My thoughts about the Milledge situation

Im tired of all the Milledge bashing. He is 21 years old and was the youngest kid in the NL. He has been scrutinized since the day he got called up. Their was way too many expectations for him. He was set up to fail.

Now, I agree Milledge showed some "attitude problems" last year but what do you want. He's 21 years old. You cant expect everybody to be Mr.Perfect, David Wright, or even Jose Reyes.

People only look at the bad things Milledge did. Coming in with a du-rag and a huge chain. Yeah thats not what you want your first impression to be but thats him. Thats how he likes to dress. Milledge high-fived the fans. Thats a rookie mistake he will never do again. But he had reason for those high-fives. He hit a huge homerun in extra innings. A rookie in a big spot came through! Ok Milledge played "horrible" defense, thats bullshit. Milledge showed why scouts raved about his defense. His amazing arm and diving catch after diving catch. But then there was Boston. Willie Randolph puts a rookie in LF in FENWAY. Willie what are you thinking? You have Endy Chavez in RF. That made everybody believe that Milledge can't field.

Milledge hits just .241. It goes from giving up Milledge to get Oswalt to trading Milledge for A fat Steve Trachsel "Joe Blanton". So why did Milledge hit .241? Maybe because his Mananger Willie Randolph puts a rookie batting 8th. What are you thinking again Willie? Stop with the subway comericials and think what rookie batting 8th is going to get? A Curveball. What does every rookie struggle with at first? A CURVEBALL. Smooth move Willie. If Milledge batted 2nd or even 7th, he probably wouldve had a better chance to succeed. Then Milledge goes down to the minors and proceeds to come back up in September. He has more plate disapline and does decent to the end of the year but his reputation is ruined. He's just a "Thug". Its unfair but thats not all its now the off-season.

Milledge dosen't play winter ball. Everybody and their mother cried about this. WHY ISINT HE PLAYING??? HE SHOULD BE THERE. GET RID OF HIM HES JUST A "THUG" (lets be serious if Milledge wasnt black he woulden't be called a thug). I myself said "what are you going to do when Milledge comes back with 20 extra pounds of muscle" but others insist he's probably going to hang out with his gang.

Lets fast forward to Spring Training. What happens? Milledge shows up early with 13 pounds of muscle, what do people say? Nothing.

What else? According to Tim K from Baseball Tonight Milledge now has power to the opposite field that he didin't have last season. Im tired of all the Milledge bashing especially from Mack from www.Macksmets.com. He is a good kid with so much potential. If Milledge gets traded dont be surprised if he becomes a superstar.