| José Bautista | |
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José Bautista batting during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on June 5, 2011. |
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| Toronto Blue Jays – No. 19 | |
| Third baseman / Right fielder | |
| Born: October 19, 1980 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 4, 2004 for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Career statistics (through 2011) |
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| Batting average | .254 |
| Hits | 721 |
| Home runs | 156 |
| Runs batted in | 438 |
| OPS | .843 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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José Antonio Bautista (born October 19, 1980) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. Though now primarily a right fielder, having been a utility player in the past, he has major league experience at six different positions.[1] He is from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
In the 2010 season, Bautista set a Toronto Blue Jays single-season franchise record by hitting a major league leading 54 home runs, making him only the 26th member of the 50 home run club in baseball history. He earned the title of American League Home Run Champion for that season. In 2011, he once again led the major leagues with 43 home runs. He became the first player to earn two consecutive home run titles since Mark McGwire of the National League did so in the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
On July 3, 2011, Bautista set the all-time Major League record for the most All-Star votes received by a single player through fan balloting with 7,454,753 votes. This number greatly surpassed the previous record of 6,069,688 set by Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. in 1994.[2]
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During the 2004 season, Bautista played for the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was also technically on the New York Mets roster after being acquired from the Royals and dealt to the Pirates the same day.[3] This made him the first and only player to be on five different Major League rosters in one season (more specifically, his rookie season).
Bautista, originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round of the 2000 amateur draft, was selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft, and made his debut with Baltimore on April 4, 2004. He was claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay on June 3, then traded to Kansas City on June 28. He was then sent to the Mets on July 30, and without playing a game for New York, was traded back to Pittsburgh.
In 2006, his first full season with the Pirates, Bautista hit .235 with 16 home runs and 51 runs. The following season in 2007, he posted similar numbers in 142 games, finishing the season with a batting average of .254, 15 home runs and 63 RBI.
That same year, he became the starting third baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He took over for National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez, who moved to second base.
Bautista was to be the Pirates' starting third baseman and backup outfielder in 2008. From June 14 to June 24, Bautista hit five home runs in a span of 9 games against interleague opponents Baltimore, Chicago White Sox, Toronto, and the New York Yankees. However, Bautista struggled offensively for most of the year, after the 2008 trade deadline, Bautista lost his starting job to the newly-acquired Andy LaRoche. He was optioned to Triple-A (Indianapolis Indians) on August 13. After performing well in Triple-A, on August 21, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later (Robinzon Diaz).[4]
Bautista started the 2009 season on the bench, backing up third base for Scott Rolen and the outfield for Alex Ríos and Adam Lind. When Rios was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox and Adam Lind was assigned the role of designated hitter, Bautista's playing time increased; he became the leadoff hitter after an injury to Marco Scutaro. During this time, his hitting improved. Bautista had a 4 game home run streak snapped on October 3, but the next day hit a solo home run to lead off an inning off Baltimore Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. Bautista finished the 2009 season with 13 HR (10 of which came in the month of September), 40 RBI, a batting average of .235, and 79 hits in 113 games. He re-signed with the Blue Jays on a one-year $2.4 million US contract for the 2010 season.[5]
Bautista began the 2010 campaign as the starting right fielder and leadoff hitter. He hit his first HR of the year against the Baltimore Orioles' Kevin Millwood on April 11. On May 17, Bautista was named AL Player of the Week after hitting .444 (8-for-18) with 20 total bases, 4 HR, 8 RBIs, 8 R, .565 OBP, and an MLB-best 1.111 SLG.[6] Bautista hit his 20th home run as part of a 2-HR night against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 22.[7] This was a career high for a single season, an achievement he reached in just two months.[7]
