a tirade against gays and lesbians he gave to Maxim magazine.
Elijah Dukes temperament and frequent legal problems make him more suited for the NFL than professional baseball. I'm not sure if the Elias Sports Bureau keeps records on this type of thing, but I would imagine he is the most arrested guy in baseball history. Dukes has been in trouble with law enforcement a dozen times, for offenses including assault and battery. The most frequent targets of his violent outbursts are unfortunately women, most usually the mothers of his children (Dukes has sired five children with four different women). Along with his fists, Dukes has used remote controls and Gatorade bottles as his weapons. After the Tampa Bay Devil Rays traded him the Washington Nationals hired an ex-cop to accompany him around and keep him out of trouble. He has shown some promise on the league's worst team but no matter how well he does, will likely be known for his bad behavior.
Ambiorix Burgos' short tenure in the majors was marked with wildness but also potential. When he was in control, the former Royal and Mets relief pitcher could dial it up into the high 90's. Unfortunately, Burgos will likely never play another professional game in his career if prosecutors in the Dominican Republic manage to have him put away for the hit-and-run deaths of two women last fall. Burgos allegedly ran them over with his Hummer and hightailed it out of sight before turning himself into the police. Prior to that, the 24-year-old fireballer had been arrested in the States for beating his girlfriend. Most-recently, while awaiting trial for the hit-and-run, Burgos allegedly tried to shoot a man in a dispute over a game of dominos. This winter the Mets declined to offer him a new contract.
Brett Myers of the Phillies and his manager Charlie Manuel got into it last season. The details are sketchy, but apparently the incident turned physical. Although one should bristle at the thought of a 28-year-old going a man more than twice his age, at least it's a step up from two years prior, when Myers was arrested for beating his wife outside of Fenway Park. If any player in the major leagues could or should be allowed to wear a pinstriped, beer stained tank top during a game it's the burly pitcher, who according to witnesses did a pretty savage number on her. The following year he attacked a beat writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer for noting a few poor pitching performances. Myers looks like the type of guy who would be cuffed outside of a trailer on Real Stories of the Highway Patrol.
Kevin Mitchell beat the odds as a teenage gang member in the San Diego area to reach the Major Leagues and play an important role in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Unfortunately, though you can take a gang member out of a gang, you can't always take the lead out of the member. Mitchell was shot on more than one occasion because of his illicit activity. A decent ballplayer who would win an MVP in 1989, Mitchell was known for an explosive temper as much as anything else. Teammate Dwight Gooden recalls an afternoon during their World Championship season when Mitchell held him and teammate Darryl Strawberry hostage during a dispute with his live-in girlfriend. Mitchell is alleged to have decapitated his girlfriend's cat before the incident ended. He denies the story more than 20 years later and accuses Gooden of seeking material for his biography while trying to deflect from his own sordid past. Still, the incident notwithstanding, Mitchell was not always a pleasant character and bounced from nine different teams in a 14 year career. The pudgy outfield has had run-ins with the law for allegedly assaulting his father. As the manager of a minor league ball club, Mitchell also was arrested for clocking the owner of an opposing team.
Matt Bush is hardly a player who most baseball fans know about. Were it not for the fact that he appears to have torched his own career before even stepping into a Major League game he would not be noteworthy at all. A top draft pick in 2004, Bush focused less of his attentions on playing shortstop in the Padres organization than getting in fights at bars and night clubs. He was eventually being released by the organization for beating up a high school freshman this year. During the incident, he is alleged to have shouted "I'm Matt fucking Bush", which is kinda awesome, actually. Most recently, Bush, who was converted into a pitcher, was released by the Toronto Blue Jays organization for violating their personal conduct policy. It would be a miracle of Josh Hamilton proportions if he is to ever show the promise for which he was drafted.
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