That 2009 Cubs clubhouse must have been a hoot to have BOTH Carlos Zambrano AND Milton Bradley. Their manager, Lou Piniella, was also known to have some anger management issues himself. YIKES!

Carl Everett played winter ball in Venezuela... one day, he was ejected for protesting a strike call. Carl proceeded to insult the umpire, he went to the dugout and tossed everything he found to the field, took off his team jersey and sat within the crowd arguing that he could stay there since he wasn't playing anymore... He was then banned from ALL winter leagues.

Fun Fact. I was with Milton Bradley during the day before the night game on June 3rd 2004 when he threw the ballbag on the field. I was working for Albertsons and we had to attend a charity event at a store in Burbank. Milton, Eric Gagne, David Ross and Jose Lima were the Dodger players at the event. It was a fill a grocery cart up in 15 minutes and donate the scanned amount to the charity. I got my pic with all of the players individually and quite a few of the event. They were all super nice but Milton was the most standoff-ish and reserved. Jose Lima was awesome and super outgoing as you would expect. Gagne freaked me out as I was assigned to help him. He grabbed a cart, and on the jarred baby food aisle, jammed his valuable right arm into the back of the shelf and with a huge sweeping motion, pushed all of the glass jars into the cart causing some of the jars to break. I thought he was going to slice his arm. Crazy. What a memory.

Dodgers fan here. I remember that Milton Bradley moment with the baseballs, and I just want to say how cool Vin Scully was in that moment. Most former players turned announcers would be stunned silent, or start talking about the low character of the player, but my man Vin said something like, "He is throwing baseballs like he is at a wedding throwing rice. That's not a good sign." Way to rule, Vin! All he did was keep on making announcements

Fun story My dads friends sister was actually proposed to by Albert Belle. When asked why she didn’t marry Albert, IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS PRIME, she said it was “because he was an asshole.”

I love the fact you included old school players. Not like these modern so called experts who only know of and chose modern players in their lists. Well done

Met rocker once. For some inconceivable reason, Honda brought him in to work a booth at the little league world series. He was a headcase. He ended up leaving after getting in an argument with a kid about 12 years old.

When Milton Bradley was with the Dodgers I met him once at a doctor's office as a kid. It was right after I had just gotten my nose cauterized and was walking out of the building with my mom as he was walking in. I was probably 9 or 10 at the time but was a big enough Dodger fan to be able to instantly recognize him. I asked him for a picture and he was totally nice about it and stood next to me and smiled while my mom got a photo on her old Nokia. I haven't seen that picture in years but I remember how goofy I looked next to him with my nose all stuffed and covered in gauze. At the time I wasn't aware of his reputation. I was just elated to meet a real life MLB player for the first and only time in my life. But looking back, I find it funny that that the only current big leaguer I've ever met in public also happened to be the biggest douchebag in MLB history (according to this video).

The story about Milton Bradley and the abuse and later death of his girlfriend deserves its own video

Honestly surprised Barry Bonds wasn't on this list. He was literally forced into retirement because no team would sign him even though he was asking for the league minimum.

Don't forget Jose Guillen - an incredibly talented player who played for 10 teams in 14 years because everyone hated him. Got kicked off the Angels in 2004 as they were moving into the playoffs in spite of his productivity because he was such a clubhouse problem.

I'd put Vince Coleman above Rocker. Throwing an explosive and injuring a child with lifelong damage is absolutely disgusting.

Colman throwing a firecracker into a crowd of fans puts him at NO.1 in my book. Great list

Milton Bradley's tirade at the 15:21 mark however, did lead to a classic remark by the great Vin Scully: "Milton Bradley...has thrown baseballs like rice at a wedding!"

Carl Everett: “Somebody actually saw Adam and Eve eating apples. No one ever saw a T Rex." Who saw Adam & Eve?

I remember that firecracker incident. Vince Coleman was quoted saying at the time "It was only a joke. What do you do when you throw a firecracker? You laugh. At least I do."

Every time I saw Milton Bradley 'play', all I could think about was the board game company that made 'Operation' and numerous other games

If a non-athlete did even one of the non-game related things mentioned they would be staring at long prison sentences. We really need to stop treating celebrities differently.

I've read quite a bit about Hal Chase. Everyone knew he was corrupt. The scary thing is that his deliberate dumping of games was tolerated in MLB for so long.

