When people think back on Jose Bautista鈥檚 time in a Blue Jays uniform there is no shortage of signature moments that helped define his career.
Most notably, there was the Bat Flip that helped the Jays advance beyond Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series. A couple weeks later, there was a less well-known 鈥 yet equally impressive 鈥 two-homer performance in an elimination game against the Kansas City Royals.
Maybe you were more fond of the 2011 home run off Roy Halladay that ushered in a new era of baseball in this city. Or how about that time in 2010 when Yankees starter Ivan Nova threw a pitch up and in, earning a patented stare down that would soon be followed by another homer.
There were so many individual accomplishments during Bautista鈥檚 10 seasons with the Jays that beyond the Game 5 homer vs. Texas, it鈥檚 impossible pick just one as a top moment. What the all-time great should be remembered for the most, however, isn鈥檛 one individual play, or even one individual season. His legacy was making baseball relevant again not just for 色色啦, but an entire country.
鈥淭he impact that we were able to cause throughout my tenure there, as a group, how the brand grew within Canada and the city in those years, I feel like it had a significant impact on youth and the following and playing of baseball in younger kids,鈥 Bautista said Tuesday.
鈥淛ust re-igniting the love that was under the surface there for the Jays because of the years not achieving as much success, I think, during my time there got elevated and brought the team back to the front of the hearts of the fans. Not that it was never there, but it got resurfaced.鈥
Prior to Bautista鈥檚 arrival in 2008, the Jays hadn鈥檛 been to the post-season in 15 years. Attendance was down, payroll was too, and surpassing iconic franchises like the Yankees and Red Sox seemed more like fantasy than a realistic path forward.
During those down years, there had been lots of talk about how much of an untapped market 色色啦 was. High-ranking executives and members of the media insisted fans would return once the Jays started winning, but after almost two decades went by without meaningful games in September, no one could say with certainty that would happen.
Bautista never seemed to care much about the past. While he respected the history, he wasn鈥檛 someone who got wrapped up in previous failures. He couldn鈥檛 change what happened prior to his arrival, but he knew there was an ability to impact the future with his prolific bat, and boy, did he deliver.
If the Jays didn鈥檛 have Bautista and sidekick slugger Edwin Encarnacion in their prime prior to 2013, the Jays never make the blockbuster trade with Miami that convinced ownership group Rogers Communications to open its wallet. If the two stars weren鈥檛 playing equally as well in 2015, former GM Alex Anthopoulos never would have been gone all-in at the trade deadline.
And without those two runs to the post-season in 2015-16 that brought record crowds back to Rogers Centre, it鈥檚 possible Rogers still wouldn鈥檛 understand the upside of this market. That means the financial freedom currently enjoyed by Mark Shapiro might have never existed and the free spending ways of the last several years never would have occurred.
So, while a lot of people deserve credit for the Jays鈥 success 鈥 Anthopoulos, former president Paul Beeston, Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin, David Price and Marcus Stroman among them 鈥 nobody deserves more than Bautista. Without his breakout from waiver wire fodder to elite slugger, the Jays franchise as we know it today, wouldn鈥檛 exist.
鈥淚t happens for me, I鈥檓 somewhat of a hockey fan now,鈥 Bautista said. 鈥淚 live in Tampa. When the Lightning are not winning, there鈥檚 just not that buzz, that conversation with friends and family. Do people frequent more when they鈥檙e winning, want to enjoy and experience that and enjoy watching a good hockey game? Yeah. When they鈥檙e losing, it just doesn鈥檛 happen as often. Baseball isn鈥檛 any different.鈥
Bautista will get the recognition he deserves on Saturday when the Jays place his name on the Level of Excellence. He will become just the 11th individual 鈥 and seventh player 鈥 to be honoured in such a way by an organization that has been around for 47 seasons.
The Bat Flip, a three-run homer off Rangers reliever Sam Dyson, should have been enough on its own to get his name on the wall, but Bautista was much more than that. He ranks second all-time among Jays in home runs (288), walks (803), runs (790) and an on-base plus slugging percentage (.878) while also being third in RBIs (766) and sixth in hits (1103).
There likely wasn鈥檛 quite enough longevity for Bautista to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., but a spot in Canada鈥檚 version of the Hall is all but officially guaranteed. Simply put, he鈥檚 one of the greatest ballplayers to suit up in this country and six years removed from his playing days, his fingerprints are still all over the organization.
鈥淚 came here in 鈥08, looking for an opportunity and I got one,鈥 Bautista said when asked why he decided to remain so loyal to the Jays during his prime. 鈥淭hen I established myself as a regular and I was in a long-term contract.
鈥淚t never crossed my mind to go in and ask to get traded just because I was doing well individually. It would have reflected something that wasn鈥檛 real, that I wasn鈥檛 confident in my teammates, or that we couldn鈥檛 go out and compete every day. I was entirely happy in 色色啦, it was a good situation for me.鈥
Before Bautista arrived, the Jays were at best a mid-market ball club trapped inside a major metropolitan city. By the time he left, the franchise was every bit as relevant as the ones found in Boston, New York and Los Angeles.
The surly 鈥 yet still affable 鈥 slugger wasn鈥檛 the only reason behind that transition, but he was by far the most important. Baseball鈥檚 been back in this city for awhile now and we have Bautista to thank for that. Without his sweet stroke, the back-to-back runs to the ALCS never would have occurred and the future wouldn鈥檛 look so bright either.
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