Milton Bradley’s Mom should let Milton do the Talking

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

In September, the General Manager of the Chicago Cubs (Jim Hendry) decided that he had enough of Milton Bradley and sent him home for the remainder of the season due to “conduct that was detrimental to the team.” The decision was made towards the end of the season after Milton made some disparaging comments about the Chicago Cubs franchise and their fans.

This has been a disappointing year for Milton Bradley and the Chicago Cubs. After the 2008 regular season, the Cubs were the heavy favorite to win the NL Pennant only to be eliminated in the first round of the MLB playoffs. During the offseason, the Cubs tried to address what they considered to be a big weakness in their lineup, which was a lack of power from their left handed hitters. As such, they made a big push to sign Milton Bradley, the talented outfielder with a checkered past of anger issues and bouncing around between multiple franchises. Bradley was fresh off a huge 2008 campaign with the Texas Rangers making the All Star Team when he hit .321 and has an OPS of .999. The Cubs signed him to a multi-million dollar three year deal which had many baseball fans and executives scratching their heads. Nobody can question Bradley’s on field talents, but after having anger management issues and other off the field distractions, many wondered if he would fit in with the Cubs.

Bradley’s 2009 stats are a far cry from the 2008 numbers he put up. His average is .257 and his OPS is .775 while only appearing in 124 games. After Bradley was sent packing for the remainder of the season, on Sept 23rd ESPN.com ran a story that based upon the subject matter really surprised me. Milton Bradley’s mother came out in the media and tried to defend her son’s actions.

As a parent, I know it is hard to draw boundaries at times when it comes to your children. All parents want to defend their children, no matter what they do, because we love them unconditionally. However, as a professional athlete that is being paid a substantial amount of money, isn’t it time to step back and allow your son to do the talking to explain his actions? At Baseball Factory, we encourage our high school players to address confrontation head on with their coaches or teammates and advise parents to step into the background. At some point, the students need to learn to interact with authority figures and deal with these situations. As a Major Leaguer, isn’t Milton ready to step up and be accountable for what he says and does? I imagine that his mother felt she was trying to do right by Milton, but it just isn’t appropriate in my mind for her to do this. If she was questioned by the media, the simple answer could have been to say that it is more appropriate for Milton to answer these questions.

Even though as parents we are well intentioned, sometimes we do more harm than good when we try to help our kids. While it is in our nature to step up and help our kids when they are in need, sometimes no action is the best course of action.

Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

Position Changes…How to Deal With Them as a Parent

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

I think the idea of a player being asked to change positions and play somewhere new on the field can be more traumatizing for the parent of the player then the player himself. I just got back from the Baseball Factory’s Omaha Training and Tournament and met with a number of parents where the topic of position changes came up. When a particular player was asked to play a different position on the field (versus his normal primary or secondary position), I heard the following comments:

Parent 1: Why would he be asked to play anywhere other than shortstop? He is the best shortstop on the team.
Parent 2: He has never played the other positions, so it is really unfair to ask him to play somewhere he is not comfortable.
Parent 3: Why would you put a player in a brand new position and one that he is not used to?

One of our philosophies at Baseball Factory is to try and use our events to help prepare players for their college experience. College programs very often recruit center fielders and shortstops and then place them all around the field in certain spots depending upon how their tools play. For the recruited high school shortstops, the best hands and feet usually go to Short and Second (with the better arm playing short). The guy with the most power and limited defensive skills goes to first and the one with less range and strong hitting skills may go to third.

This happened to me in college when I played at the University of Pennsylvania. As a freshman, I started mostly every game at shortstop after having played SS my entire career. As a sophomore, I got moved to third base because we had a transfer student come in with exceptional defensive skills that played short. After a First Team All-Ivy season as a Sophomore at 3B, for my junior year, I was used primarily as a designated hitter, because we had a pretty good freshman infielder come in that year. You may recognize his name since he is the current second baseman for the Chicago Cubs (Mark Derosa). As a Senior, I split time between 3B and DH because we had another exceptional middle infielder added to our club as a freshman that made first team All-Ivy that year. I still wound up earning 2nd Team All Ivy Honors as a Senior.
Players need to be prepared to be moved around the field for a variety of reasons. Maybe your son is a primary pitcher that also plays shortstop in high school. In college, you will never see a RHP/SS. All two-way players that pitch wind up playing another secondary position like OF, 1B, or DH to help save their arm. Maybe his baseball tools have him better served to be a corner infielder than a middle infielder. Maybe someone on his team got injured and in order to get his bat in the lineup, the manager needs to use him in a different spot on the field. Be flexible and he will have a chance to gain more playing time.

