Top 5 moments of Jose Bautista's years with the Blue Jays

One of the most polarizing figures in Major League Baseball during his prime, Jose Bautista was no stranger to attention.

From his monumental bat-flip to his many confrontations with one particular Orioles reliever, the MLB slugger had a style that made him one of the most endeared players in Blue Jays’ history. Throughout his 10 seasons with the franchise, Bautista was responsible for some of the greatest moments in franchise history. Here are a few of our favourites.

5. Jose’s ‘Hat-Trick’

While scoring a hat-trick in hockey certainly isn’t easy, hitting three home runs in an MLB game is even tougher to achieve. Since 1977, the year the Blue Jays were established, 17 members of the club have hit a home-run hat-trick, as opposed to the 129 Toronto Maple Leafs that have scored three goals in a game during that time frame.

So when Jose Bautista went yard three times against the Minnesota Twins on May 15, 2011, it was a massive cause for celebration.

4. Jose Bautista vs. the Baltimore Orioles

The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles have been involved in some heated matchups over the past decade, and Jose Bautista has been right in the middle of it all. When a war of words with relief pitcher Darren O’Day had boiled over, it was Jose Bautista who would get the last laugh.

This was not the last time the Orioles would take exception to Joey Bats, and vice versa.

Jason Garcia needlessly pitched behind the Blue Jays slugger with his team down by seven runs, and as history has often shown, an angry Bautista is a very, very good Bautista.

3. Stepping up more than once in the 2015 ALCS

It didn’t have the heroics of the bat flip, but Bautista’s performance in Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals was equally as impressive.

The six-time All-Star went deep twice, accounting for all three runs for the Blue Jays. The second blast came at the top of the eighth inning, tying the game at 3s with the Jays facing elimination. Unfortunately for Toronto, Kansas went on to score in the bottom of the eighth, knocking the Jays out of the playoffs with a 4-3 win.

2. Setting the single-season home run record

You could say Jose Bautista arrived as a Toronto Blue Jay in 2010, but even that would be a gross understatement.

Prior to his second campaign with Toronto, Bautista hadn’t hit more than 15 home runs in a single season. That total, however, was quickly eclipsed.

The Blue Jays right fielder crushed 54 home runs in 2010, a season that took the 29-year-old straight into the record books as he passed George Bell’s previous record of 47 homers to top the club’s single-season list.

1. The Bat Flip… were you expecting anything else?

I could give you a long-winded explanation on why this is awesome, but we may as well let the man explain it himself.

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