Even if he was called a geek and caused controversy, the Japanese archipelago’s attention was focused on the second-team appearance of a pitcher who was a Cy Young Award winner in the Major League.
Trevor Bauer (32), who continued his career by joining the Yokohama DeNA Baystars of the Nippon Professional Baseball, climbed the mound for the first time on the 16th. It was the second group, but it was the first actual appearance in about two years after 2021, so attention from Japan as well as the United States was focused.
Bauer started in the 2nd team match against the Seibu Lions held at Yokosuka Stadium in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan on the 16th and made a good pitch with 4 hits, 4 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts and no runs in 4 innings. He finished his first official match in Japan with a fastball of up to 155km.
This is Bauer, who played an official game in about a year and nine months after the San Francisco Giants match on June 29, 2021 (Korean time), when he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. At the time, Bauer was placed on administrative leave by the MLB Secretariat after being sued for sexual assault. And in April 2022, Bauer was suspended for 324 games by the Secretariat and missed the entire year of 2022, but Bauer appealed after the discipline and earlier this year, the discipline was reduced to 194 games. However, the Dodgers removed Bauer from their 40-man roster and released him.
It was not easy for Bauer, who was blacklisted by major league clubs due to eccentricity and controversy, to continue his career in the United States. He seemed to be at a crossroads in his future career as a player. However, he turned to Japanese professional baseball and on the 14th of last month. He signed a surprise contract with Yokohama for $4 million a year.
However, after that, he could not start the actual game immediately due to a pull on his right shoulder. It is the first time that he has appeared in a real game in Japan. It was natural that interest was focused on Bauer’s first actual appearance. According to the Japanese media ‘Nikkan Gendai’, ‘more than 100 fans formed a long line at the Yokosuka Stadium a few hours before the start of the game to see Bauer, who joined Yokohama. More than 1,000 people gathered right before the stadium opened.” Then, when the official relay was broadcast on the DeNA club’s YouTube channel, the number of concurrent users exceeded 70,000. It decreased by more than 10,000 when DeNA was attacking, but increased when Bauer got back on the mound. Of course, after the Bauer steel plate, the number sharply decreased,” he explained about the Bauer craze.
According to another media ‘Full Count’, ‘On this day, 2,680 spectators were found at Yokosuka Stadium. Most of them were Yokohama fans.”
In addition, the media reported that the Yokohama club is expecting the effect after Bauer’s promotion to the first team in the future. The media said, ‘The club is anxiously awaiting Bauer’s promotion to the first team. 카지노사이트 Marketing-wise, I can’t help but flip the abacus after seeing the heat of the day,” he said. “There are three types of Bauer goods that Yokohama sells: towels and home and away replica uniforms. The uniforms are sold out by size, so stock is limited. I wonder how much advertising and ticket sales will increase if I make key chains, face towels, and badges like other players,” he explained.
Power expectations are also indispensable. The media is also ‘expected in terms of power. Yokopama’s team ERA is 3.09, which is 4th in the league. The middle pitcher is stable at 2.33, but the average ERA of the starters is 3.67, which is holding the team back.”
After the game, Bauer said, “It was good overall and I was satisfied with the fastball.” When will Bauer be able to appear on the stage of the first team of the Japanese professional baseball?