Mere days after I wrote in regards to the penchant of accused athletes to discover a pleasant face within the sportswriting neighborhood to assist them rehab their image among the many mouth-breathers within the fandom, Trevor Bauer supplied himself up as Exhibit A, launching his personal redemption tour in a nakedly determined try and get again in Main League Baseball.
After we final checked in on Bauer, he was busy upsetting his Japanese teammates and holding courtroom on the web about his victimhood shortly after his defamation go well with towards one of many girls accusing him of sexual assault, leading to either side dropping their claims towards the opposite. This induced giant teams of males with little to no understanding of civics or the felony justice system, to consider that Bauer had been declared harmless and to loudly proclaim it to anybody criticizing Bauer. Someplace in there, Mookie Betts gave Bauer a shout-out of support, for causes probably not understood by anybody.
Now, Bauer has determined he wish to pitch in MLB once more, and he needs us to consider that his brokers have been in touch with a number of groups. I consider that Bauer’s brokers have been in touch with varied MLB groups. I don’t, nonetheless, consider that there’s a single group in MLB that might contemplate signing Bauer. Regardless of Bauer’s 180 on private duty (extra on that in a minute), it’s apparent to anybody paying consideration that Bauer nonetheless doesn’t consider he did something incorrect, which is what he’d been saying all over the internet until he appeared on FOX Newsroom on Thursday.
In 2022, Bauer was suspended by MLB, after an investigation into allegations of sexual assault and battery made towards him by a San Diego lady, for 324 video games (later diminished to 194 video games) — the longest suspension ever handed down by Rob Manfred beneath the league’s home violence and sexual assault coverage. To this point, four women have accused Bauer of comparable conduct, together with choking them throughout intercourse and, in not less than one case, punching a sufferer repeatedly in the genitals. Bauer has loudly and adamantly denied any wrongdoing, and was by no means charged with any crimes. Bauer sued one of many girls for defamation, which was dropped as a part of the previously-mentioned civil settlement, and sued this publication for reporting on it, and misplaced.
Now, Bauer is seemingly making an attempt a unique method, one by which he assumes responsibility for things that don’t have anything to do with why he’s now not pitching in Main League Baseball. Right here’s a few of what Bauer informed FOX:
“I made a lot of people in the media mad. I was very immature with how I handled things when people would write things about me that I didn’t agree with. I should’ve just had a private, adult conversation with someone. I was bullied a lot as a kid, I don’t really want to get into that, but at the time, I viewed a lot of my responses on social media as standing up for myself and having a voice. And I think that was just immature. I’ve grown up a lot for sure.
“I know that I’ve made mistakes. That’s kinda what I’m trying to focus on. How do I get better from the experiences that I’ve had? I’ve made mistakes in my personal life. I’m really detail-oriented when it comes to baseball and my training, but I didn’t apply the same level of scrutiny to my personal life.
“I made mistakes. I agreed to do things I shouldn’t have done. I was reckless. It hurt a lot of people along the way. I made things very difficult for Major League Baseball, for the Dodgers, my teammates, my friends, family, people close to me.”
Bauer additionally went on to say he’s grown up and is no longer having casual sex.
So, a number of issues bounce proper out. First, Bauer, who’s about to show 33, was not a young person when he was accused of assaulting girls. He was a totally grown grownup man. We’re not speaking about somebody too younger to know higher or whose impulse management wasn’t absolutely developed. Within the case of the San Diego accuser, Bauer would have been 30 on the time of the alleged assault.
Second, Bauer is doing that factor the place he apologizes time and again for his “mistakes” and “things I shouldn’t have done,” however by no means really says what these errors are. In fact, he’s appearing on the recommendation of his legal professionals, who don’t need him to incriminate himself or give any of his victims fodder to sue, however what’s the purpose of an apology if the perpetrator solely hints on the cause he’s sorry?
Lastly, Bauer appears to be of the opinion that the rationale he’s taking part in baseball in Japan — and never, say, Anaheim — is that he was immature and made lots of people within the media mad. These issues, together with informal intercourse, are issues nobody cares about and don’t have anything to do with why Bauer hasn’t been picked up by any group. And, in case it’s not clear, the media reported on the allegations towards Bauer as a result of they have been credible and newsworthy, not as a result of Bauer made folks within the media offended. Nowadays, most sportswriters are so slammed with a number of assignments that they don’t have time to indulge their private revenge fantasies.
As for being bullied at school, nicely, that’s hardly an excuse for allegedly beating and assaulting girls. Many people, together with yours really, have been bullied at school and managed to undergo life with out being accused of criminally violent conduct. And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t level out that, even earlier than the allegations of sexual assault got here to gentle, groups have been leery of Bauer due to his reputation for online harassment and bullying. If there was one factor Bauer appeared to love as a lot as pitching, it was punching down online.
And whereas Bauer would have us all consider that his “mistakes,” no matter these could also be, have been merely born out of recklessness and immaturity, the testimony of the sexual assault nurse who handled Bauer’s preliminary accuser hints at something much darker.
Kelly Valencia, a forensic nurse examiner who the girl’s authorized group had referred to as to testify about her accidents, stated she administered a Sexual Assault Response Crew examination, or SART examination, to the girl in Could.
“I had never seen that before,” Valencia informed the courtroom, describing “red and purple” bruising across the lady’s genitals.
“It was frankly alarming,” she stated.
The allegations made towards Bauer, that he grew to become violent within the midst of consensual intercourse, ignored his sufferer’s pleas to cease, and choked not less than considered one of his victims unconscious, usually are not acts of immaturity or recklessness and even bullying. Sexual assault, greater than anything, is in regards to the want to dominate, to humiliate and to manage. These are issues I haven’t heard Bauer focus on, and I’d enterprise a guess he most likely hasn’t thought of them very a lot. As a result of with Bauer nonetheless staunchly proclaiming his innocence to the Twitter plenty not way back, it’s tough to think about he’s utterly come round to understanding his alleged conduct. And when he can’t even articulate what he’s apologizing for, it makes the apology arduous to take severely.
I’d prefer to assume that we’ll by no means see the likes of Bauer in American baseball once more, however I’ve been following the game too lengthy to be that naive. However to any groups contemplating signing Bauer, I’d ask them to consider what is going to occur to their group if a fifth, sixth, or seventh alleged sufferer comes ahead? Does anybody actually wish to deal with the media firestorm Bauer probably brings their means? Is something actually greater than sports activities?
I hope so.
In case you’ve been sexually assaulted and need assistance, name the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or go to RAINN.com to speak stay with an advocate.
