Trevor Bauer apologizes for ‘wrongly accusing’ ESPN of airing joke tweet
Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has issued an apology over “wrongly accusing” ESPN of broadcasting a tweet that featured bogus information about him that was made in jest by a sportswriter.
BALTIMORE, MD – MAY 22: A Cleveland Indians cap and glove are shown on the field before a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles on May 22, 2014 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
The tweet in question, from The Ringer’s Michael Baumann, jokingly details a ludicrous course of treatment for Bauer, currently on the mend from a broken right fibula, including plans to “rid his body of CIA nanites.”
Trevor Bauer says that the doctors' timeline for his return is based on outdated mainstream medicine and he's begun a course of blood transfusions and colloidal silver to rid his body of CIA nanites. He anticipates missing two starts, three tops.
— Michael Baumann (@MJ_Baumann) August 17, 2018
On Saturday, Bauer, under the belief that both MLB Network and ESPN highlighted the tweet as real news, called out the networks and demanded a retraction.
Hey @MLBNetwork and @espn I would like public statements on social media and on your networks clarifying that the information you wrongly reported as fact earlier regarding my recovery timetable and process is false and not a quote from me. The report is damaging and absurd.
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 18, 2018
Documentation has since surfaced showing MLB Network did in fact highlight the tweet in some capacity during a broadcast.
MLB Network falls for joke report that Trevor Bauer is treating himself for "CIA nanites" https://t.co/gw4zghSlXR pic.twitter.com/OXZmA65P2h
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) August 18, 2018
However, ESPN has since denied ever broadcasting Baumann’s tweet after a review of all its platforms.
“Erroneously, some people believed it was on ESPN,” said David Scott of ESPN’s public relations department, via Cleveland.com. “We have no evidence of that.”
Baumann issued an apology for erroneously accusing ESPN of covering the tweet.
Dear @espn pic.twitter.com/SPyzR5oU1X
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 20, 2018
“It appears the information I was given, and believed to have seen, was wrong, and ESPN never aired the fake tweet,” Bauer said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday. “Spreading misinformation is wrong, and is what I was originally angry about. I wanted to set the record straight and apologize to ESPN for wrongly accusing them of broadcasting this misinformation.”
As noted by Big League Stew, Bauer at times has navigated an adversarial relationship with the media. Bauer also boasts something of an eccentric personality, which in part inspired Baumann’s original tweet. It’s hardly surprising, then, that Bauer lashed out at ESPN and MLB Network amid the situation.
That said, Bauer did apologize to ESPN upon learning his suspicions were proved to be unfounded.
