Trevor Bauer has some burned bridges to rebuild and a lot of amends to make.
The 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner became one of baseball’s most polarizing figures, long before the explosive sexual assault allegations that are extremely graphic.
Bauer’s personality on and off the field was either loved or hated (mostly the latter) during his early years in baseball. Whether it was his sword celebration on strikeouts, or throwing a ball over the center field wall from the mound when Terry Francona was about to throw it, or lashing out at a woman on social media, Bauer constantly appeared in the headlines.
Then in 2021, he allegedly knocked out a woman during sex without her consent; Due to the allegations, he served a 194-game suspension from Major League Baseball.
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Trevor Bauer #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts to boos from fans as he leaves the game against the San Francisco Giants in the seventh inning at Oracle Park on May 21, 2021 in San Francisco, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Bauer says he never did anything “from a criminal standpoint,” but that doesn’t mean he never did anything wrong.
“I never sexually assaulted anyone; that’s the first thing I have to say. But I put myself in precarious positions where something like this could happen. I made myself a target,” he told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
That is why he is in the process of fixing relationships with three different parties, the first being women.
“I was completely undisciplined in my personal life…” Bauer said, adding that he had let people “into my life, no questions asked” immediately after a direct message on social media.
“Having casual sex and just not paying attention to the things I was doing in my personal life. Obviously, that puts you in a position where things like this can happen. It’s reckless, for sure. Although I didn’t do anything in a criminal [standpoint], from my perspective at the time, it was like ‘well, I’m not doing anything wrong, so what can go wrong?’ And that was just naive and immature.
“I made a lot of changes: I’m not having casual sex anymore, I’m applying a lot more scrutiny than I let into my circle and keeping things small, my circle small, not agreeing to do certain things in the bedroom. “I made a lot of changes in that area to try to live my life better and be a better person.
Los Angeles Dodgers starter Trevor Bauer (27) pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday, May 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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Bauer also said he is very sorry for the “controversial” behavior he has engaged in with members of the press and fans on social media, responding to anyone who criticized him.
“I think my point of view at the time was that I was standing up for myself. I was bullied a lot as a kid, and my life got a lot better when I started standing up for myself,” Bauer admits. “But given the last two years, I should have had a professional conversation, man to man, woman to man, to understand the perspectives. It probably would have improved the situation a lot over the years.
“I’m not trying to downplay the seriousness of the allegations. If they happen, they absolutely need to be investigated. They are very serious. They didn’t happen, but having that adversarial relationship with the media certainly blew this up. It didn’t make things better for me, nor for the Dodgers organization, not for my teammates, not for the Major Leagues, and that caused a lot of collateral damage.”
Trevor Bauer #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts to striking out Trent Grisham #2 of the San Diego Padres to end the sixth inning of a game at PETCO Park on June 23, 2021 in San Diego, California. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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And possibly most importantly, he has a lot of work to do with Major League Baseball in general.
Bauer has been publicly harsh on MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in the past, but now that he is a business owner himself, he says he’s had a “big change in perspective.”
“I can’t imagine what I would do if an employee came out and publicly said the things about me that I said about Rob, especially without having those conversations with me privately first. So I look back on those comments with a lot of shame and regret,” she says.
“I wish I would have handled things differently,” he continued. “As everyone grows, you make mistakes, you learn from them, hopefully, and you’ll be better for them in the future. I’ve certainly made a lot of mistakes and made a lot of changes in my life to try.” to fix some of the mistakes I’ve made and also not make the same mistakes.
June 18, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, United States; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer reacts against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
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All of the above is now Bauer’s introductory speech to MLB teams as he seeks his first opportunity to pitch in the majors in nearly three years.
“Anyone who will listen: I want to do things right and do them better. Whether it’s MLB teams or members of the media or members of the MLB, whoever. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the last two and a half years “There are many things I would like to do better, many broken and damaged relationships I would like to repair.”
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