Trevor Bauer: ‘Sandlot’ game raises money for stadium employees

Trevor Bauer organizes a “sandlot” game for charity. All proceeds went towards stadium workers. The winning team gets a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Never a guy to conform to the norm, Trevor Bauer once again stepped outside of the proverbial box on Saturday evening in Arizona. Worried about the impact that MLB’s COVID-19 work stoppage would have on all of the stadium employees, Bauer organized a “Sandlot” game where all proceeds would go to those workers and their families. Less than 24 hours after the game appeared, the game had raised around $22,000 – with more money on the way.

The game itself would be played with a whiffle ball and would be live-streamed on Bauer’s website “Momentum”. The rosters were filled with current MLB and minor league players who had been stationed in the Phoenix area. All of the players were mic’d up, and the games MVP would receive a bottle of hand-sanitizer for their efforts.

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Mike Clevinger, Dan Plesac, Logan Allen, Oscar Mercado, Jake Faria, Derek Dietrich, Tommy Pham, Keynan Middleton, and David Carpenter (the game’s co-organizer) were among the players who played in Saturday nights tilt. Despite the fun nature of the game, “drama” managed to present itself as the players were seen banging garbage cans before pitches, a clear “homage” to the Houston Astros.

While the purpose of the game was for charity, the always eccentric Bauer said he did have some ulterior motives. Bauer says that his company “Momentum” “exists to try and promote baseball players and promote the game and all the good things that the guys do.

This is just one example of something baseball players will get together to do to help other people.” He also wonders about the potential of micing up players during the regular season, “maybe have something where players that are in the dugout between innings or whatever come over and hop on the live stream for 30 seconds or 45 seconds, answer a couple of questions, interact a little bit. I think it’d bring a lot of attention to the game and to baseball and give something really nice to the fans.”

No stranger to controversy, the Trevor Bauer pitcher recently went at the commissioner in a tirade-filled rant and “trolled” the Astros by giving up his own signs to an opposing hitter in a spring training game versus the Dodgers.

In bringing together his band of misfit toys for this “Sandlot” game, he highlighted the need for financial intervention for stadium employees. At times, it may not seem like it, but Bauer may be the lightning rod that the game needs.