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You might think this post is about Mookie Betts‘ recent, on-field October failures. You’d be wrong. Instead, this is about Betts and his off-field failures, in the form of an article in the LA Times.
He was asked about a number of things by the Bill Shaikin, including Trevor Bauer. It kind of came out of nowhere in the article, but hey, who needs transitions these days?
“Betts said he hoped major league teams would consider signing former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer this winter.
‘It’s something to think about.'”
Alone, that’d be bad enough. Unfortunately, Betts elaborated.
“‘My experience with Bauer is not anything remotely close to what everyone else’s experience is. I love him. I think he’s an awesome guy. The personal things? I have no control. I have no say. Obviously, nothing ever came from it.
‘He’s an awesome pitcher. He’s a great guy, somebody who wants to take the mound every fifth day. But, at the end of the day, I don’t make the decision. That’s a decision that’s not as simple as baseball.'”
What the fuck?
Just because Bauer didn’t try to pull the same shit with you that he has, allegedly, tried to pull with women in the bedroom, doesn’t make him “a great guy.” There is plenty of evidence prior to becoming teammates that he wasn’t a great guy. Your personal experience with Bauer is, inherently, going to be different than that of a woman. Your experience with him doesn’t mean a thing when compared to that of the four women with credible accusations against the former MLB pitcher. You were never going to see that side of him because he didn’t want you to see it. And this has nothing to do with the fact that Betts knows Bauer better than I do because they were teammates. A decent human would be able to see beyond the facade and see what this guy was all about — especially as a teammate!
Also, this isn’t a situation where one could say, “Well, what was Mookie going to say?” He could have simply not said anything! At the same time, it’s informative to know where certain people stand on certain issues — especially a father with a young daughter.
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Throughout this whole Bauer saga, we’ve seen people come out strongly to defend the pitcher because he can throw a baseball better than almost everyone in the world — everything else be damned. But with Betts making these comments as the defacto team leader, that speaks volumes.
Sure, Clayton Kershaw is still here and it’s still his team, but he might be on the way out sooner rather than later. Also, Kershaw stepped in it earlier this year with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, so who knows where he stands when it comes to Bauer. I’d like to hope he doesn’t agree with Betts’ comments, but we may never know (and I’m not sure I want to know).
Betts’ comments are surprising because in 2021, while Bauer was still under investigation for sexual assault and on administrative leave, a report surfaced that a majority of the Dodgers’ clubhouse didn’t want Bauer to return, no matter what. Apparently, a couple early October exits — and a starting staff in shambles in 2023 — was enough to reverse course on that, if Betts was ever actually on the same page as a “majority” of the clubhouse.
And miss me with the “Bauer’s innocent!” bullshit, because that’s not at all how things played out.
But don’t take it from me, a cis, heterosexual, white male. Take it from literally anyone who isn’t a cis, heterosexual, white male.
Betts continues to strikeout in October, only this time, it wasn’t in a game. The credible accusations of four (4) women against Bauer — and everything else that came before the Dodgers signed in the winter of 2021 — should have been enough for Betts just to, at the very least, offer a non-comment on the situation. But if this is the way he really feels, and doesn’t think about everything else that comes with making comments like this, then he’s part of the problem.
