Tim Barto: Trevor Bauer takes on his accusers, the media, and the Dodgers

By TIM BARTO

Trevor Bauer is unique, difficult, and outspoken.

The 32-year-old American pitcher is currently playing in the Japanese big leagues because he was suspended by Major League Baseball and released by his team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bauer is in the news lately because a sexual allegation from June of 2021 finally came to merciful end; well, at least the lawsuits surrounding it did.

Bauer is claiming vindication of his innocence, and is speaking out, as he has done throughout his career. 

Trevor Bauer was a highly touted high school pitcher from southern California, who was also academically bright enough to graduate a year early and head to nearby UCLA to study engineering and play college baseball. His success with the Bruins was good enough for Arizona Diamondbacks to select him as the third overall pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. By June of 2012, he was in the big leagues. 

Bauer is an extremely confident person, either because he possesses both extraordinary athletic skills and intellectual abilities, or perhaps because possessing those attributes in abundance instilled him with confidence.

Either way, Bauer has always been sure of himself and willing to say what is on his mind, a trait that hasn’t always sat well with coaches and fellow players. After only a year in Arizona, the Diamondbacks traded him to the Cleveland Indians, where he used his brains to analyze and reconstruct his pitching mechanics, improving himself until he was a regular starter. 

His stay in Cleveland ended when, being upset by his performance one day, he chucked a baseball from the mound over the outfield wall, a move that didn’t meet much favor with his manager, Terry Francona. A couple days later, the Indians traded Bauer to the Cincinnati Reds, where he finished out the 2019 season. 

The Covid-shortened season of 2020 was a good one for Bauer, as he pitched well enough to earn the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League, the result of which was an exponential rise in his  stock as a newly declared free agent. Bauer entertained offers from the Reds and other teams, but it was the Los Angeles Dodgers with their home in his native southern California that offered him an incredible three year contract worth $102 million. 

So, Trevor Bauer returned to SoCal, ready to earn thirty-four million dollars a year as one of the premiere pitchers in the game. His unique character and reputation as the smart but odd kid, now played in his favor

He continued to speak out, especially against sticky concoctions applied to baseballs by pitchers seeking to gain an increase in their spin rates (a measurement of the number of times a baseball rotates per minute after being released from the pitcher’s hand).

Ironically, Bauer was accused of that very thing shortly after the 2021 season began, and there was some credible evidence to back up the allegations, as his spin rate decreased significantly after the league announced a concerted crackdown on pitchers putting illegal substances on baseballs.  

Which brings us to June of 2021. A woman, only recently identified as Lindsey Hill, accused Bauer of physically and sexually assaulting her after they dated, i.e., had sex, on two occasions. 

Condemnation of Bauer was swift and extreme. The media pounced, convicting him based on a woman’s allegations in a world where guilt is presumed and arguments to the contrary earn the label of misogyny. The league placed Bauer on administrative leave for one week at a time until August, when he was suspended for the rest of the season. August also happened to be when Hill’s request for a permanent restraining order was denied.

Hill alleged the incident took place in mid-May, at which time she went to an emergency room and met with filed a police report. She did not file a request for a restraining order until late June, when an ex-parte order was approved, but on August 20^th, a judge – a female judge in southern California  — denied the request for a permanent order. Nevertheless, Bauer’s administrative leave as ordered by Major League Baseball would continue for the remainder of the 2021 season and into the next.  

In February 2022, the Los Angeles District Attorney declined to press charges against Bauer, citing lack of evidence. Bauer admitted having sexual relations — rough sex was the term used — with Hill, but denied he abused her, claiming all their activities were consensual. Nevertheless, in late April, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred handed Bauer a two year suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy, meaning Trevor Bauer would not be able to play until the 2024 season. Bauer appealed and was able to get the suspension reduced so he could resume play in 2023.

The Dodgers, however, released Bauer in January of 2023, even though they still had to pay his salary for the season. That’s how badly they wanted to rid themselves of an alleged sexual assaulter.

This, by the way, is the same Dodgers organization that gave a community service award this past Summer to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of queer and “trans nuns” that satirize Christianity and mock Catholic nuns.

Bauer used his considerable wealth to lawyer up and sue not only his accuser, but her lawyer, a couple sports of sports media outlets, and a reporter, all of whom rushed judgment against him and declared his guilt without a criminal trial.

Hill countersued, and the two parties remained resolute until reaching a deal this week, agreeing to mutually drop their suits without any money exchanging hands. The agreement also dropped a gag order, meaning Bauer could now speak out, and speak out he has.

Bauer just released a series of text messages between Hill and her friend and a cousin, and they are pretty damning. The correspondence reflects Hill was blatant about her plot to get her hands on Bauer’s wealth, saying her plan lie in “being an absolute whore to try to get in on his 51 million.” Musing on how to accomplish the task, pondered whether she would need to have “. . . daddy choke me out?”

If that wasn’t enough, Bauer released a video that Hill posted of herself the morning after their second tryst, the one she claims left her with black eyes, a bruised lip, and scratches on her face. The video shows no evidence of these alleged marks, nor does it show Hill looking anything but calm and comfortable while lying in bed . . . next to a sleeping Bauer. 

Metadata, Bauer claims, reveals Hill’s post occurred within “mere minutes” of her leaving his residence.

Scrambling to defend herself, Hill is taking to media outlets to claim that the lighting was not good when she took the video of herself lying in Bauer’s bed. That, and the bruises hadn’t had time to set in. The accuser, it has become known by her own admission, is a recovering alcoholic and baseball groupie who had previous relationships with two other Major League ballplayers. 

It doesn’t appear that either Bauer or Hill will back down from their claims. Trevor Bauer is not over the hill, baseball wise, but this ordeal cost him two and a half seasons in his prime. He has pitched very well in Japan this season, and likely has good enough stuff to return to the Majors.

Whether any American baseball team is willing to take the flak that will come with hiring a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman – even though he was never criminally charged or found civilly liable – is the question. It would be wise not to hold one’s breath waiting for an answer.

Tim Barto is a baseball coach and was a fan of the professional game prior to MLB becoming woke. He is also Vice President at Alaska Family Council.