In an interview with the Karsch and Anderson Show ahead of his start this weekend against the Tigers, Bauer said the eight-game suspension for Joe Kelly was a bit harsh. He said MLB "weakened its argument (against Kelly) by bringing up his history and taunting as reasons why they viewed it as intentional." He said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shouldn't have been suspended at all.
Bauer also said this: Kelly shouldn't have thrown at Alex Bregman in the first place, if it was indeed on purpose. That's not the right way to make the Astros pay for cheating their way to a World Series title.
"For everyone saying that the Astros deserve to be thrown at and they're finally getting theirs, I don’t agree with that," Bauer said. "I don’t agree with how the suspensions were handed out and how the whole thing was handled, but it’s in the past now and it’s time to play baseball. Like I said, nothing that happens on a baseball field is worth someone’s life.
"The best way to go about getting revenge or payback is, beat the Astros and then do some taunting. But don’t throw at people. Remind them that they cheated, remind them that they cheated baseball, that they harmed people financially, that they harmed the integrity of the league. Small, little jabs like that via social media, via the media, are fine. It’s a constant reminder, which is more annoying than having one pitch thrown at you, anyway. That would be my way of handling it."
For example, Bauer busted out a T-shirt trolling the Astros on the first day of Summer Camp. He said it was sent to him by a fan back in spring training and it was the only shirt in his locker when he arrived in Cincinnati. Then Nick Castellanos suggested Bauer post a photo of himself wearing it on Twitter.
"That’s how you get younger fans interested and you grow the game," Bauer said. "I grew up going to Dodger Stadium and I would look out there on the field with my dad and say, 'Man, those guys are superstars.' And they were. But they almost had this extraterrestrial feel to them, like it wasn’t achievable. It wasn’t a tangible goal because I didn’t know anything about the players. I didn’t know that they ate cereal in the morning or they wore the same type of shoes that I did or they played video games.
"The more those young fans get to understand that, 'Hey, this guy does some of the same things I do,' it creates a lot of interest and a lot of belief that they could become future big-leaguers. That’s really where it starts, inspiring, entertaining and connecting with those young fans in a way that they can understand."