For parents, as your son advances up the ranks past high school baseball and into college, start to understand that things may change, including his postion. Try not to get all bent out of shape and understand that as the game speeds up, his tools may play better at another spot on the field. From my personal experience, keeping an open mind and living up to the challenge of playing a new spot on the field was a great learning exercise for me. I enjoyed playing 3B and DH-ing much more than I would have enjoyed sitting on the bench and watching someone else play shortstop!


Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

Playoffs Disappointing for Top Teams

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

The Cubs and Angels came into the playoffs as the consensus favorites for both leagues, but will have to wait until next year for another shot at the title. As the divisional round of the playoffs come to a close, let’s take a look at each series:

Cubs vs. Dodgers
What happened? The Cubs were the best team in the National League for most of, if not all of the regular season, yet they looked more like the Seattle Mariners during their series against the Dodgers. As a team, they struggled on offense, especially their top players. Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto were 5-36 combined in the series. It didn’t help that they committed six errors during the three game sweep, including four errors during Game Two.

On the other hand, the Dodgers are looking more and more like the team to beat. Led by Manny Ramirez, the series never looked in doubt. With arguably the best bullpen left in the playoffs, the Dodgers can see a title getting closer and closer.

Phils vs. Brewers
Not quite as lopsided, the Phils were able to take advantage of a Brewers team that seemed to run out of steam. This time, C.C. Sabathia wasn’t able to deliver on three days rest. He has been a machine during the last month of the season, basically putting the Brewers on his back and carrying them into the playoffs. In the end, pitching performances by Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Joe Blanton led the Phils into the NLCS. The starting pitchers for the Phils gave up only five runs in 25 innings. Mix in key two out home runs by Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell and the Brewers were overmatched.

Rays vs. White Sox
Similar to the Phils/Brewers series, this one never truly seemed in doubt. The Rays looked very strong in taking games one and two in Tampa. Good performances by the starting pitchers and especially by the bullpen, plus timely hitting from Evan Longoria, Akinori Iwamura and B.J. Upton. The White Sox seemed a bit worn down after battling the Twins for the AL Central crown. They even admitted after the series that they lost to a better team in the Rays.

“They played better than us. There’s no doubt. They pitched better. They execute better. They got big hits,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “They really did a tremendous job.”

Whether right or wrong, Guillen is never shy to voice his opinion. This time he got it spot on.

Angels vs. Red Sox
What a great series, especially if you are a Red Sox fan. Each game was close and exciting. Game One was dominated by two aces, Jon Lester for the Red Sox and John Lackey for the Angels. Lackey made one mistake, giving up a two-out home run to Jason Bay. Lester didn’t make a mistake, striking out seven while walking only one. In game two, J.D. Drew returned from injury to hit a two-run game winning home run in the top of the ninth. The home run came off of Francisco Rodriguez, the Angels closer who in 2008 set the single season record for saves in a season with 62.

The Angels pulled out a 12th inning victory over the Red Sox as the series returned to Boston for Game Three, setting up even more suspense for Game Four. Lester and Lackey returned to duel again and once more, Lester got the better of the matchup. Lester went another strong seven innings giving up no runs while striking out four. Lackey again gave up two runs to the Red Sox and left the game behind. The Angels rallied and got two runs off the Red Sox bullpen, but in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Jed Lowrie came through with an RBI single, driving in Bay who had doubled.

Both League Championship Series should provide us with some suspense and fireworks. The Red Sox and Rays are very familiar with each other and there is no love lost. The Dodgers are arguably the hottest team in baseball, but are going up against a team and a city that are anxious for a championship.



Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.

Wrigley Field Here We Come!

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

On Sunday August 17th, The Baseball Factory is powering the Under Armour All America Game at Wrigley Field. It is the first time that a high school game has been played at Wrigley Field. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, with the honorary first pitch coming from Mr. Cub (Ernie Banks) at 1:20 PM CST.

The game features the 36 best high school players in the nation. The players in attendance were either seen at a Baseball Factory or Team One Event, or were highly recommended by our network of professional scouts. These players should all go on to have fine college or professional careers.

As a parent, I can’t imagine the joy and pride I would feel if my child was selected for such a prestigious honor. To be recognized as one of the best 36 players in the nation is truly remarkable. With 450,000 kids playing high school baseball in the United States, these 36 players represent the top .01% of our nation’s high school crop of baseball players.

Good luck to all the players in attendance. I would be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t very excited for the festivities and to see the players perform. I also want to thank Under Armour and the Chicago Cubs for their support of the event. It has been a great collaborative effort between our three organizations to put on this program.

Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.