"How do you salvage the nearly wrecked baseball career of a helmet-throwing, bat-smashing, ump-baiting, middle-finger-flashing outfielder whose latest snit was to walk out on his teammates during the middle of a game?

You exercise patience and understanding.

Milton Bradley's meltdown Tuesday night was less a surprise than an explanation about how a talented athlete with the ability to hit from either side of the plate has become a big-league Nomad Man. The surprise came Wednesday when Bradley asked the Mariners for help.

"Milton said it was a long time coming," general manager Jack Zduriencik said of Bradley's acknowledgement that personal issues are a source of stress. "He said, 'it is something that I have needed to address and deal with.' …

"What we care about right now is Milton getting better."

Not to minimize the challenge of calming down a 32-year old who's been struggling to keep his anger in check for a decade, but what Mariners fans care about right now is the Mariners getting better."