KANSAS CITY – October baseball seems to agree with Jose Bautista.
Bautista capped off his first career playoff series by hitting an ALDS-winning home run that may be remembered as the defining moment of the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays. Just nine days later, in another elimination game, he hit two home runs, including a game-tying homer against Ryan Madson, to keep the Blue Jays in a series they’d ultimately lose.
“Unreal performance by Jose,” catcher Russell Martin said. “He’s definitely the type of player who loves being in that moment. He loves the big situations. We’ve seen him do it before and again today. He did everything he could in his power to try and win, and unfortunately we just fell short.”
Part of what made Bautista’s ALDS home run so memorable was the reaction. The crowd erupted instantly and Bautista flipped his bat emphatically. This time the Kansas City fans went silent and Bautista set the bat down calmly. It won’t have the same shelf life on highlight shows, but with the Blue Jays trailing 3-1 and Wade Davis warming up in the bullpen, the ALCS homer off of Madson was just as vital to the Blue Jays’ chances.
“Unbelievable,” catcher Dioner Navarro said. “If somebody was going to do it, it was going to be that guy.”
“It was amazing. Bats had a great season, a great game tonight,” third baseman Josh Donaldson added. “It’s just been awesome to be able to watch him play on a day-to-day basis.”
Ultimately, it was a game of missed opportunities for the Blue Jays, who went hitless in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Royals simply played better, earning a berth against the New York Mets in the World Series.
“We could have played much better baseball, not only tonight but in the other games that we lost as well,” Bautista said.
Shortly after the Royals recorded the final out, as his Blue Jays teammates discussed the end of the game and watched video of key plays, Bautista described the ending of the season as ‘sour.’ That’s no surprise considering how close the Blue Jays came to pushing the series to Game 7.
But if Bautista looks back on his season in a couple of weeks, he’ll see some elite offensive numbers: 40 home runs, a .913 OPS and an American League-best 110 walks during the regular season.
“I’d rather not toot my own horn,” Bautista said when asked to summarize his season. “I’ll let you guys do that for me.”
After six months of regular season production plus four home runs in just 11 playoff games, his teammates are duly impressed.
“This guy’s preparation before every game is off the charts,” Navarro said. “He knows what he’s doing and he knows what it takes. That’s the bottom line.”
This year the bottom line changed for Bautista. Rightly or wrongly, players are judged by how they perform in October. Look no further than Blue Jays franchise history, where great players such as Carlos Delgado and Roy Halladay are remembered differently than Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter.
For years, Bautista was a great player who had never had the chance to test himself in the playoffs. After a few productive weeks he suddenly ranks second in Blue Jays’ franchise history with four playoff home runs, trailing only Carter. At least one of those homers provided Blue Jays fans with an unforgettable moment.
He’s still the same player, but having arrived — and thrived — on baseball’s biggest stage, he has added to his legacy in Toronto. The only problem is the Blue Jays didn’t get to see the October version of Bautista for longer.
