Yasuaki Yamasaki Calls Out Teammate Trevor Bauer On His Sword Celebration: “That is disrespectful”

Bauer signed a $4 million one-year contract with the Yokohama BayStars of the Nippon Pro Baseball League of Japan on March 13, 2023, after suspension from the Dodgers on an allegation of sexual assault.

Yasuaki Yamasaki Calls Out Teammate Trevor Bauer On His Sword Celebration: “That is disrespectful”

In 16 innings as a starter for the NPB, Bauer has a 2.25 ERA. His “sword” strikeout gesture, though, attracted more attention than his performance.

In MLB, Bauer has been spotted making a move that resembles putting a sword in a sheath when he strikes out a hitter. Additionally, he has so far in his games played abroad.

https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1653067308594520068

The BayStars produced a brief video of Bauer urging the crowd to follow suit when he strikes out batters during his starts before to Bauer’s first NPB start, which is planned for Wednesday. Yasuaki Yamasaki, the closer for Yokohama, isn’t a fan!

Under the tweet from the BayStars Twitter account, he replied.

“Don’t be an idiot. That is disrespectful. There are better ways to go about this,” the tweet translated.

Although Bauer initially appeared to enjoy the sword action for himself, it now seems that the Yokohama BayStars intended to use the move as a method of interacting with their fans.

Pitcher Yasuaki Yamasaki commented in Japanese that his colleague was a “idiot” for purportedly using the venerable Samurai tradition of Japan as a gimmick.

Six-time All-Star and former Rookie of the Year Yamasaki appeared to comprehend the appeal of Japan to many baseball fans in the United States, but he insisted that there must be a better strategy.

Since 2021, Bauer won’t have made a “big league start” until then.

The start of the game on Wednesday comes 21 months after Bauer was put on administrative leave after an internal inquiry into serious claims of sexual assault made against him. He later received a 324-game suspension in accordance with MLB’s domestic violence policy, but an appeal resulted in the penalty being reduced to 194 games.

When no team would sign Bauer after the MLB reinstated him in December, he spent at least a year abroad. A huge audience watched his debut in the NPB lower levels.

Bauer has maintained his innocence and that all of his interactions with his accuser were mutually consenting.

After Bauer was released, the Dodgers issued a statement regarding him.

“Two extensive reviews of all the available evidence in this case – one by [MLB] Commissioner [Rob] Manfred and another by a neutral arbitrator – concluded that Mr. Bauer’s actions warranted the longest-ever active player suspension in our sport for violations of this policy. Now that this process has been completed, and after careful consideration, we have decided that he will no longer be part of our organization,” the team said in a statement in February.

 

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