Jose Bautista's 5 most iconic moments with Blue Jays

José Bautista will rightfully join the Toronto Blue Jays' Level of Excellence in a celebratory pre-game ceremony prior to first pitch at Rogers Centre on Saturday, honouring his legendary tenure with the organization.

It began as a forgotten trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in August 2008, with the right-handed slugger acquired for a player to be named later (Robinzon Diaz). But looking back 15 years later, that deal remains one of the most impactful under-the-radar acquisitions in franchise history.

The Dominican native was a late bloomer, hitting his stride during the final few months of his age-28 season in 2009 before exploding as baseball’s home run leader in consecutive years from 2010-11.

Bautista spent 10 seasons north of the border, reigniting a once-dormant Canadian fan base that still reigns supreme several years after his final campaign in 2017. He made baseball enjoyable again for the country’s lone professional team.

That was mainly due to the excitement the fan-favourite icon brought to the plate as a six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger. But he’ll also forever be remembered for his part in ending the team’s 21-year playoff drought in 2015.

Toronto’s superstar sits among the franchise leaders in almost every offensive category, as he leads in fWAR (36.2), ranks second in home runs (288), third in RBI (766), fourth in wRC+ (138), fifth in games played (1,235) and sixth in hits (1,103).

As Bautista becomes the 11th member of the Level of Excellence, let’s dig into the archives and explore his top five greatest moments with the Blue Jays.

5. Billy Butler gunned down at first base

While known for his explosive offence, Bautista also featured a canon in right field, which he used to throw out countless baserunners during his time in Toronto. And that meant opponents needed to be alert constantly — something the Kansas City Royals discovered the hard way in May 2014.

As Butler lined a ball beyond the infield, the right-hander assumed he had singled to right field while casually jogging down the first-base line. But that’s where he went wrong.

Bautista, taking advantage of an already poor runner, gave himself a running start before fielding Butler’s liner and throwing a bullet over to Edwin Encarnación at first base to record the second out of the ninth inning.

It neutralized the potential tying run in a game Toronto won 6-5 over Kansas City. That was also one of Bautista’s 12 outfield assists, tied for fifth-most among big-league outfielders.

The only downside to this remarkable play, though, was it occurred one year before the Statcast era began in 2015, meaning there wasn’t any data tracking to go along with it. Nevertheless, it struck fear into the mind of opposing baserunners.

What’s more impressive is Bautista repeated this entire process while throwing out Omar Infante at first one day later.

4. Bautista blasts three homers versus Twins in 2011 for first career hat-trick

Hat-tricks are extremely rare in baseball, with Bautista only capturing one in his career on May 15, 2011. But it occurred at one of his favourite ballparks, statistically speaking: Target Field.

After going deep in each of the first two games, the Blue Jays slugger continued terrorizing the Minnesota Twins in the series finale, going 3-for-5 (all of which landed over the outfield wall) with four runs batted in.

Two of Bautista’s three round-trippers were solo shots, but he was still responsible for four of Toronto’s 11 runs. They were also a part of his 43 home-run campaign, a year in which he surrendered a bit of power to round out his offensive craft but still led the sport in longballs.

The All-Star right fielder posted career-highs in AVG (.302), OBP (.447), walks (132) and wRC+ (180) while serving as an eight-win player, finishing third in American League MVP voting.

Target Field, meanwhile, was essentially a home away from home, as Bautista crushed 14 home runs — third-most at a visiting ballpark — and slashed a ridiculous .324/.410/.794 across 25 career games.

3. Crushing 54 home runs in breakout 2010 season

No player in Blue Jays history had homered 50 times in a single season, let alone 54, before Bautista’s magical run in 2010.

Joey Bats himself never hit more than 16 home runs over a 162-game schedule prior to his second full season with Toronto. And yet, after blasting 10 across his final 26 games in 2009, he morphed into baseball’s home run champion for two straight years.

Despite a three-game homerless drought to end the 2010 campaign, Bautista hit Nos. 53 and 54 at none other than Target Field on Sep. 30, one of his nine multi-homer performances of the season. Amazingly, his final deep fly was the first one he sent to the opposite field all year.

Bautista’s 3-for-5 showing against the Twins also snapped an 0-for-20 skid that surprisingly left him without a hit in five straight contests.

Due to a lack of support around No. 19, though, the Blue Jays couldn’t finish higher than fourth in the AL East — a fate the organization repeated in 2011.

2. Bautista homers twice amid deflating Game 6 loss to Royals in 2015 ALCS

Much of the fan base vividly remembers Bautista’s clutch Game 5 ALDS performance against the Texas Rangers in 2015, as they should. But many often forget how he nearly forced a Game 7 in Kansas City during the ensuing round.

With Toronto facing elimination, trailing 3-2 in the ALCS, Bautista put the offence on his back — like he had done several times before — blasting a pair of home runs while scoring three to give his team a chance to fight another day.

The first of two came off the late-Yordano Ventura, a 111.7-mph solo shot that travelled 430 feet over the wall in centre to trim the Royals’ lead to 2-1. After KC added a late insurance run, the franchise icon went deep again in the eighth, this time off reliever Ryan Madson to tie the score at three runs apiece.

Kansas City’s lineup responded in the bottom half, as Eric Hosmer’s RBI single cashed Lorenzo Cain to put them ahead 4-3. The Blue Jays had a chance to answer in the ninth, or at least they did until home plate umpire Jeff Nelson’s strike zone robbed them of that opportunity.

Toronto had runners on the corners with no outs when the zone expanded, causing Dioner Navarro and Ben Revere to go down swinging before Josh Donaldson grounded out to end the series.

1. The infamous “Bat Flip” is born

Bautista’s lasting impact on the Blue Jays franchise stretches beyond one game-changing hit. Still, his jaw-dropping home run in Game 5 of the ALDS helped put Canadian baseball back on the map.

Toronto had lost the first two at home in that series and was starring at a quick exit before the club rallied with two straight road victories. That meant everything was on the line as the matchup shifted back to the Rogers Centre.

Despite facing enormous pressure, and amid one of the wildest and longest seventh innings in the sport’s history, Bautista delivered when it mattered most. He took advantage of the Rangers’ defensive blunders and hit a three-run blast deep over the left-field wall before snapping off a culture-shifting bat flip.

Not only did Bautista’s bomb punch the Blue Jays’ ticket to the ALCS, but it also made bat flips and, eventually, other home-run celebrations acceptable in an era where many previously discouraged them.

Almost eight years later, it remains one of the most iconic moments in franchise history — sitting alongside Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series-winning walk-off home run and Mike Timlin’s toss to first base in the ‘92 victory.