Oh, come on. These guys spend spring training and a round-a-bout 90 days on the road together, spend hundreds (thousands) of hours on the same planes and busses, share a clubhouse, and a starting pitcher is sitting in the dugout 4 out of every 5 games.Quote:
The whole "disliked by their teammates" is a BS excuse, especially for a starting pitcher. The pitchers, and position players barely cross paths throughout a day, and a starter can really space out his entire day to avoid everyone damn near if he chooses. That is way overused.
Even if "pretend he's not really on the team" was a viable option.....it absolutely is not....that would depend on Bauer keeping his mouth shut and sitting quietly in the corner. Which he has never really done.
As for anyone who might have "done worse", pro athletes across sports have shown they can ignore a lot of stuff that happens in the off-season or far away from the team, but they will jump all over you if bring drama or problems into the locker room or team bus.
Bauer has clashed with nearly every team he's been on since high school, at least. He literally graduated high school early because he couldn't find a way to get along with his teammates.