Elliott: Level of Excellence's Bautista led with chin once, big on compliments
Chipola College grad Jose Bautista is the latest Blue Jay inducted to the Level of Excellence.
August 12, 2023
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
It was maybe an hour after Edwin Encarnacion had struck a blow for truth justice and the Canadian way on Oct. 4, 2016.
Well, maybe that is a bit of a stretch.
Champagne had been spritzed. Beers had been poured. Adrenalin was still racing. The best way to describe the Blue Jays clubhouse was giddy ... after the 11-inning win in the American League wild card game.
It wasn’t any different than we have seen hundreds of times after clinchers in 38 years of covering post-season play.
Jose Bautista approached me on his way to the showers and asked, “Do you need me?”
Nope.
“Well, I see that you are working, just thought I’d ask,” he said.
Explaining that I was writing a piece comparing Bautista’s bat flip homer off Texas Rangers reliever Sam Dyson to Encarnacion’s three-run, walk-off homer against Baltimore Orioles reliever Ubaldo Jiménez, Bautista laughed and said, “I pick mine.”
I explained that is why I wasn’t asking him.
Sensing the mood of the room, I looked around to see who was listening. No one.
“Hey do me a favor when you get to Texas,” I asked
Bautista said, “Sure.”
“When you get down there ... don’t lead with your chin like you did in April.”
We both laughed.
You may have heard Bautista, elevated to the Level of Excellence, hit a game-winning homer in the deciding game of the 2015 AL Championship Series and then flipped the bat in style seldom seen at the Rogers Centre. He was praised by Blue Jays fans and mocked by others around baseball for showboating.
On May 15 when the Jays played the final game of their series against the Rangers in Arlington, reliever Matt Bush hit Bautista with a pitch leading off the eighth.
One out later, Justin Smoak bounced to third baseman Adrian Beltre, who threw to second baseman Rougned Odor. Bautista slid in hard to Odor. He popped up, led with his chin and Odor popped him.
Just as Odor had done playing with the Spokane Indians when Vancouver Canadians infielder Jon Berti slid into second, popped up and was popped by Odor.
That afternoon in Texas the dugouts quickly emptied with Beltre corralling Bautista and taking him out of the scrum as Kevin Pillar dove into the melee.
Odor was given a seven-game suspension (originally eight, before he appealed), while Bautista was suspended one game. In all, 14 players and staff were disciplined for their actions in the brawl. Eight players were ejected with six of the dismissals stemming from the brawl sparked by Odor’s punch and the aftermath.
Jays manager John Gibbons was given a three-game suspension and first-base coach Tim Leiper received a one-game ban for both returning to the dugout after their ejections. Shortstop Elvis Andrus was given a one-game suspension.
Players who received fines included Rangers A.J. Griffin and Robinson Chirinos (being on the field while on the DL); Dyson (aggressive actions) and Bush, plus Pillar (aggressive actions).
While in 2015 the Blue Jays fell behind at home 2-0 to the Rangers in the ALCS won both games in Texas and returned home for the Bautista bat flip homer, in 2016 they swept the Rangers which led to this poster hanging at the Rogers Centre:
“Would rather get punched out in
MAY
Then get knocked out in
OCTOBER”
That meant six straight Jays post-season wins over the Rangers and led to this:
Bautista, “Knock knock”
Odor, “Who is there”?
Bautista, “Owen”
Odor, “Owen who”
Bautista, “0 & 2”
I’ve never seen anyone get knocked down as often and reply so often by going deep. Especially against former Baltimore Orioles reliever Darren O’Day.
* * *
We saw Bautista wear his baby Blue Jays No. 19 in the bowels of the Rogers Centre Friday night.
He smiled and then mumbled, “Soooooo ... what’s going on ...?”
Apparently I have a habit of opening a sentence by saying, “Soooooo ... what’s going on ...?”
Bautista’s impression was good. Not as good as former teammate Encarnacion or Jays travelling secretary Mike Shaw (Oakville, Ont.).
