Cleveland announcer destroys Trevor Bauer over Japanese League celebration kerfuffle

Because former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer's PR team has been on overdrive for several years now, allow me to first caveat: The comments discussed within the boundaries of this article (heretofore described as "THE ARTICLE") were entirely the genesis of Cleveland Guardians broadcaster Tom Hamilton. THE ARTICLE reserves the right to discuss Mr. Hamilton's opinion of Mr. Bauer, regardless of the intricacies and defenses put forth by Mr. Bauer's team, for it is simply an opinion stated by a prominent face of a franchise Mr. Bauer used to run with. We hope you enjoy reading THE ARTICLE.

Bauer, the ex-Dodgers hurler, found himself in a haze of mistranslations and clarifications this week when his new team in Japan attempted to take advantage of his famous sword celebration.

It was initially reported that Bauer's teammate, Yasuaki Yamasaki, responded to the BayStars' tweet by expressing distaste with the right-hander's celebration. Eventually, a new translation of the response was provided:

"(The club) Official (Twitter) shouldn’t encourage (the fans to do sword celebration action). Foolishness. No respect. There’s a different way."

Yasuaki Yamasaki

This was sold to us as very different from the initial interpretation. Instead of going to war with Bauer, he was instead going against the team's Twitter account ... over the same celebration. That does not seem very different, but if we're being told that it is, we will say that it is.

Yamasaki eventually put out an apology statement, further standing by Bauer:

"My message was received by the media in the US in a way that I did not intend, and it was taken as if I was saying something bad about him. After talking with Bauer, I was able to convey my feelings clearly. Bauer is an important teammate with whom I aim to win the championship."

Yasuaki Yamasaki

Of course, the most important thing to learn here is that Bauer remains a controversial figure overseas, and that even the simplest attempt by the team to echo his celebration has become embroiled in a strange back-and-forth, and famed Guardians announcer Tom Hamilton has had enough of it.

Cleveland announcer Tom Hamilton expresses distaste for former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer

Hamilton, who watched Bauer pitch in Cleveland from 2013 to 2019, as well as slice his hand on a drone during the 2016 postseason, did not hold back when given the opportunity to discuss the right-hander's latest newsworthy moment:

"Now Bauer’s making enemies in Japan. Bauer wants to celebrate a strikeout by pretending he’s shoving a sword into a sheath. And his Japanese teammate said on Twitter, ‘that’s disrespectful.' 'Absolutely shocking that Trevor Bauer would go to another country and make enemies with teammates. Nobody could have seen that coming,' Hamilton said sarcastically. 'What an idiot.'"

Tom Hamilton

Again. Tom Hamilton's words. Not the words of THE ARTICLE, which is a judgment-free zone. Do not look THE ARTICLE directly in the eyes. If you plan to read THE ARTICLE, please read it at an angle to avoid the harshness of the material contained within it.

You have now reached the end of THE ARTICLE.