From the Why Does This Crap Have to Happen Department ...

Dodgers star Milton Bradley allegedly called a reporter an "Uncle Tom" after the outfielder was asked how he was treated by St. Louis fans following his season-ending suspension for throwing a bottle into the stands.

There are probably some people who are going to side against Milton Bradley because they don't trust that he is sincere about dealing with his anger problems.

There are probably some people who are going to side against Jason Reid because they don't trust the Times when it comes to the Dodgers.

I may be overstepping here, but all I suggest is that everyone not rush to judgment.

The Times and the Dodgers each released statements in the aftermath of today's events, according to Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com.

"Ultimately, this is an issue that needs to be settled between the two individuals and we will work with them toward that end," said Dodgers executive vice president Lou Rosen in statement released Wednesday night.

The Times also issued a statement from sports editor Bill Dwyre: "We are terribly unhappy with how and why this happened. We back our reporter from every angle of this. We also agree with the Dodgers in the sense that this is something that can be and will be worked out between these two people."

From what I can tell, that's a healthy response to an unhealthy situation. I hope I'm not being naive.

I don't believe there is any policy that would cause Bradley to miss playing time based on this incident. Correct me if I'm wrong. Perhaps, as more information about today's events comes out, there will be those who suggest that he should.

But for now, I'm willing to wait and see.

Update: Local coverage of the story begins ... in the Times and the Register. I think based on the latter article, Bradley needs a better idea of how poorly communications that he thinks are humorous and "keep it real" might be perceived. And Reid perhaps needs to know that sometimes, when a person is walking away, it's best to let him walk away. Easy for me to say though, huh?