February 12, 2025

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Jose Bautista’s list of professional accolades is lengthy.

He’s a six-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, two-time Hank Aaron Award recipient, two-time MLB home run champion and a member of the Toronto Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence.

And now he can add Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.

The Hall announced its 2025 class on Wednesday, which includes Bautista, the late Amanda Asay (Prince George, BC), Erik Bedard (Navan, Ont.), Greg Hamilton (Peterborough, Ont.), the late Arlene Noga (Ogema, Sask.) and the late Gerry Snyder (Montreal, Que).

While clear now, Bautista’s Hall of Fame path wasn’t always that way.

His career started with five organizations in his rookie big league season, first the Baltimore Orioles, then the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals and New York Mets, the latter of whom shipped him to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He totaled 64 games in that 2004 season, hitting .205 with zero home runs.

Then came the day that would change the Blue Jays franchise forever.

August 21, 2008.

Bautista was sent from the Pirates to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later, which ended up being catcher Robinzon Diaz.

Forgive yourself if you don’t remember the details as not many thought anything of the deal that took place during the dog days of summer.

But what happened next will never be forgotten.

Bautista went on to be one of the most impactful players in franchise history, hitting 54 home runs in 2010 and finishing with 288 over 10 seasons north of the border.

And then there’s the bat flip, which needs no introduction or explanation.

His legacy was so impactful, the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native is taking his rightful place in Canada’s Cooperstown.

It’s a legacy that goes behind personal accomplishment and stretches from coast-to-coast, one that rejuvenated and created new baseball fans across the country.

“I hope I served as an inspiration to the next generation,” Bautista said at an introductory press conference Wednesday afternoon.

“Maybe, some kids that were disconnected from the game or wanted to get into it but there wasn’t enough buzz or didn’t have access to it, I’d like to think the impact our teams had in Toronto and my contributions elevated the interest in the game within the country.”

Bautista also joins five other Dominican-born players in St. Marys: Felipe Alou, George Bell, Tony Fernandez, Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Pedro Martinez.

It’s a connection between the two nations Bautista believes has grown thanks to the Blue Jays being one of the first teams to set up an academy in his home country.

Off the field, Bautista has been across Canada during Blue Jays winter tours and various speaking engagements.

It’s mentioned frequently when discussing the team and can be seen as cliché, but representing a country was something he took pride in.

“Spending time with people across the country was definitely a treat for me,” Bautista said.

“It’s not common for any other team. It was when I was taking some of those trips with the winter tour when I realized how massive the reach was.”

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame will host its induction ceremony on June 7.