Article:Milton Bradley Having Great Season

Milton Bradley  is having a career season this year. I was checking stats the other day and noticed Bradley was on top or near the top in several offensives categories. He is third in AL in runs scored with 44 which ties him with Josh Hamilton  and '''Ichiro Suzuki. Ian Kinsler  leads the league in runs with 54 while another Ranger Michael Young ''' is second with 49. That makes 4 Rangers in the top four in runs scored.

Bradley is third in AL in doubles with Johnny Damon  with both having 19....Bradley has 14 homers which ties him with Joe Crede, Manny Ramirez  and Jason Giambi  for third in the AL.He is tied with David Ortiz  for sixth in runs batted in with 43....He is second in total bases with 130....Bradley is third in walks with 42.

Bradley is leading the AL in on base percentage with a .456 mark....He is leading the AL in slugging with a .640 percentage...Bradley is first in hitting with a .340 mark....He is also tied in intentional walks with 7 with Raul Ibanez  to lead the AL....His 33 extra base hits is good for second behind Josh Hamilton  who has 36....He also leads the league in OPS with a 1.096 mark.

Here is a rundown on where Bradley stands in the different offensive categories:

Runs....................3rd

Doubles...............3rd

Home Runs .........3rd

RBI's....................6th

Total Bases.........2nd

Walks..................3rd

OBP.....................1st

Slugging..............1st

Batting.................1st

OPS.....................1st

Milton Bradley  has been the best kept secret of the AL season. He is leading in all categories that involve percentages including batting, slugging, on base percentage and OPS. Bradley has been much maligned in the past but if he continues to hit like this all season Bradley will have won new respect for his abilities on the field.

Bradley has never had more than 19 home runs or more than 67 runs batted in during a season but he could hit as many as 30 home runs and drive in as many as 100 runs if he continues his pace he is on now. His OBP of .456 is 90 points above his lifetime percentage of .366. His .340 batting average this season is 62 points above his lifetime average of .278. His .640 slugging percentage is 186 points ahead of his lifetime .454 percentage. The 1.096 OPS is 276 points higher than his lifetime OPS of .820.

Let us hope that Bradley continues to play this well and can finish this career season with no injuries. Bradley and Josh Hamilton  are showing that players can overcome obstacles so it will be interesting to see if their seasons end with the best career numbers for both players.