Scandal s Hit All Sports, Not Just Baseball.
The most disturbing news this week has been the Trevor Bauer story. Myself, I reserve judgement on guilt or innocence until all of the facts are in, and are presented. But it brings to the forefront once again that pro athletes are nothing more than talented human beings with the same failings we all have. Some take their celebrity and do wonderful things. Others shy away from the spotlight and
The most disturbing news this week has been the Trevor Bauer story. Myself, I reserve judgement on guilt or innocence until all of the facts are in, and are presented. But it brings to the forefront once again that pro athletes are nothing more than talented human beings with the same failings we all have. Some take their celebrity and do wonderful things.
Others shy away from the spotlight and are always in the background. Some bask in the glow of public adulation and proclaim their greatness to anyone who will listen. And in today’s society with all the mass media coverage, everyone with a camera on their phone, this can be very dangerous. And make no mistake, there is no such thing as totally secure email. Everything that is typed on your computer or phone can come back and bite you in an instant. So, exercising good judgment and not putting yourself in the public eye is the prudent and smart thing to do.
Unfortunately over the years, many athletes in all sports take the opposite tack. From OJ to Aaron Hernandez, and oh so many others, they do all sorts of things that make you think, what the hell was this guy thinking? Only the athlete himself can answer that question truthfully, and they rarely do. This is at least the third time in the last several years that this kind of story has impacted the Dodgers. Manny taking PED’s, the Urias incident, and now Bauer.
But they are far from the only ones who have been accused or otherwise. PED’s were a huge story and many great players’ legacies were tarnished, and some have never regained the sheen they had before. Some have not made it to the HOF, even though their career stats merit election. And in the eyes of this writer, it casts some doubt on the credibility of the league itself, who for many years ignored the problem until it could no longer do so.
For me, I think that came to a head when Ken Caminiti died because of steroid abuse. All of a sudden the powers that be stood up and made a stand, albeit a weak one against steroid use. And it would be years before a real policy against PED’s would be implemented.
Physical abuse and assault are a totally different animal. The league’s handling of these kinds of cases has changed a lot. It used to be that they would defer to local authorities and wait for investigations to be concluded and charges either brought or dropped. Not so anymore. They conduct their own investigations at the same time as the authorities and in some cases hand down some sort of suspension to the player, as they did with Urias.
We all remember the Chapman mess in Cincinnati which kept LA from dealing for him after a trade had been agreed upon. In 2001, Rockies pitcher Bobby Chouinard was accused of holding a gun to his wife’s head and making her beg for her life. He served 4 months for that and was released by the Rockies.
When Bud Selig was the commissioner, he was known to let the authorities take the lead and issue punishment. MLB’s policy has changed quite a bit. Bauer is not the only one under scrutiny at this time, Ozuna of the Braves also has some serious problems. Pro sports as a whole have a major problem on their hands. MLB has a worse track record in these cases than the NFL at this point.
We have had pro athletes commit murder, rape, and all sorts of other crimes, and sometimes it seems like an epidemic. And it is not confined to the US. Pro’s in other countries have done some pretty awful acts. We raise these people up to heights they never knew before, and some at a very young age. How they handle it is on them. But the pressure to perform at a high level just overcomes some of them and they do things most would never do. What you do in your everyday life is out there for all to see anymore. Privacy? Ha, fat chance of that happening. What goes on behind closed doors might end up on YouTube.
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Discussion (128)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Not sure what to make of this, from USA Today:
Hours before Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer was placed on seven-day administrative leave by Major League Baseball, a lieutenant with the Pasadena Police Department said the investigation into allegations that Bauer assaulted a 27-year-old woman during two sexual encounters is “bigger than we thought.”
“We were looking into some things and we thought we were nearing the end,’’ Lt. Carolyn Gordon, who is overseeing the investigation, told USA TODAY Sports Friday. “We are not close to the end.
“This investigation is bigger than we thought. So we have to look a few more places. We want to try to uncover as much stuff as we can.”
Non-lawyers speak of innocence and guilt but don’t always know what they mean.
In a legal context, innocence has to do with a judicial determination which could affect life or liberty. The trier of fact (usually a jury) gets to make the decision. The legal standard is “beyond a reasonable doubt”. The jury will only get to consider evidence which has been offered by an attorney and has been admitted into evidence by a judge, so not all information gets considered.
Major League Baseball is not a jury. The presumption of innocence does not apply to its determinations. The limitation of what evidence that it may consider when reaching a decision about what to do with a player does not apply either. MLB can consider investigations conducted by attorneys, the police, private investigators, or others.
The evidentiary standard “beyond a reasonable doubt” doesn’t apply either. In non-criminal proceedings, the standard is usually “a preponderance of the evidence”, meaning more likely than not – a sort of 51% standard.
Unless MLB limits itself to only making a decision based on what the criminal justice system does (they don’t have to and probably won’t) then there are many possible outcomes here, but it doesn’t look good for Bauer or the Dodgers.
There is usually some sort of a “morals” clause in MLB contracts and a violation of this could result in unilateral termination of the contract. The Dodgers are not likely to go this direction without damning evidence but again, the criminal law standards don’t have to be met.
I am not rushing to judgment. MLB did the right thing.
Now they have 7 days to investigate, At that juncture, they can reinstate him or suspend him.
Barring a complete “collapse” of the case, I would bet he will be suspended pending resolution of the situation.