I really appreciate that you looked at more historical players instead of just guys who played in the last 12 or so years. Great video

I'm surprised Ty Cobb & Barry Bonds were not on this list

5:16 Jimmy Dugan: Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigsh*t. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry? Evelyn Gardner: No, no. Jimmy Dugan: No! No! And you know why? Because there's no crying in baseball.

One of the funniest baseball related jokes I've ever heard was in Foolish Baseball's video about Larry Walker, noting how one time Walker took Rocker deep which was "basically like fighting racism."

Really good list. You did your research. Being a Red Sox fan, I didn't remember his comments about Red Sox fans. He's actually loved in the city now, doing Red Sox pre and post game analysis. I'm very familiar with Carl Everett as well. His temper was legendary. I never knew Vince Coleman was that bad. Good comprehensive and fact filled video. Well done!

I have my own story about Milton Bradley: I was a member of a men's chorus in Rhode Island in the early 2000s when he was in the Indians' system, and their AAA affiliate was in Pawtucket for a series when we were scheduled to sing the anthem before a game at McCoy Stadium. While we were waiting to go on the field, several players and their manager at the time, Eric Wedge, were in the visitors' dugout near where we were, and some of us spoke with Wedge briefly (a nice guy, btw). Bradley saw us talking and he said something like "Get the fuck outta here, we got a game to play!" He also gave us a look that suggested that if we didn't move away quickly, he would make us. Keep in mind that this was about 15 minutes before the pre-game ceremonies, and we were in a waiting area outside the dugout, a good 10-12 feet from Wedge and his players. A little over a year later I believe there was a story about Bradley hitting an umpire while he was in the minors, so this behavior was always in him, and he likely never should have played professional team sports at all.

Nyjer Morgan should definitely be on this list as well. Also Shea Hillibrand.

Actually, Carlos Zambrano is beloved in his retirement by both Cubs fans and the Chicago Cubs organization. He's welcomed back to visit the team during spring training and throw the ceremonial first pitch at regular season home games occasionally. He's a great family man. When he visits, he brings his family to Cubs home games and mingles with the fans. Everyone loves him. But his one fault was that he was a fierce, no nonsense, competitor and he hated to lose.

Well, done! A couple of those players could be rearranged in different orders, but overall very spot on with those 10 players. And I like the fact that he backed everything up with facts for each player to support his reasoning.

I like this top10 topic, it's different. Most channels just do the usual top10 lists like "worst/best free agent signings or trade deals" or "best/worse players at whatever position or from whatever era of time". When you've seen enough of those lists tou realize they're all basically the same with a player or two or the ordering changed up a bit. This kept me interested.

How did Barry Bonds and A.J. Pierzynski not make this list?

Albert Belle was my favorite player growing up. I never knew this stuff back then obviously. Just saw a big dude who hit lots of home runs.

As a Mets fan I remember in 2000 early in the season when my guys were playing the Braves in Atlanta and Robin Ventura took him deep in a game. One of the most satisfying home runs I ever saw a Mets player hit.

The worst part about Milton Bradley is, he had sooooo much talent and would've been a perennial all-star.

Shocked not to see Yasiel Puig on the list.

I'm a Yankees fan and LOVED the man but Billy Martin belongs on every clubhouse cancer list. All he ever wanted was to be the Yankees manager and acted that way with every team he managed. The worst part is he was so self destructive, he kept managing to get himself fired from his dream job. A completely self destructive human being

Great video!! Some I had forgot and a few I didn't even kno were such high quality people! 😂

Honestly surprised Elijah Dukes wasn't on the list even though he only played 3 seasons

Since Hornsby is on the list, I'm going to go even more old school and nominate Carl Mays, who not only threw the pitch that killed Ray Chapman in 1920 but was despised by pretty much everyone, including teammates. Whether Mays purposely hit Chapman is debatable, but he was a horse's ass well before that tragic event. In 1919, Mays tired of getting little run support from his Red Sox teammates and second baseman Jack Barry's penchant for making errors with Mays on the mound (I checked, and eight of Barry's 12 errors in 1919 came when Mays pitched). The final straw came on July 13, 1919, when catcher Wally Schang accidentally hit Mays with a throw to second base on an attempted steal. Mays stormed off the field and refused to play for the Red Sox again. The Sox traded him to the Yankees, much to the chagrin of Yankees manager Miller Huggins, who couldn't stand Mays. Huggins once left Mays in a game in which the Indians pounded him for 13 runs on 20 hits. Of Mays, Huggins said "if he was in a gutter, I'd kick him." In Philadelphia, a warrant was issued for Mays's arrest after he threw a ball into the stands as hard as he could and hit a fan. He fled the city and avoided pitching there again for fear that he'd be arrested and charged with assault. He was also accused of throwing World Series games, but the charges were never proved. From Mays's SABR biography: "Mays was once described by F.C. Lane as 'a strange, cynical figure' who 'aroused more ill will, more positive resentment than any other ballplayer on record.'

