Montreal Expos (1996–2001) Bradley began his professional baseball career with the
GCL Expos of the
Gulf Coast League in 1996; in 32 games, he batted .241 with 27
hits. The following season, he played nine games for the GCL Expos and 50 for the
Vermont Expos, a
short season affiliate of the Montreal Expos. For Vermont, he was named to the postseason
New York–Penn League All-Star team. In 1998, he played for the
Cape Fear Crocs and the
Jupiter Hammerheads, tying for the Croc team lead in
doubles with 21 while hitting .302 for the Crocs and .287 for the Hammerheads. While playing for the
Harrisburg Senators the next season, he was suspended seven games for starting a fight after he had been hit by a pitch. He also played for the silver medal-winning United States in the
1999 Pan American Games. Finishing 76–66, the Senators played the
Norwich Navigators for the
Eastern League championship. The series was tied two games to two in a best-of-five series. In the final game, Bradley hit a
walk-off grand slam with two outs and a
full count, in the bottom of the ninth inning, to give the Senators a 12–11 win. During the next season, after playing in 88 games for the
Ottawa Lynx, he was promoted to the major league club and made his MLB debut on July 19, 2000. In his debut, he hit three straight
singles against the
New York Mets; and for the season, he batted .221 with 15 RBIs over 42 games played. On July 31 of that year, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians to serve as a possible replacement for
Kenny Lofton; in exchange, the Expos received right-handed pitcher Zach Day. In addition to the 30 games he played for the Bisons, he also played 10 games for the major league Indians. On April 15, 2002, he was placed on the
disabled list (DL) following an
appendectomy a day earlier at
St. Anthony's Hospital in
St. Petersburg, Florida. He went on the disabled list again on May 2 with a broken
orbital bone and a scratched
iris After a rehabilitation stint of six games with the Bisons, he was reactivated by the Indians on June 4 and finished the season with a .249 batting average, 38 RBIs and nine home runs. He pleaded not guilty to speeding and fleeing charges on September 12, but was sentenced to a three-day jail term. The ruling was upheld by the
Supreme Court of Ohio in December 2004. On November 19, 2003, he signed a one-year, $1.73 million contract with the Indians for the Indians to avoid
salary arbitration with him. During 2004
spring training, manager
Eric Wedge pulled Bradley from a game for not running out a
popup He was subsequently banned from training camp, and the Indians decided to trade him as soon as possible. On April 3, 2004, he was traded to the Dodgers for
Franklin Gutiérrez and a player to be named later (
Andrew Brown); the
Akron Beacon Journal later reported that Wedge had insisted that Bradley be traded.
Los Angeles Dodgers (2004–2005) In his first game with the Dodgers, playing
center field, Bradley went 2-for-3, with two singles and two walks. On June 1, he was ejected from a game by home plate umpire
Terry Craft for arguing over
balls and strikes. After being restrained by manager
Jim Tracy, he returned to the dugout and threw a ball bag onto the field. Bradley was suspended for four games and Tracy for one game. On September 19, he hit a 479-foot home run against the
Colorado Rockies in
Coors Field. On September 28, during a home game against the Rockies, Bradley mishandled a
line drive and was charged with an
error. A fan threw a bottle at Bradley, who left his position in right field, picked up the bottle and threw it into the stands, yelling at the fan. Bradley was immediately ejected from the game. The next day, MLB suspended him for the remainder of the season and fined him an undisclosed amount. In postseason play, he hit .273 with a home run while the Dodgers lost the
National League Division Series to the
St. Louis Cardinals three games to one. He finished the 2004 season batting .267 with 19 home runs and 67 RBIs, but was
caught stealing 11 times, tying for eighth most in MLB. During the offseason, Bradley went through
anger management counseling. In a game against the
San Francisco Giants on April 12, 2005, he drove in two runs with a single to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, the winning run then scoring on
Jason Ellison's error in the same play. On August 25, 2005, after hitting .290 with 38 RBIs in 75 games, he was put on the 15-day DL with a torn
patellar tendon and
anterior cruciate ligament which rendered him inactive for the remainder of the season. On December 13, 2005, the Dodgers traded him to the Oakland Athletics along with
infielder Antonio Pérez for outfielder prospect
Andre Ethier.
