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Jeff PassanESPN
Cincinnati Reds starter Trevor Bauer has been told by Major League Baseball that he could be subject to discipline and removal from a game if he wears custom cleats that say “FREE JOE KELLY” on one shoe and have a pouty-faced illustration of ‘ the retired Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher on the other hand, Bauer told ESPN on Wednesday.
Kelly was banned for eight games after the league said he deliberately threw Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and shortstop Carlos Correa in a game in late July. Kelly’s appeal, and the suspension, which will begin when he comes off the injured list, was reduced to five games.
Bauer, who has been one of the best pitchers in the National League this season, tweeted a video of the shoe and said he plans to wear them during his start Wednesday night in the second game of a doubleheader against Kansas City.
MLB contacted the Reds and said the bells against the foot-and-mouth regulations have been negotiated by the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association, sources said. When an official suggested that Bauer intended to wear them, sources said, the league said that if umpires sported him the shoes, he could be removed from the game.
The Football Regulations state that “MLB and the Players’ Club shall each have discretionary rights to refuse any proposed design” and that “approval shall not be unlawfully withheld.” The players’ cleats, the regulations say, “may contain writings, illustrations and messages.” While Bauer said he believes the shoes fall within the regulations, wearing them could lead to punishment, according to the regulations: “Players will be subject to progressive discipline for wearing designs that were not submitted. for approval or for wearing shoes during a game that was denied approval by MLB or the Players’ Club. “
Bauer has been an outspoken critic of the league’s marketing and the Astros, who used a signage scheme in their 2017 World Series winning season. While Kelly was not a member of the Dodgers team that lost to the Astros that season, Houston knocked out his team, the Boston Red Sox, in the divisional division.
After the inning where his fastball sizzled behind Bregman and a breaking ball almost hit Correa, Kelly ran towards the Dodgers’ dugout, turned towards Correa and offered his now famous pouty face. The benches of the teams knew, though no fight materialized.
In his podcast by teammate Ross Stripling last week, Kelly said that Astros players, who were not disciplined by MLB for their involvement in the scheme, “snitch[ed] like a little b —- “and that” She cheats. Everyone knows they are cheaters. They know they are cheaters. “Kelly admitted that he did not intentionally throw at the Astros players.
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