Saturday will be a special day for the Toronto Blue Jays and Jose Bautista.
Bautista signed a one-day contract with the team today, retiring as a Blue Jay on his special weekend.
Blue Jay FOREVER 💙#JoeyBats will sign a one-day contract and retire a Toronto Blue Jay! pic.twitter.com/XrxGlHPZ1h
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 11, 2023
The team is honouring the outfielder on Saturday with an induction ceremony to the Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence.
The Level of Excellence is a section of the stadium that spans the field with the names of players and management who have been instrumental in the success of the organization.
Bautista will be joining the likes of Roy Halladay, Cito Gaston, Joe Carter, George Bell and more as he will be the 11th member.
While Bautista did not win a World Series with the team as many members of the Level of Excellence did, there is no question the impact he had on the team and the game of baseball in Canada.
The slugger was traded to Toronto from Pittsburgh in 2008 and developed into one of the most-feared bats in the entire league.
Bautista catapulted his home run output in 2010, improving from 13 in his previous season to 54, setting the team’s franchise record for home runs in a season, a record that stands to this day.
He led the American League for two consecutive seasons in home runs and continued to be a machine for years at the plate, especially in two very special seasons for Blue Jays’ fans.
In 2015, Toronto won the AL East division for the first time since 1993, sending the Jays back to the postseason for the first time in 22 years.
The Jays were up against the Texas Rangers in a best of five series. Toronto lost the first two games of the series and were on the verge of elimination, but the team fought back and forced a game five.
With the bases loaded in game five, Josh Donaldson tied the game with a single that just got over Rougned Odor’s glove.
The Blue Jays had runners on the corners and the game was tied 3-3 with two outs and Bautista coming to bat.
With a 1-1 count, Bautista blasted a three-run home run to give the Jays the lead and eventually the series win.
Before he trotted the bases, he delivered the infamous “bat flip heard around the world.”
The bat flip is a defining moment of his career and that Blue Jays team that made it to the American League Championship Series in 2015 and 2016.
In honor of Jose Bautista retiring with the Blue Jays, we throw it back to his iconic bat flip 🙌 pic.twitter.com/sHk1XNyC2e
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 11, 2023
Bautista last played with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018 and finished his career with 344 home runs and three AL Silver Slugger awards.
The Dominican Republic product provided the Blue Jays with a powerful bat for years, entertaining fans and increasing the popularity of the sport north of the border.
Jose Bautista will forever be a household name of the modern Blue Jays, and on Saturday, his name will forever be enshrined in Jays’ history.