Oakland Athletics (2006–2007) In his first season with the Oakland Athletics, Bradley posted a .276 batting average with 14 home runs and 52
runs batted in, in a part-time role. He went on the 15-day DL on May 11, 2006, for a strained oblique muscle and a sprained right knee. On July 30, he hit a three-run walk-off home run to beat the
Toronto Blue Jays with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. During game four of the
2006 American League Championship Series versus the
Detroit Tigers, Bradley became the third player in MLB history to hit home runs from each side of the plate in a postseason game, joining
Bernie Williams and
Chipper Jones. For the series, he went nine-for-eighteen with two home runs and five RBIs. On June 21, 2007, the Athletics
designated him for assignment. A trade completed the next day, which would have sent Bradley to the
Kansas City Royals for
Leo Núñez, was voided by the Royals because Bradley had sustained an oblique injury in his last game as an Athletic. He was then traded to the San Diego Padres on June 29, with cash, in exchange for Andrew Brown; it was the second time those two players had been traded for each other.
San Diego Padres (2007) Bradley started his tenure with the Padres on the 15-day DL, but came off it on July 7; in July, he batted .364 with four home runs and 12 RBIs in 18 games.
Home plate umpire
Brian Runge reportedly told Bradley that Winters said that he had tossed his bat in Runge's direction in a previous
at-bat. Winters was suspended for the remainder of the season and also spent the postseason on the restricted list for the incident, after MLB determined that he had indeed directed obscene language toward Bradley. Bradley was not suspended, MLB finding no need for such discipline since he did not make physical contact with Winters.
Texas Rangers (2008) After the 2007 season, Bradley agreed to a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers. He announced in early January 2008 that he expected to be healthy and ready to play in the season opener. As the Rangers'
designated hitter, he led the AL in on-base percentage (.436) and on-base plus slugging (.999), and was third in batting average (.321). On making the All-Star game, he stated, "If I somehow miraculously made it to the All-Star Game, I would be floored. I'd really be totally humbled by that. I'm just happy right now to play, to produce and to be with a good group of guys." He was selected to play in his first All-Star Game in 2008 as a designated hitter (DH) after being officially selected as a DH reserve, but due to an injury to
David Ortiz he became the starting DH in the
2008 MLB All-Star Game. According to
The Dallas Morning News Bradley attempted to confront
Kansas City Royals television announcer
Ryan Lefebvre in the
press box following a June 2008 game for what he believed were unfair comments made on the air. As the Rangers' designated hitter, Bradley watched the broadcast when he was not batting and took offense to a comparison Lefebvre made between him and
Josh Hamilton.
Chicago Cubs (2009) On January 8, 2009, Bradley signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the
Chicago Cubs. He was issued a two-game suspension for making contact with umpire
Larry Vanover while arguing a strike call on April 16, which was reduced to one game on appeal. During an interleague game against the
Minnesota Twins on June 12, he caught a routine fly ball in right field and threw it into the stands, believing it was the third out of the inning when there were only two outs, with runners on third and first base. The umpire allowed the runner on third to score as a
sacrifice fly, and allowed the runner on first to advance to third (two bases are awarded to each runner at the time of throw when a wild throw goes out of bounds). Piniella later apologized to Bradley, and reinserted him back into the lineup during the team's next start. On September 20, 2009, Cubs general manager
Jim Hendry suspended Bradley for the remainder of the season after Bradley, in an interview with the
Daily Herald, stated the team lacked a "positive environment", that there were "too many people everywhere in your face with a microphone asking the same questions repeatedly" and that "[y]ou understand why [the Cubs] haven't won in 100 years here". In response, Hendry stated he would not "tolerate [Bradley] not being able to answer questions from the media respectably." Bradley later apologized to the Cubs organization for his remarks. For the Cubs, Bradley hit .257 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs
Seattle Mariners (2010–2011) Bradley was part of a flurry of offseason moves by the Mariners in hopes of returning to the playoffs, having not reached the postseason since 2001. On May 4, 2010, he removed himself from a game, without permission, and left the stadium after an "angry exchange" with Mariners manager
Don Wakamatsu after Bradley struck out with the bases loaded. The Mariners placed Bradley on the restricted list on May 6, and activated Bradley from the restricted list on May 19. He ended the season on the DL after having been placed there on July 31, retroactive to July 27, prior to
arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to repair a lateral meniscus tear on August 17. He finished the 2010 season batting .205, with eight home runs and 29 RBIs over 73 games played. The Mariners released Bradley on May 16. ==Personal life==