As a Fan You Know that Some Players Don't Rate

J.D. Drew and Milton Bradley change uniforms almost as often as most people change their socks. If you're a fan of these teams both Drew and Bradley have played for it's a little disturbing to be rooting yourself silly only to find out this player sees fit to play elsewhere more often than not.

More often than not J.D. Drew and Milton Bradley are permanent fixtures on the disabled list. This has to irritate the team owners who willingly shelled out the cash in hopes that just once
the player would pay them back by producing on the field and not spending so much time off of the active roster.

David Jonathan Drew was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and after he got his feet wet for a couple of seasons chose to play with the Atlanta Braves. In the 2004 season, with Atlanta, he hit a career high 31 home runs. You'd have thought he found his place to play but no, the next season he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was in his second and last season, in Los Angeles, that he batted in a career high 100 runs. Again he departed for the riches of Boston Red Sox baseball, where he is currently playing.

Drew's a .280 hitter, having hit .323 in 2001, with St. Louis, in 109 games. The baseball season is 162-games long, but don't tell J.D. Drew because he wants a lot of money even though he will miss 7 weeks of the season. Can you imagine having a job where it would be okay to miss that much time and still expect to be paid handsomely?

Milton Bradley was drafted by the now extinct Montreal Expos and traded to the Cleveland Indians. In 2003, with the Tribe, Bradley batted .321 in 101 games. Again, don't expect Milton to be there for an entire season without spending ample time on the disabled list. He plays when he wants to, know what I mean?

His uniform changes went like this: Montreal, Cleveland, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland and now San Diego. He's good for a month and then he'll take a month off. Then he'll have a nagging injury between his ears. As if someone did something he didn't approve of and suddenly its "trade me somewhere else." And he gets his wish. Teams fawn all over this guy who has never hit 20 homers or driven in 70 runs in a season throughout his career.

It's tough being a fan when the owners of your favorite team signs players like J.D. Drew or Milton Bradley because you know those guys will not be there for the long haul. We like the idea of knowing our players are durable and reliable enough to be counted on for an entire season.
That's not asking a whole lot considering what these bums asked for AND GOT when they were signed by our favorite team.

Unfortunately, some players just don't rate. Such is the life of a fan. It does explain why we do meet people in our life who simply have no interest at all in spectator sports. If most players were like J.D. Drew and Milton Bradley, why would you want to root for the home team?

Kevin Marquez