Trevor Bauer Missing From UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2021
The list of Bruins getting inducted into the school's hall of fame is slightly different than the one officially announced last summer.
Seven of the names remain the same – track & field athlete and coach Jeanette Bolden, women's golfer Tiffany Joh, softball champion Megan Langenfeld, future NFL tight end Marcedes Lewis, men's basketball sharpshooter Tracy Murray, All-American swimmer Keiko Price and Olympic gymnast Kate Richardson are all still going to be added to the long list of alumni, coaches and contributors in the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday.
But notable by his exclusion is former UCLA baseball pitcher Trevor Bauer, who had previously been announced as part of the 2021 class when it was first released on June 29, 2021.
The Los Angeles Dodgers righty was absent from the most recent press release, which came out Tuesday and detailed who would be part of the class when it was officially inducted at the end of the week.
There was no public move or statement that removed Bauer from the 2021 Hall of Fame class, although he was notably saddled with accusations of sexual assault last summer, just hours after UCLA announced he would be a hall of famer. A San Diego woman sought a restraining order against Bauer in June, and she detailed several sexual encounters that turned violent in April and May of last year.
The LA County District Attorney's Office said Feb. 8 that Bauer would not be facing criminal charges after weeks of hearings, but he still faces potential discipline from Major League Baseball. Any interview between the league and Bauer, as well as any suspension, will likely not be handled until after the ongoing MLB lockout ends.
The Dodgers have said they will not be commenting on Bauer's legal matters until the league finishes its investigation.
UCLA Athletics, meanwhile, has not responded to All Bruins' request for comment on Bauer's actions or how they may have impacted his status as an incoming hall of famer.
The Bruin Varsity Club – a group of former UCLA student-athlete letter-winners, athletic trainers, team managers and Spirit Squad members that aims to connect former Bruins and deepen their relationship with the athletic department – takes hall of fame nominations from the public, then the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame Selection Committee names the honorees.
The members of the selection committee are not publicly disclosed, and it is unclear whose responsibility it would be to remove a selected individual from an upcoming class – the selection committee, the Bruin Varsity Club, the Wooden Athletic Fund, athletic director Martin Jarmond, chancellor Gene Block or someone else.
Eligibility for making the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame is outlined by the Bruin Varsity Club here:
• Student-athletes who last competed at UCLA ten or more years prior to induction.
• Former coaches who last coached at UCLA five or more years prior to induction.
• Former UCLA Athletic Directors who last served as Athletic Director five or more years prior to induction.
• Current head coaches who have been a head coach at UCLA for 15 years or who have won four or more NCAA championships.
• Individuals who have rendered extraordinary service, leadership and/or support contributing directly to the success of student-athletes within the UCLA Intercollegiate Athletics Department, and who have worked as a full-time employee at UCLA for a minimum of 20 years, may be nominated and inducted.
Bauer was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball on July 2 following the accusations against him, and he did not take the mound for the Dodgers for the rest of the season. To that point, Bauer was 8-4 with a 2.59 ERA and 137 strikeouts in his first year of a three-year, $102 million contract he signed the previous offseason.
Bauer was coming off an NL Cy Young Award and ERA title with the Cincinnati Reds in 2020, which was preceded by seven seasons with the Cleveland Indians.
The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Bauer with the No. 3 overall pick of the 2011 MLB Draft, only to trade him to Cleveland a year later.
Across his three seasons at UCLA, Bauer posted a 34-8 record with a 2.36 ERA and 460 strikeouts in 373.1 innings. Bauer won the Golden Spikes Award winner and Baseball America National Player of the Year in 2011, one year after helping the Bruins reach the College World Series alongside another future MLB ace in Gerrit Cole.
Cole is not in the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame, but the New York Yankees righty is eligible to be selected and boasts a 3.20 ERA and five top-five Cy Young finishes through nine seasons in the MLB on top of his historic career in Westwood.
Depending on how the situation plays out with Bauer, Cole could wind up beating him into the hall.
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