CLEVELAND — On Friday, Trevor Bauer participated in an "Ask Me Anything" session with Bleacher Report.
And as one might have imagined, it didn't take long for the topic of Cleveland to come up.
After all, that's where Bauer spent the first six and a half years of his Major League career, establishing himself as one of the most talented -- and polarizing -- pitchers in all of baseball. The Indians, however, traded the 2018 All-Star to the Cincinnati Reds at last July's trade deadline, with Bauer having some not-so-kind things to say about his former franchise and city on his way out.
"Overall I am a whole lot happier here than I was. Sometimes you don’t realize how unhappy you are in a situation until you are out of it, because it's just kind of day-to-day life," Bauer told Fox Sports Ohio last summer. "I miss some of my teammates and stuff, but overall, I don’t really miss a whole lot about Cleveland.”
On Friday, however, Bauer was singing a different tune.
"As far as the Indians, I don't consider them a rival," Bauer answered when asked about his feelings toward his former team. "There are a lot of people there that I have really good relationships with, so a few poor relationships shouldn't mar my relationships with others.
"I loved the fans, the city. I grew a lot in that city and Cleveland was such an integral part of my life, it'll be hard to look back and have negative feelings towards that. A lot of people I met there, both in baseball and outside friends, down to like the stadium attendants who would talk to my parents at the games, the clubhouse attendants, chefs, massage therapists, not even mentioning the players I came up with. Getting to go to the World Series, there are just so many good experiences there."
Asked which city has the best fans in the league, Bauer began his answer with, "Cleveland has to be up there," before noting he was admittedly biased given his tenure with the Indians. The 29-year-old also said he has nothing negative to say about Northeast Ohio, "other than winters being very cold."
Nevertheless, Bauer's legacy in Cleveland remains a complicated one, considering both his immense talent and polarizing personality. In recent days, however, he and the Indians have found common ground in the form of the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal, of which Bauer and former teammate Mike Clevinger have been two of the Astros' most outspoken critics.