I really enjoyed this podcast. My first time listening. Very eye-opening! Thank you!

This was awesome.. learned a lot about some old players I didn't know much about. surprised Curt Schilling isn't on here though. Barry Bonds was also a known cancer.

Loved when a caller would respond to Howard Eskin’s “I haven’t had a bad day in my life” with “mmmm, what about the time you sent flowers to that married lady?”

I had no idea about Vince Coleman. I can’t believe he threw an m100 into a crowd. I’ve done some really bad stuff myself. That could be considered aggravated assault at best and attempted murder at the worst

John Rocker also basically torpedoed his time on Survivor by threatening to assault his own teammates during Blood Vs. Water San Juan del Sur. So yeah, not a great guy. At least Jeff Kent managed to make it to the merge 😂

Brilliant Jacob! Love your channel!

Who remembers when Jose Offerman went after an opposing team's pitcher with a baseball bat? He was with the Long Island Ducks at the time.

Just when I thought bonds was gonna be number 1, you rewarded my patience and listed my man Milton. This guy had the talent to be something special but was batshit crazy and couldn’t get his life together.

I personally know Nyjer Morgan and am shocked he didn’t make the list. We had a house party one night. He had caught wind of it while buying weed from my roommate earlier in the day. He just showed up uninvited and started harassing some girls. We had to physically remove him. He wanted to fight all 10 of us that threw him out lol. He kept saying “I fought against real men, hockey players.” Also that “ten regular guys was nothing to him.” He was spitting and even bit one guy as we dragged him out. He was truly insane and out of control. Then when I saw his on the field antics it totally made sense. Maybe he wasn’t around long enough to make this list, but judging by the few times I met him I and saw his on the field tantrums, I am sure he was a locker room cancer. I actually have a few more stories about him acting crazy, but nothing like the house party situation.

I’d like to see a study on clubhouse relationships in winning teams.

Such a great channel and I love that you do follow up videos all the time because it tells me you read comments research stories! In the next one you should include Rob Dibble for any number of reasons, as well as Matt Garza. I watched a Rangers game in person and he shook off his catcher enough times that I started noticing it. He would give up a hard hit after and his catcher (Navarro I believe) came out to the mound and they ended up having to be separated as most of the Tampa Bay team ran on the field.

The Papelbon / Harper fight really hurt Harper's image at the time because he was more of a high-profile guy than Papelbon, and everyone wanted to believe that Harper was the problem. Turns out, Harper is a really cool dude, and Papelbon was the jackass.

I met Pap when I worked at best buy next to Fenway. He had a pair of fan girls with him. They were paying for their stuff and he was standing off to the side with sunglasses on acting like he wasn't there. I told him his posture gave him away.

Rogers Hornsby always reminds me of that line in A League of their own where Tom Hanks talks about him humiliating him when his parents where in the stand. Lol

At the end of his career while I’m Seattle, Milton Bradley was in KC playing the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. My two buddies and I had tickets in the front row of 103, the sonic slam section. We always go early for BP and like to joke around with those shagging hoping to make someone laugh and get some balls for kids sitting around us. This kid next to us was a Mariners fan and wanted his autograph so we hollered to show him the kids sign only for him to tell us “I’m not blind or deaf, you dumb motherfuckas…” So then we were all in making him as mad as we could. Finally in the 6th with 2 outs, a ball gets hit right at us and off the bat looks like a HR ends up dying just short on the track. We screamed practically right in his ears and he caught it, looked up at us and for a couple seconds I thought for certain he was jump into the row and gonna start fighting us, but he called us “pussies” and for a second time acter like he was tossing a ball to another kid only to fake it and put it in his back pocket. Next half inning, he was nearly ejected for bat flipping strike 3 that he though was ball 4. He didn’t get ran but they did replace him right then which ended up being the straw that broke the camels back and landed him on the suspended list which he never returned from!

