Trevor Bauer’s time as a member of the Cleveland Indians unofficially came to an end on Tuesday, a full 24 hours ahead of the trade deadline, moments after the Indians a series opener against the Astros. He had been dealt to the Reds in a three-team trade that brought Yasiel Puig, Logan Allen, and a trio of prospects back to Cleveland.
Wednesday, with the Indians making their way to a blowout of the Astros, Bauer attended the game, in person, like any other fan. Unlike most fans, though, Bauer stopped watching halfway threw and gathered media in a stadium cafeteria to address questions for the final time as a pseudo-member of the Indians.
And today, he said his final goodbye to fans in the only way that Trevor Bauer ever would: With an extremely well-done and heartfelt video.
Thank you, Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/OJ4mxCKbq4
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 1, 2019
Bauer closely ties his time in Cleveland to the Tribe’s record-setting winning streak in 2017, starting with the excitement of Francisco Lindor tieing the game in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the streak against the Royals, to Jay Bruce walking it off and the city of Cleveland, along with its baseball team, celebrating to no seemingly no end. Bauer didn’t know what his time in Cleveland would entail when he first took the mound in a Tribe uniform in 2013, just like the Indians didn’t know what was about to unfold in the dog days of summer 2017.
Taking Trevor for his word, it’s easy to say that he probably didn’t want either to end. He knew he would be traded eventually, he knew he wanted to control his own destiny and sign one-year contracts as a free agent. To that end, he probably wouldn’t be in Cleveland forever, but that didn’t have to stop him from enjoy the moment-to-moment times he had with the Tribe.
But like the 22-game winning streak, as Bauer surmises in his video, good things do end.