Cleveland Indians: Remembering Trevor Bauer’s Time in Cleveland

The Trevor Bauer era ended in Cleveland on Tuesday night. Baseball and business aside, we should all take a moment to reflect on Bauer’s time here.

People are going to remember Trevor Bauer’s time as a member of the Cleveland Indians how they choose to.

For some, it’ll be as the guy whose last act in an Indians uniform was to rocket a baseball over the center field wall at Kauffman Stadium. For others, it might be as the guy who injured himself with a drone in the middle of the 2016 ALCS. Or maybe it will be as the guy who engaged in at least two well-documented Twitter feuds.

But I’ll remember him as the guy who tried to hide the blood from a sizable laceration on his throwing hand so he could pitch in the 2016 ALCS anyway. It didn’t work, of course, but he gave it a shot.

I’ll remember him as the guy who mowed the Yankees down for 6.2 shutout innings in Game 1 of the 2017 ALDS. I’ll remember him as the pitcher who might well have won the AL Cy Young in 2018 if not for a freak line-drive-off-the-ankle accident.

Bauer’s tenure in Cleveland was comprised of just enough viral story lines to distract from the fact that underneath it all, it sure as hell doesn’t seem like he was a bad teammate.

Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com published a somber account of Bauer’s last moments in the Indians clubhouse on Tuesday night. It doesn’t sound like a scene in which the rest of the team was thrilled to see him go. Per the Lesmerises story, rookie Zach Plesac had some especially revealing words to offer:

"“I wish he wouldn’t leave,” pitcher Zach Plesac said. “He’s helped me so much. I wouldn’t be having the success I’ve had without him.”"

Lost amid Bauer’s steadily growing notoriety is the testimony of the Tribe’s other young pitchers like Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, and now Plesac, who have credited Bauer with taking the time to help them become better at what they do.

When Bauer issued his apology for launching a baseball into oblivion prior to being pulled from his final start, he mentioned the word “brotherhood.” That’s not a word you throw around lightly or without sincerity, and Bauer–as honest as they come–wouldn’t have used it if he didn’t genuinely believe he and his teammates fit the definition.

Bauer started to come into his own at the same time the Indians began their ascent from anonymous small-market baseball team to World Series contender. He’s been trying, right along with everyone else who’s come and gone through the clubhouse over the last three and a half years, to bring that elusive championship home.

So when I reflect on Trevor Bauer’s years here, I’ll choose to remember him as an uncompromising competitor, a true-blue teammate, and most of all, as a Cleveland Indian.