A truly troubling column in the Tribune yesterday from the new "In The Wake Of The News" columnist David Haugh. In the column, Haugh interviews Milton Bradley's mother. What she says is very disconcerting.

"There is more behind the scenes that bothered Milton and made him uncomfortable in Chicago," she said.

Pressed, Rector wouldn't give details to verify her claims. She only offered that it involved Bradley's 3-year-old son facing racial slurs at about the same time Bradley was complaining about what he considered a racist element of Cubs fans.

"Milton called me," Rector said, "and said, 'It's bad enough what I am going through, but I can take it and go to the ballpark and pray games don't last any more than nine innings. But my son?' "

Holy crap. What an unbelievable story.

And, by unbelievable, I mean unbelievable.

Now, let's throw in the standard caveats here. I don't think Bradley's mom is making things up and I believe that Milton Bradley thinks the treatment he has received is racial.

But did people really go after Milton's kid? Think about this. First of all, who in the stands would know that some random three year old kid was Milton's son? It's not like Milton has been here for years and has paraded the kid through the media like some have (read: Dusty Baker).

Second, it's amazing how a city that embraced Michael Jordan, Andre Dawson, Walter Payton, and Ernie Banks only had "racist taunts" for Dusty Baker, Jacque Jones, LaTroy Hawkins and Bradley. And wasn't Baker the toast of the town until the end of 2004?

What do Baker, Jones, Hawkins and Bradley have in common? They all sucked.

Isn't it possible that, instead of taking responsibility for their actions and lousy performance, these initially highly lauded individuals chose to handle their poor performances by deflecting on something that would make them look sympathetic?

That theory would certainly be applicable to Bradley according to Ken Munger, Bradley's high school coach:

"The Cubs suspending Milton doesn't really surprise me," Munger said. "The Milton I knew was talented but immature. He was never able to resolve conflict."

Sounds to this writer like he tried to find a way.

Yes, it's possible that Wrigley fans taunted Milton's toddler son with racist taunts. The only source of these accusations? Milton himself.

Not credible.

A very disturbing article, indeed.