Bud Black was acting very strangely after last night's game in which Bradley was ejected and hurt his knee when Black wrestled him to the ground. Bradley is out for the season.
I watched Black's press conference.
First, Black said he didn't know what the conversation between Bradley and umpire Mike Winters was about. That has to be a lie. He's right there in the dugout, and the argument went on for 3-4 minutes at first base. In addition, he consulted with first base coach Bobby Meacham, who heard every word of the Bradley/Winters argument. Moreover, are you telling me that after the game Black did not talk to Bradley at all? Wouldn't that be strange behavior, considering he is arguably the best hitter on your team? If you were the manager, wouldn't you be curious?
A few minutes later a reporter asked if Bradley was upset about Jeff Francis' pickoff move, and Black emphatically said it had nothing to do with Francis. Oh, Bud, I thought you didn't know what it was about.
Second, a reporter asked if this is the first time he has been in a situation where he had to tackle a player. Black answered with a clipped "No." He did not elaborate.
Third, a different reporter asked if it was the first time he tackled a player who went down and didn't get up again. This time, Black said "I can't remember. Tackle? I was trying to pull Milton away from the argument. That's what I was trying to do. Y'know, I was trying to pull Milton away from the confrontation. I wasn't trying to 'tackle' him."
The reporter said, "it just looked that way." Black said "Did it look as though I was trying to pull him away?" The reporter said "it looked like you were trying to pull him away," and Black interjected "okay" and turned away from the reporter, ignoring the rest of the question.
Black had no problem with the word "tackle" the first time it was used, but then got defensive. And he can't remember if he ever tackled a player on the field and injured him? I've watched a lot of baseball, and I've never seen anything like that. You'd think Black could remember.
Fourth, a reporter said "is it a knee injury?" Black said "Yes. Somethin', yeah, I think. We don't know if that was a pre-existing injury or not." Black doesn't even know what part of his star outfielder is injured? And he suggests that Bradley has a pre-existing knee injury, when it is clear the injury was sustained when Black wrestled him to the ground? It's like Black is afraid he'll get blamed.
He was not confused about Mike Cameron's injury, by contrast.
Finally, a reporter said "Where do you go from here?" referring to coping with the situation. Black looked off to his left and said "Uh, where do we go, San Francisco?" A team official said "San Francisco" and Black said "Yeah." He was being cute with his answer, of course, but when you watch the press conference, it is clear that Black did not know who their next opponent was and needed help remembering. In the middle of a pennant race?
