Bauer threw tantrums, ignored teammates, was passive-aggressive as a balance to just being plain aggressive, and generally a butthead. He was such a negative force in the locker room, the D-Backs didn't even call him up to bolster the bullpen in September. On his first ever career start in Atlanta, it was almost one of those infamous Deep South 100/100 days. It was 97 degrees and thick with humidity. Bauer was such a slave to his workout, he had thrown the equivalent of 6 innings an hour before first pitch, and he was dripping with sweat. He mocked the front office, the coaches and they players who tried to tell him he can't do that his whole career. He had no friends in the organization because he alienated all of them, even his own peers. He was uncoachable.
I can't remember what's been reported and what I've been told by the team reporters, but this goes beyond, say, Albert Belle. He's not just surly. He has shut off all input into his life. I see that kind of determined, self-imposed alienation in a team sport to be psychotic. I agree with Jon, and I've seen that kind of thing lead to more exaggerated mental illnesses as people age. It's not just a lack of emotional maturity. It's approaching Jimmy Piersall kind of stuff.
