Jake Bauers Nearly Walked Away from Baseball Until His Wife’s Pregnancy Changed Everything.
If you enjoy stories about comebacks, this one is fantastic. Game 1 of the World Series between Jake Bauers and the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays will start on October 23.
Only a few years earlier, Bauers had thought about retiring from baseball. After 10 years in the minors and majors, including stints with the Rays, Cleveland Guardians, Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees, he was traded to the Brewers in 2023.
At that period, Bauers and his wife, Lauren, welcomed their daughter, Marlee Jane. After the 2024 season, he began to wonder if it was time to retire from baseball.
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"I was beat up after a long season," on October 20, the athlete was recalled by Good Morning America. "We had our daughter. We didn’t necessarily know what was next. I was a free agent. There wasn’t a lot of interest around the league. I just felt like it could’ve been time to move on."
Bauers informed his agency that he believed his career was almost gone because Lauren intended to return to teaching. Then the couple learned they were expecting a baby boy.
"To be completely honest with you, the only thing that brought me back was my wife got pregnant,” Bauers previously stated to Fox Sports, "and I’m like, 'All right, well, we need health insurance for these kids.'"
The 31-year-old has been watching the ball since re-signing with the Brewers in 2025.
“Just tried to reexamine the way I approach the game,” he clarified, “and just go out and compete and try and be free.”
Jake knows he and his teammates have built a special team. The Brewers won 103 games in the regular season, claimed the National League title, and reached the World Series. They swept the two-time defending champion Dodgers, who had shut them out the year before.
Jake played a major part in their success. In Game 2 of the NLCS, he came through at the plate with a 12-pitch walk; in Game 3, he hit a home run on the eleventh pitch. He was named the series' Most Valuable Player.
However, Lauren is the real MVP in his life.
“She’s holding it down at home by herself a lot of the time, which it’s a lot,” Bauers stated at a press conference on October 12. "Those kids, they’re a blessing and we love them, but man, they’re a handful. So, for her to do that and for her to allow me the opportunity to come here and keep going and just support me any way she can, it’s been crazy. It’s been crazy to see her growth as a woman and a mom.”
Recognizing that he didn't always bat 1.000 at home, “She stuck by me this whole time when it wasn’t always easy,” he added. “I wasn’t always the best husband. I wasn’t always the best father.”
However, you don't need to estimate how much the Bauers adore one another.
“He has built himself to be the man that he is and the baseball player that he is,” she informed Lance Allan, the Sports Director at WDJT CBS 58. “So, he does deserve it and I’m just so proud of him.”
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