Bauer saga: ugly and awkward
The Giants have come to expect just about anything in their rivalry with the Dodgers, moments ranging from the violent to the absurd, and a disturbingly uncomfortable mood is forecast for this month, when the Giants visit Dodger Stadium for a fourgame series.
The Dodgers have a supremely effective, highly paid pitcher in Trevor Bauer, and they want nothing to do with him.
Facing sexualassault charges that have cast a pall over the organization, Bauer is on administrative leave from Major League Baseball until Thursday, at the earliest. An extension already had been granted, raising the possibility of a lengthier absence as MLB and the Pasadena Police Department conduct separate investigations for alleged felony assault. In requesting a domesticviolence restraining order late last month, a woman accused Bauer of choking her to the point of losing consciousness, as well as punching her in several areas of her body and leaving her with injuries that required hospitalization over the course of two sexual encounters in midMay.
The woman’s report is graphic, unsparing, and even among those whose have tolerated Bauer’s eccentric, iconoclastic ways over the years, he is now cast under a cloud from which he might not escape. There’s a very large jury out there, called the public, teeming with skepticism and anger. What possibly could change the fans’ mind? Bauer blithely
has admitted that the encounters occurred, insisting through a statement that it was “wholly consensual.” Even if he comes out of this with a measure of selfsatisfaction and is allowed to play baseball again, why would the Dodgers want him back?
Why would anyone? No matter how the case is resolved, people won’t ever view Bauer as before.
This case calls to mind the plight of Addison Russell, once one of the game’s most exciting shortstops as an A’s prospect and then a member of the Chicago Cubs after being acquired from Oakland in the Jeff Samardzija deal in 2014. In the wake of an investigation looking into charges against Russell, he drew a 40game suspension without pay from MLB in October 2018 for violating its domesticviolence, sexualassault and childabuse policy.
He was just 24 years old. After an unproductive, 82game stint with the 2019 Cubs, Russell was granted free agency. Although he was not criminally charged, he hasn’t played in the big leagues since then. Russell spent the 2020 season in South Korea and currently is playing for Monclova in the Norte Division of the Mexican League.
When the Giants arrive at Dodger Stadium to begin that series July 19, they’ll find a franchise that has removed all signs of Bauer, from the team merchandise store to a Bobblehead Day promotion scratched off the calendar. Already reeling from the news that iconic pitcher Clayton Kershaw has forearm inflammation (and is currently on the injured list), along with the Tommy John surgery that sidelined Dustin May for the season, the Dodgers’ rotation hardly resembles the group that drew such glowing preseason reviews.
An even bigger wound has been cut into the Dodgers’ culture. It’s not likely to heal anytime soon.
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