Great Sports Name Hall of Fame Nominee - Milton Bradley

Milton Bradley makes the Best Games in the World. And until 2003, that was about all Milton Bradley did.

But then Milton Bradley Jr. came on the scene. Up until 2003 he was a decent prospect for the Expos with a silly name. Apparently his father, Milton Bradley Sr., really wanted a Junior, and so he filled out the birth certificate without his wife's permission. Gotta love that, knowing how badly his son will get made fun of for his name but insisting on it out of pride, nice going Pops.

Anyways, Milton's first few years in the big leagues came and went, but then in 2003 his play caught fire for the Indians. In only 377 at bats he went .321/.421/.501 with 10 homers and 17 stolen bases, only hinting at his potential. Then he kind of middled a little bit more, still performing well but not up to that same level due mostly to injuries, until last year with the Rangers where he hit .321 (again)/.436/.536 with 22 HR, 78 runs, and 77 rbis. Pretty impressive, and it landed him a 3 year-30 million dollar deal with the Chicago Cubs this offseason.

Of course he's had his issues. Everyone knows about Milton's ACL tear after getting mad at an umpire, as well as him chasing a Kansas City Radio Announcer after the man made disparaging comments about Bradley. And as already mentioned, he's a constant injury risk, as he's apparently already felt quadricep tightness this Spring Training. But when Milton is healthy and on the field, he's certainly one of the better hitters in the game. And you have to credit his dad for being so insistent on the name, apparently Milton Jr. claims that the memories of years of teasing about his name only drive him harder on the baseball field. So here's to hoping that this post causes him to hit .400 for the Cubs. Because temper or not, Milton Bradley is damn good at Life. And baseball. And he's now nominated for the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame.

To see the best sports names of all time, visit the Truly Great Names page.
To see some good sports names that were voted out, visit the Good Names page.
To see the current voting ballot, visit the Ballot page.