Adding Injury to Insults, Bradley Done for a While

A number of Dodger meetings in the owner’s office and clubhouse were followed by an announcement Wednesday night that outspoken outfielder Milton Bradley has an 80% tear of the patella tendon in his left knee and probably will spend the rest of the season on the disabled list.

The development came one day after Bradley ignored an order from Manager Jim Tracy and escalated a simmering dispute with teammate Jeff Kent by accusing the veteran second baseman of a litany of failings that included not communicating well with African Americans and spending too much time alone in a corner of the clubhouse.

Tracy said he told Bradley “vehemently” in a closed-door meeting to keep the feud “in-house,” but Bradley conducted an extensive interview with reporters in front of his locker.

Owner Frank McCourt and General Manager Paul DePodesta met with Bradley before Tuesday’s game and again Wednesday. But between the meetings Bradley was examined by team physician Frank Jobe and the damage to his knee was diagnosed.

The injury saved the Dodgers from having to decide whether to discipline Bradley for his comments and for disobeying Tracy. Bradley requested a second opinion on his knee and will visit Dr. Timothy Kremchek in Cincinnati as soon as Friday.

Bradley left Dodger Stadium after his 3:30 meeting with McCourt and DePodesta and was unavailable for comment. The two Dodger executives then held a lengthy closed-door meeting with the rest of the team.

“We made it clear to everybody, certainly not just Milton, what the expectations are in being a Dodger and what the values are in this organization,” DePodesta said. “We all have a sense of what it means to be a Dodger. We all know what this organization has stood for, more than any organization in all of sports.”

DePodesta refused to speculate whether Bradley would have been subject to disciplinary action had he not been injured.

“We feel confident that we’ve addressed the problem in a number of ways,” he said. “I’m not going to answer a hypothetical.

“There have been other incidents that have gone on with the club. I’m not in a position to take sides and justify anybody’s comments.”

Kent, the Dodgers’ most productive hitter, said after the team met with McCourt and DePodesta that he was satisfied with the way the situation was handled.

“I’m aware that the organization is trying to make an effort to resolve the problem,” he said. “This organization has honor, respect and integrity and is continuing that.”

However, a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Kent and his agent expressed concerns to Dodger management Sunday that Bradley might make explosive comments when the team began its homestand Tuesday.

The dispute surfaced after Saturday’s game at Miami when Kent questioned Bradley about whether he ran as hard as he could on a double hit by Kent. Bradley, who represented the go-ahead run, stopped at third on the play.

Bradley responded angrily, knocked over a chair in the clubhouse and spoke to reporters about the incident after meeting with Tracy. The next day Bradley had three hits and pointed to the Dodger dugout after sprinting from first to third on an infield pop fly.

“I was just checking in and making sure my hustle was up to par,” he said sarcastically after the game.

On Monday, Bradley injured his knee when he hit the bag running out a ground ball. He left the game and has not played since. After his widely publicized comments about Kent on Tuesday, he tested the knee during batting practice and told Tracy he couldn’t play. Moments before game time, he was told to report to McCourt’s office.

“What distinguishes this is its public nature,” McCourt said during an interview Wednesday on KPCC radio. “Several things were said, and if they had the opportunity to take those things back, they would. Words can be harmful.”

McCourt has backed Bradley during several incidents, including when he was suspended for the final five games last season after he slammed a plastic bottle at the feet of a fan at Dodger Stadium after someone threw the bottle on the field.

Bradley also had a verbal skirmish with an L.A. Times reporter and has had several brushes with police. He served three days in jail during the off-season, but went through anger management classes and said he had learned his lesson.

“I know I’ve said it before, but I had the same stubborn mind-set for so long,” he said during an April interview with The Times. “I was saying it, but not living it.

“All I can do is keep going out there and proving it, one day, then the next day, then the next. One by one, those people on the fence will learn to support me and support the Dodgers for supporting me.”

Bradley appeared calm throughout most of the 2005 season.

He got off to a hot start but went on the disabled list May 30 because of a torn ligament in his left ring finger and was sidelined for more than seven weeks. In 75 games, he is batting .290 with 13 home runs and 38 runs batted in.

Kent is batting .294 with team-high totals of 22 home runs and 83 runs batted in. He leads the National League with a .376 average with runners in scoring position.

Tracy said he tried to get Bradley and Kent together Monday to discuss their problems, but they refused.

“Because of the feelings and anger we asked ourselves what else could come from [a meeting] until things settled down and cooler heads prevailed,” Tracy said.

The intensity of the anger between the players took Tracy by surprise.

He said that only a week ago they sat together in the training room at Atlanta and discussed how to approach their at-bats against Brave starter John Thomson.

“I wasn’t aware of any tension between the two,” Tracy said. “They had a marvelous conversation, then Milton hit a three-run home run against Thomson.”