It’s really pathetic that the guys on this list just don’t get it. Being an MLB player is a privilege not a right. All of them had talent but wasted their careers away with unruly and disrespectful behaviour. As a big baseball fan in Western Canada I can’t wait for the 2023 season (especially after a frigid winter!). Thanks for sharing and I have already subscribed.

Tim Foli, was a head case too. Playing Winter ball in Puerto Rico they called him "caballo loco = crazy horse". He was involved in fight after fight and once his wife ran into the field to control him! He caused wild brawls that went on for several minutes. He had to leave the island after receiving threats from opposing fans.

You went back into history good for you. I would add honorable mentions of Manny no hustle Machado and Yasial Puig

Jon Rocker was also the inspiration behind the show East Bound and Down and the personality of Kenny Powers...which if you haven't seen that show, I recommend it

My memorable Carl Everett story occurred during a mid 90s minor league game against the Padres AAA team, the Las Vegas Stars. I recall him getting into an altercation at 2nd base (I don’t remember what happened.). What I do remember is him yelling at fans in the stands as he was walking back to the dugout. Things got heated really quick. He had to be pulled back by his teammates as he attempted to go into the stands. I can remember seeing his meltdowns on the field years after. Wasn’t surprised about any of it. He was a nutcase

This is a great list with some interesting data. That quote at 9:20 is what i think when watching any pro sport anymore.

I would definitely put Chad Curtis on a list like this. Long before he was sexually assaulting teenage girls, Curtis was getting into scraps with his teammates over the music they were playing in the clubhouse and overall espousing a “holier than thou” attitude towards players and coaches.

Surprised to not see Bonds on this list...

I don't know if he qualifies for your list, but another interesting character in this realm is the much traveled Jose Offerman (Dodgers, Reds, Royals, Red Sox, and many others). He doesn't have quite the history of some of these guys, but he was a pain in the ass for his teammates and managers. Believe it or not, he's the father of WWE wrestler Bray Wyatt's fiancee, Joseann "JoJo" Offerman.

I never realized that Vince Coleman was the one that threw the firecracker at Dodger Stadium. Milton Bradley was such a mess, the Dodgers would have taken a box of doorknobs to get rid of him. Honorable Mention should go to Yasiel Puig. A guy who really thought more of himself than he was.

Almost nobody knows the truth about the Yankee great Joe DiMaggio who was also an arrogant, notorious prima donna who wasn't well-liked by his teammates. Mickey Mantle never let on but Mantle noted in a veiled criticism of DiMaggio that Mantle's greatest career accomplishment was that his teammates liked him, and in fact they did. Mantle was a refreshing change for the Yankee players after DiMaggio's career ended. Although he was a superstar, Mantle refused special treatment and liked all of his teammates. He was a player's player.

Quite pleasantly surprised not to see Ty Cobb on this list. He wasn't always the most pleasant person in the world, but his reputation for nastiness is overblown, mainly because of a hack sportswriter that he hired to do his autobiography.

Excellent video and trip down memory lane. I had forgotten about almost all of these wonderful humans and wasn't even aware Hornsby had such a bad rep.

Nice to see Candlestick in the intro. Saw my first MLB games there back in the 90s.

Harper dogged it that entire season, the season in which Papelbon attacked him. Bryce was protecting his health before free agency, to the detriment of the team.

It is amazing that teams continued to sign many of these players time and time again when it had to be known what powder kegs they were.

I often take these with a grain of salt. I recall when Devon White was traded to the Jays. He had a reputation as “great glove, but a head-case and clubhouse cancer.” All he did in Jays uni was put his head down, played hard, and won championships. Never saw a trace of negative character from him.

Carl Everett is my new favorite baseball player.

I remember the story about Vince Coleman during the playoffs when he lost a flyball in the sun when he wasn't wearing sunglasses. A photograph was taken of Coleman later that night in a nightclub & you can probably guess. Yes he was wearing sunglasses!! Really sharp guy.

I saw Papelbon and Everett up close when they were with the Red Sox. I'll never forget when Everett headbutted an umpire because the ump said he wasn't fully in the batter's box. And Papelbon didn't have any major incidents in Boston, but him choking Harper was unforgivable.

Vince Coleman had the automatic turf rolling machine accidentally trap his leg. I wonder if he pissed off the guy controlling it and it wasn't an accident.

