Andre Dawson, who will be entering the Hall of Fame this year, is a die-hard Cub.  Dawson played for the Chicago Cubs from 1987-1992, winning an MVP trophy even though the team was in the cellar that year.  He’s actually the only player to do that playing for a team in last place, by the way.  Hiss lugging p-ercentage with the Cubs, .507, is the fourth highest in team history (which, when you think about it, is a lot more exciting than if he were fourth in, say, Rangers or Rays history.)

So, Dawson should be headed in as a Cub, right? He’s made it clear that’s his choice, and the stats and achievements he had with the Cubbies are more than adequate.  Instead, however,  he’ll head into Cooperstown as an Expo.  The Montreal team (which is now the Washington Nationals), is the team Dawson came up with.

The HOF used to let people pick their hats, but Wade Boggs changed all that when rumors flew that the Rays offered to pay him to wear their hat.  At the time this was perfectly allowed, and rather than ban it, the Hall of Fame simply decided they would now decide who gets to wear what hat.

We understand the issue that has to do with payment.  Money + baseball player = generally bad, when the money coming in is anything besides straight up salary.  One isn’t quite to Black Sox territory here,  but the slope is a slippery one.

Of course, this could lead to some icky little issues, baseball politics-wise.  For example, let’s say Clemens makes the Hall of Fame.  We’re guessing he’d avoid the whole stupid Yanks-Sox-Jays (Jays? Really?) issue, and choose to go in as an Astro, since that’s his hometown team.  But clearly the guys at the Hall aren’tt aking sentiment into account, if Dawson’s case is anything to go by.

This isn’t the only issue with the Hall of Fame–there’s that whole big performance-enhanced elephant in the room, for starters.  But if history is to be served well by the museum at Cooperstown, players’ preferences should be just as much a part of it as they were when they demanded trades and signed contracts.

The players, after all, are the point, right?

Beyond the fact that that’s supremely unlikely, given the Cubs’ clubhouse woes in general, her comments are still interesting in a way.

“Milton sleeps, eats, and drinks” baseball, according to mom.  Now, that may be, at least in her head, but to us it looks a lot like Milton thinks baseball’s a job.  Maybe a job he loves doing, and doing well.  But not a job he loves the culture of or the coworkers in.  He’s not the guy playing cards with teammates, let alone the guy pulling pranks.

He goes to work, works, and goes home.

Work and play are separate for guys like Bradley, and while that doesn’t get in the way of his production when he’s happy with his situation, we imagine it can feel fairly alienating in a workplace where the point’s to play a game.

As for his mom, seems like a sweet lady, no?

Milton Bradley, the angry guy with the boardgame name, has been suspended by the Cubs for the rest of the season after comments including saying he understood why they hadn’t won a championship in a hundred years.

Oops.

Explosive outfielder Milton Bradley reached out to the Cubs in the off-season as a free agent, and then signed a three year, 30 million dollar contract.  He was excited about playing in the Windy City, and Chicago was excited about the possibility of the left-handed bat that last year’s playoff sweep showed them they need so desperately.

But Bradley and Chi-town just weren’t a fit.  He hated the small clubhouse that kept media members hovering around him even when they didn’t want quotes.  He hated the media scrutiny that comes with playing for the championship-starved Cubbies.  He kept to himself and was a loner in a friendly, laidback clubhouse.

Bradley may or may not be one of those infamous “clubhouse cancer” type guys.  Certainly, he’s had his share of meltdowns.  But to us he looks more like a guy who thinks baseball’s a job.  He wants to play, he wants to win…and then he wants to go home.

Tactlessness aside, none of that’s a crime.  We hope someone gives him a chance.  Just, maybe not someone in a big giant media crunch type market…(hear that, Boston?)

NL East

The Phillies just lost three games and are still four games up in this race, but they’ve been up and down all year.  We think that the roller-coaster ride has made them tough enough to stick this race out.  Pedro Martinez is coming to this club, and he’s a playoff persona to be reckoned with even outside of his pitching.  The addition can fire up a team that has at times lacked fire.  We think they’ve got it.

NL Central

Sure, St. Louis is leading, and they have Pujols.  We know that, we get it, he’s perhaps the most purely talented player of all time, etc. etc.  The Cubs have a homestand coming up in which they have to play the Phillies for three.  If they get through that, they get Pittsburgh and then San Diego, and we’d love to think they’ll take advantage and take some steps to actually winning a World Series for once in their poor, benighted lives, but winning the NL Central this year just ain’t to be for the Cubs, much as we hate to agree with Cards fans.  St. Louis’ schedule for the rest of August features two sets of games with the Padres and some tilts against the Nationals.  They spend much of the rest of the year playing Pittsburgh and Houston, guys. You just can’t bet against the Cards, here. Even if you really, really want to.

NL West

The Dodgers started off the year with a fabulous record and a big, silly scandal.  Now, the scandal is over and they’re playing better ball, percentage-wise, than any team in baseball not in pinstripes.  However, they have a lot of big series coming up: Chicago, St. Louis, and Colorado for the rest of this month.  We think they’ll come through, though–in part because September is such smooth sailing.  They’ll be happy to see the Pirates, Diamondbacks and Nationals, and they’ll run away with the division, no matter how often Troy Tulowitski hits for the cycle.  End of debate.

NL Wild Card

Every year, the Astros make a run for the wild card that is miraculous in nature and takes place after the All Star break.   This year, they came roaring out of the break…and then went back to playing their usual .500 ball.  Let’s be honest: if they hadn’t made a run in each of the past few years, they wouldn’t even be in this paragraph.  Moving on.  Colorado, San Francisco, and the Cubs are the real contenders here.   We’re giving a very slight edge to the Giants–they’re hungry, which we feel is key in wild card races, they’ve got Lincecum, and even Zito is settling in.  Also, Randy Winn is playing for them.  We didn’t know he was still alive, but since he is, his veteran presence will do a lot for some of the young ‘uns.  Giants it is.