I think the Dodgers are making plans for life without Bauer!
However, it is not the end of the World. They won the World Series without Bauer and they can do it again.
Price could be stretched out, but it seems like he may have some type of “issue” that is preventing him from pitching a lot.
They are bringing Gonsolin along slowly so as not to have a re-occurrence of his shoulder issues. That is the right way, but over the next couple of starts, he will start hitting 5 or 6 innings.
Mitch White will be back shortly, but he’s not a starter (in my opinion).
I don’t think Pepiot will get the call until later this season (if it is this season).
Nelson is too good where he is.
JoJo Gray could be a bullpen possibility, but he is at least a month away… probably longer.
The key word is DON’T PANIC.
See what the next seven days bring and it will be clearer!
A few months ago I wrote:
“Trevor Bauer is a ____________ ”
You might want to go back and re-read it!
Open on ladodgertalk.comhttps://ladodgertalk.com/2021/03/28/trevor-bauer-is-a-__________/“I would rather lose without him than win with him”. That phrase stuck in my mind from the article.
Does Will Smith really need a day off? You would think with Scherzer on the mound, Doc would have his best lineup in there.
Bellinger looking more and more like Peters. A big hole in his bat with fastballs.
The DH can’t come fast enough for Turner! Wow! And Betts looks more and more like a stupor star!
Schwarber out injured. I wish him a speedy recovery & hope he comes back by Monday/Tuesday.
the bottom three in this lineup is a automatic wasted inning. Lux and Barnes need a change.
Six game winning streak is good.
Scherzer is an all-time great.
I’m drinking Portuguese red wine by the pool. Lighting the coals in ten minutes.
All in all, I’ll take it.
He knew he had to hurry with Alberts speed
I believe.
Who says we can’t beat them when Scherzer starts. Just get to the bullpen and do the damage at that time.
Impressive bench tonight!! Dodgers have enough good bats to handle lefties. Pujois is a contact hitter and a smart hitter. The double play ball is his only real problem but I am confident he will make contact. Robert’s making the right moves tonight.
Pads lose in 10!! Whaah!!!!
You know, getting no hit a while back could be the best thing that ever happened to this team. They’ve been winning ever since . Actually when Mark wrote that , I thought, ya right, you and your positivity,, always the optimist. Finding that silver lining. But maybe it was a bottoming out. I hope that’s the case now more than ever, and it really kind of looks like that.
A lot of speculation here…
For example, if Bauer has security camera footage of his accuser leaving his apartment, and that footage gives a clear image of her physical condition, that is not necessarily exonerating. It could even be incriminating. And it could be neither.
And if Pasadena PD asks for access and Bauer balks, the accuser will be awarded an extra base.
Agree that some sort of out-of-court resolution seems likely.
Listening to Orel Hershiser reminds me of the hotels.com commercials featuring “Captain Obvious”.
Schwarber won’t be back for awhile, not by the looks of it anyways. Dude was walking like the morning after spending the night at Bauer’s house. Too soon?
What’s with the gloves today? These guys looked liked the spill cleanup crew at the KY factory.
Graterol looks like he could be a defensive end in the NFL or a WWE wrestler. That dude is a big man.
Urias settled down nicely.
It’s painful watching Pujols “run”. He makes 1988 Kirk Gibson look healthy.
It’s funny how people can be so smart, yet so stupid. I sent Bauer an “Internet Safety for Dummies” book, but I think I’m a little late.
I was touched to learn that Joe Davis named his baby son Theodore “Orel” after his buddy and workmate. One of my favorite Dodgers of all time.
Scherzer did well in his Dodgers tryout today. We’ll be in touch considering the circumstances.
In my lifetime:
1. Orel
2. Gibson
3. Piazza
4. Kershaw
5. Fernando
Back to baseball…
Was that the first time that Old Man Albert came in to pinch hit for Lux?
Certainly paid off.
I hope Lux is a little bit embarrassed to be pulled for a pinch-hitter, even if it is a future Hall of Famer. I hope that Lux lives up the hype and we look back say, “Gee, remember when he was yanked for a 41-year-old pinch-hitter?”
And while I haven’t delved into the stats, I feel more confident with Taylor as SS than Lux. He pulled Muncy off the bad with one high throw but the runner was slow enough that it was still an out. On another Lux failed to follow John Wooden’s “be quick” dictum and got a fast runner by a 1/4 step.
I really appreciated the thoroughness of the discussion of the Bauer situation. Thank you all–especially Bear–for his eloquent and thoughtful kickoff. Now we wait and plan for the trade deadline.
Unfortunately, most of our power pitching prospects are probably a couple of years away. Although maybe we could learn to grab big league starters for low level farmhands like AJ Preller. Although he’s the enemy, I do admire his skillfulness.
Like everyone here, I would love to have Scherzer. Maybe he’ll grow tired of the run support he gets in DC.
The real issue may be that no team will want to help us out. But, on the brighter side, it could be an opportunity to thin out some of our surplus prospect depth.
However if the competition is Preller, Friedman may not be magician enough!
When Mookie or Gavin reach the batter’s box, I look into the hollow of their eyes and see fear, pure fear. They definitely lack Muncy’s fierce determination. Bellinger, too, seems afraid.
They just need to get over that fear, and find a way back into the flow of the game. The way Pujols does. How he carefully picks his holes and adjusts his swing, to do what’s necessary. Perhaps he can help. They’re close.