Jose Bautista Retires With Blue Jays
Jose Bautista is finally calling it quits and will officially sign a one day contract to retire with the Toronto Blue Jays. It’s well deserved and Bautista will forever go down as a legend. Bautista still holds the franchise record for homers in a season when the right-handed slugger popped 54 bombs in 2010.
The Blue Jays put out a Tweet on the news:
Bautista, 42, tried to pull a Shohei Ohtani and return as a two-way player. It didn’t exactly work out. He’s still one of the most accomplished hitters in franchise history. Bautista made six All-Star appearances and won three Silver Slugger awards. Bautista will finish his career with a batting line of .247/.361/.475 batting line with 344 home runs in 1,798 games.
We have to talk about two infamous moments in Bautista’s career. If you watch baseball, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the best bat flip of all time and the punch heard round the world.
During his career, Bautista suited up for the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies. In this instance, there was really no debate on who he would retire with. Bautista will always be remembered for what he did with the Blue Jays. Outside of Doc Holiday, he’s probably the most recognizable player in franchise history. Today is a day to celebrate a great career and you just know the fans in Toronto will be rocking when he makes his way on the field one last time.