In 2020, we wrote a book of the Blue Jays, as part of “If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Toronto Blue Jays Dugout, Locker Room, and Press Box” series. As we told The Fan’s Ben Ennis on Friday -- yes it appears that the third ban may have been lifted -- we wrote how Bautista should be the next name on the Level of Excellence.
It was not much of a stretch -- what other Toronto player led the majors in homers back-to-back years.
(The book was supposed to come out April 1, 2020 but COVID arrived in March. “We’ll back it up to May 1,” someone from the publishing company told me, “No way this thing will last more than two weeks.” Well ....)
Bautista and I shared the memory of the night Encarnacion hit his homer in the bottom of the 11th after Devon Travis and Donaldsoneach singled.
And the bat flip game. Down a run after Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.) saw his throw to the pitcher hit off Shin-Soo Choo’s bat allowing Odor to score from third. That was the start of a 57-minute inning as the plate ump Dale Scott originally waved the play off.
The Jays argued and argued again. Then someone came up with another appeal. John Gibbons came out again as beer cans were throw from the 500 level. It was a bad scene. We thought of saying ‘Stay Classy Toronto’ and telling people we were from Kingston.
Meanwhile as police were marshalling at Queen’s Park in case of a post-game riot, the bottom half began.
Bautista and I went over the bottom of the seventh on Friday:
Martin reached when Elvis Andrus booted a ball up the middle hit by Martin. First error.
Kevin Pillar bounced to first baseman Mitch Moreland, who threw to second ... in the dirt. Second error.
Ryan Goins bunted, Beltre threw to third with Andrus covering and pinch runner Dalton Pompey was safe when Andrus dropped the perfect throw. Third error.
Ben Revere bounced to first and Pompey was forced at home, sliding into catcher Chris Gimenez, as the Rangers argued Pompey’s slid had prevented a return throw to first.
Josh Donaldson popped up behind second and Odor took baby steps as he retreated rather than turning to take the ball over his shoulder. Odor recovered to force Revere at second.
“I was surprised that they played in infield in,” said Bautista, who hit a 1-1 pitch deep to left.
The start of the replay is the only time I have seen fans cheer one second into the highlight when it is shown on the Jumbotron. Whereas at Yankee Stadium fans recognize five or six flashbacks per game.
* * *
Bautista always had a strut, a ‘let me see you knock that chip off my shoulder’ attitude. Maybe it was because the Cincinnati Reds had agreed to give him a $300,000 signing bonus, but then the club went up for sale and it was: see ya Jose.
So off to the Florida panhandle and Chipola College in Marianna, Fla. Maybe it goes back to his first day at Chipola when he showed.
We remember talking to a friend of his, a Chipola teammate who told us “this guy with big ears shows, he has his cleats in a plastic bag ... all us country boys were making fun of him.”
“And then we worked out the next day. We saw him hit. We saw him field and then we saw him throw ... no one made fun of him after that.”
After assistant general manager saw Bautista’s name on the waiver wire he dispatched Tony LaCava to check out Bautista. The Jays dealt catcher of the future Robinzon Diaz to the Pittsburgh Pirates Aug. 21, 2008.
During his 10 years with the Blue Jays he ranked second in home runs (with 288, behind Carlos Delgado’s 336), second in runs scored (790, second behind Delgado’s 889), second in walks (803, behind Delgado’s 827.
And Bautista was third in RBIs (768 trailing behind Delgado, 1,058 and Veron Wells, 813), total bases (2,210, behind Delgado 2,786 and Wells 2,597) and extra-base hits (519, Delgado, 690 and Wells 592).
* * *
Over the years we have been given far too many compliments either in print or 1-on-1.
From Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Al Kaline, Tim Raines and Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC), plus former MVP George Bell and future Hall of Famer Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.).
And Bautista, who gave such a moving speech Saturday afternoon. Bautista is in the same group. In fact, he might be head of the class when it comes to handing out compliments this way
Too kind.