BRADLEY TEARS ACL IN FRACAS

The Padres acquired Milton Bradley a month before the 2007 trade deadline in hopes of him boosting a playoff push. His season, however, was cut short on this date — Sept. 23 — when he tore his ACL as Padres manager Bud Black spun him to the ground in the midst of an argument at first base with umpire Mike Winters.

The Padres were not happy with Winters, who appeared to be the instigator.

“We’re not going to sit by and see an umpire baiting a player,” Padres CEO Sandy Alderson told the Union-tribune after a 7-3 loss to the visiting Rockies. “Umpires are not supposed to react as emotionally as the players. They are there to control and manage the game. They are not the game.

“The only thing we can do is make sure the league takes a look at this and makes sure it was handled appropriately.”

The tension began in the fifth inning when Bradley lingered at home after plate umpire Brian Runge called him out on strikes. Bradley flung his bat to the ground before heading to the field, but not in the direction of Runge.

Then in the eighth inning, Runge, according to the report in the Union-tribune, asked Bradley if he’d thrown his bat at the umpire.

No.

Bradley then asked if that was what Winters told him.

No.

Bradley then singled and both he and Winters began to exchange words at first base.

Bradley, according to the Union-tribune, said Winters called him “a (expletive) piece of (expletive)” before Bradley attempted to lunge toward Winters. He hurt his knee as Black was attempt to pull his player out of the altercation.

“I’m a target, no doubt about it,” Bradley said. “This was the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever seen. That guy (Winters) is definitely going to lie in his report.

“When does the harping on me stop? He needs to be reprimanded.”

Winters was later suspended for the rest of the season by Major League Baseball.

Bradley, meantime, missed the rest of his season with his injury.

And the Padres — without Bradley, who batted .313/.414/.590 in 42 games with the team — finished the regular season a game behind the NL West champion Diamondbacks and in a tie with the Rockies for the wild card.

Colorado won the one-game playoff, ending the Padres’ string of back-to-back playoff appearances.