Great job on this piece

Great list Humm but why rank John Rocker above Coleman and Belle? Those guys have literally assaulted other people, including children. They're legitimate psychopaths that threatened teammates. Rocker, while objectively a terrible person, never assaulted anyone.

Albert Belle's father taught me in high school. His temper was just as bad

Good stuff, I appreciate the effort put into this one.

Im so glad you didnt do low hanging fruit like a-rod. Solid video

Great post very informative

That "Not this shit again" look on the managers face is all you need to know about dealing with Milton Bradley. 16:51.

Great video! Surprised Dave Kingman didn't make the list. Also, according to Bill James, one of the reasons manager Hornsby was voted off the team was because he refused to stop pissing in the showers.

It's fascinating to me that one of these "cancers", Albert Belle, was described by longtime umpire Davey Phillips, as easy. "He was there to hit, not to argue." It's interesting as a fan to see some of these guys 30 years later on Twitter and Instagram palling it up with former teammates. Some, like Bradely, are noticeably absent. Also, on Crawford. He was a great friend to Josh Hamilton, inviting him to dinner with Crawford's wife and kids for dinner, to hang out, and be in a safe, sober, drug-free environment, when they were with the Devil Rays. I wonder how many of these guys were suffering from cocaine addiction, alcohol or speed addiction, or Roid rage. Some of them may have matured, but their reputations in baseball seem set in stone.

i’ve always loved John Rocker… he told it like it is

As an Indians/Guardians fan it's awesome that about half these guys spent time in Cleveland! Really the only one worth the trouble was Albert Belle, his stats in a CLE uniform were insane, Belle seems a bit more level-headed now and actually makes regular calls into CLE sports radio

Barry Bonds.... Coming from a Giants fan.

I don't know anything about baseball, but these videos are entertaining 😊

I’m Japanese but I was a big fan of John Rocker on the field. He was one of the most exciting closers at the time. I remember he would sprint out of the bullpen when it was time for him to pitch.

Alot of these players made their way to Cleveland. No wonder we never win shit.

I remember when Papelbon was on the Phillies (my hometown team), and while he was a pretty good player, things always seemed just a little...off. As an example of this, my parents and I went to the ballpark one summer evening, and on the ballpark screen, they were asking players who their favorite superheroes were. Some answered with Batman or Superman or Spiderman, but when it came to Papelbon, he said, "...Aquaman?"

Baur has been tempered big time since playing in Japan, he struggled at first but came back strong and has acted with class, when he comes back to the MLB he will be a much different person, There are way to many hotdogs in the bigs now, over celebrating etc. One would never see the Mick act like that

Where’s Cobb, in all this? I thought he would have certainly been on here? I really enjoyed your work it was entertaining. 👍

I've heard stories about Jeff Kent being a terrible person and teammate as well

My only personal memory of Bradley was when late teens early twenties we would get bleacher seats to go to as many Cardinals games as possible. He was with the Dodgers then. We started chanting chutes and ladders (if your old enough you get it) anyways he just laughed, clapped towards the bleachers, thew a ball he caught for an out to the crowd, and even in his post game interview for the local paper mentioned he got a kick out of the chants.

What I get a kick out of are the contracts most of these guys got even after teams knew how difficult they were. Talk about turning a blind eye!

Excellent list!

As a Dodger fan I remember Albert Belle, Jeff Kent, Milton Bradley and now Trevor Bauer. Kent got to the Dodgers after the Giant/Bonds years. He mellowed a bit by then. He has more homeruns as a second baseman and can't get in the HOF. It appears he had a lot of enemies. Albert had a good half season in Mannyville, then he was gone. The Dodger clubhouse went to the LA Times and said we don't want Bauer back. Milton Bradley was the worst Dodger ever. Bradley was brought to the dodgers by the worst ownership group to ever own a baseball team, Frank McCourt

I always wondered about Edwin Jackson, not because I know anything but with all of his talent why was he on so many teams for 1 season only (13, I believe).

Milton Bradley to my knowledge was great to the fans in Oakland. Signed autographs, even parked his car aside after ballgames and would play catch with the kids. It’s a shame he has had so many personal issues that hampered his career and life. He had the talent, but couldn’t get it together. We also traded Andre Eithier for him😭

As a Cleveland fan I liked having Albert Belle on our team. An argument can be made that his stats make him a Hall Of Famer. I think you left out the time he chased down some trick or treaters in his car 🚗