Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers made a candid admission about his shortcomings before the best moment of his baseball career.
“There’s a lot of people I can give credit to, a lot on the staff here for sure, but also I was thinking a lot about my wife,” Bauers, 31, said on Monday, October 12, ahead of Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. “We have two kids, and she’s holding it down at home by herself a lot of the time, which it’s a lot. Those kids, they’re a blessing and we love them, but man, they’re a handful.”
Bauers and his wife, Lauren, share daughter Marlee, 2, and welcomed a second child in 2025, whose name the couple have kept private.
“For her to do that and for her to allow me the opportunity to come here and kind of keep going and just support me any way she can, it’s been crazy,” Bauers continued. “It’s been crazy to see her growth as a woman and a mom.”
He added, “I was standing out there last night listening to the national anthem, and I was thinking about her and just she stuck by me this whole time when it wasn’t always easy. I wasn’t always the best husband. I wasn’t always the best father.”
Bauers has played for seven MLB teams since being selected by the San Diego Padres in the 2013 draft, spending much of that time shuffling around the minor leagues.
In the seventh inning of Game 3 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, October 14, Bauers hit a two-run home run that gave the Brewers a 3-2 lead. Milwaukee went on to win 6-2, giving them a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
During a conversation with Fox Sports after the game, the athlete explained how he nearly retired from baseball after the 2024 season.
“To be completely honest with you, the only thing that brought me back was that my wife got pregnant,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Well alright, we need health insurance for these kids.’ So that’s what brought me back.”
Before Lauren dropped the pregnancy news, her husband was intent on retiring.
“You go through enough in this game and that thought pops up in your head more than one time,” he told The Athletic in a story published on Thursday, October 15. “It could have changed as the offseason went on. But in that moment, I was dead-set on it.”
The Brewers and Dodgers battle in Game 4 of the NLCS on Thursday night. A win would send Milwaukee to the World Series for the first time since 1982.
