Looking at the incident with Trevor Bauer

As I briefly touched on yesterday Trevor Bauer and the Cal Bears, especially Devon Rodriguez, got into a bit of dispute during Saturday’s game. Bauer, the future MLB draft pick and the best pitcher in college baseball this year, had just finished a complete game that resulted in a 2-1 Bruins victory.

The right hander has long been considered immature on the mound, letting his emotions get the better of him. And it’d be understandable for anyone to be excited after defeating their rival, and getting the last out against the batter Bauer has described as his biggest rival, Devon Rodriguez. The stage was: Rodriguez hitting a ground ball to the first basemen; he muffed it, but the ball bounced directly to the second basemen, who threw to Bauer for the final out. Bauer immediately turned around, and yelled at Rodriguez for around 2 seconds. The Bears didn’t like it, and the benches cleared for a little friendly dispute between the clubs.

“Unwritten” rules are, by and large, stupid. I’m a baseball player, and I believe in respecting the game, but acting like the game has some kind of “10 Commandments” is dumb. Playing with respect for your opponent is usually enough to not break any of these rules. Bauer showed up Rodriguez, play and simple. It doesn’t really matter what he said; just his body language was showing him a lack of respect. Given that the pitcher from the bullpen started running in before Rodriguez even turned around, it’s pretty obvious that whatever Bauer said was pretty nasty. However you slice it, it’s obvious that Bauer is at fault here.

Bauer’s still going to be drafted in the top 10, and he still could be a great major league pitcher. Mat Latos shows that you don’t have to have the emotional maturity of anything above 5 years old to pitch in the major leagues. But it certainly doesn’t help you be a better pitcher when you have emotional blow-ups or when you’re picking fights. That’s going to get you in trouble when you’re playing in the minors, where your teammates and opponents will turn on you quickly if you act like a little punk. Not to say it will derail his career, but at some point reality is going to hit and he’s going to have to grow up.

At this point, this incident doesn’t even matter anymore. I still think Bauer’s a great pitcher, and he showed it Saturday. But being a baseball player isn’t everything; there’s more to life than a game. Cal will probably never see Bauer again, as he jets off to the pros. The Bears and Bruins will move on to their final Pac-10 series and into the postseason. Go Bears!