On July 4, 2010 Bautista was selected as a reserve for the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star game in Anaheim.[8] Bautista hit an inside-the-park home run against the Minnesota Twins on July 7, 2010. This was the 28th inside-the-park home run in Blue Jays history and the Jays' first since Greg Myers on September 13, 2005.[9] Despite leading Major League Baseball in home runs before the All-Star festivities in Anaheim, Bautista was denied the opportunity to participate in the Home Run derby, and the last available spot was given to New York Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher. In the All-Star game, Bautista entered the game as a pinch runner for Josh Hamilton and finished the game 0–1, in an eventual 3–1 loss for the American League squad.[10]
Bautista hit his major league-leading 30th homer of the year in a 4-for-4, two-home-run outing against the Baltimore Orioles on July 27.[11] Bautista continued his dominant hitting on July 30, when he hit a grand slam off Indians pitcher Justin Masterson, his major league-leading 31st homer of the year, and the second grand slam hit by a Jays batter that season.[12] For the month of July, Bautista batted .347, with 11 HRs, 29 RBI, and an AL-leading .765 slugging percentage. As a result of his outstanding play in the month of July, he was named co-winner of American League Player of the Month honours (alongside Twins outfielder, Delmon Young).[13] Bautista was also named Honda July Player of the Month, which is selected through voting by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.[14][15] With his 11 HRs in July and his 12 in May, Bautista became only the third Blue Jay player in franchise history to have two months with at least 10 home runs, the other two were George Bell in 1987 and Carlos Delgado who did it in 1997 and 2001.[14]
Bautista was awarded co-winner of the American League player of the week award for the period ending August 1, Bautista hit .545 with five homers and 13 RBIs during that span.[16] With his 35th home run of the season, hit against the Boston Red Sox on August 10, Bautista beat a franchise record previously held by Carlos Delgado for hitting a home run in 11 straight series. On August 26, Bautista hit his 100th career home run against the Detroit Tigers.[17] Bautista was again awarded player of the week for the week ending August 29.[18] In seven games that week, Bautista led the American League with a .500 batting average (10-for-20). He also hit four home runs and in doing so, Bautista became the only Blue Jays player to ever win the award three times in one season. Bautista won AL Player of the Month for the month of August, in which he hit he led the A.L. in home runs (12), RBI (24), slugging percentage (.724) and total bases (72), while tying for the lead in extra-base hits (18). He finished tied for second with 23 runs and was third with 23 walks.[19] He also won the Honda Player of the Month Award, his second such award in as many months.[20]
On September 15, Bautista tied the Blue Jays single-season home run record (set by George Bell in 1987) by hitting his 47th home run off of Baltimore's Brad Bergesen. Two days later in Boston, Bautista set the new Blue Jays single-season home run record by hitting his 48th home run off of Michael Bowden.[21] On September 23, Bautista became the 26th player in Major League Baseball history to reach the 50-home run mark in a season off Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez.[22] Bautista is the first to reach 50 since Prince Fielder and Alex Rodriguez did so in 2007. The blast was also Bautista's 31st homer at home this season, breaking Carlos Delgado's previous Blue Jays record set in 2000 of 30. The following day, Bautista had yet another multi-homerun game, hitting two against the Baltimore Orioles. On September 30, Bautista hit two home runs once again, hitting a grand slam and a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins. His 52nd home run set a new MLB record for the largest single-season increase in home runs, eclipsing Davey Johnson's 38 home run increase from 1972 to 1973.[23] Bautista finished the 2010 season with 54 home runs, the highest total since Alex Rodriguez hit 54 in 2007.
On October 21, 2010, Bautista underwent surgery to repair a sports hernia that had bothered him since May.[24]
Due to his outstanding offensive performance during the 2010 season, Major League Baseball announced on October 31, 2010 that Bautista had won the American League Hank Aaron Award.[25] He became the second Blue Jay to win the award, after Carlos Delgado won it in 2000.
On November 11, 2010, it was announced that Bautista had won a Silver Slugger Award for being one of the top hitting outfielders in the American League. He became the 22nd Blue Jay to win the award, and the most recent since Adam Lind and Aaron Hill won their awards in 2009.[26]
On November 23, 2010, it was announced that Bautista had finished fourth in the AL MVP voting, behind winner Josh Hamilton, Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Canó. Bautista received 165 points in voting, including one first-place vote and four third-place votes.[27] It was the highest share of the votes garnered by a Blue Jay since Delgado finished second (behind Alex Rodriguez) in 2003.
On November 25, the Blue Jays announced the winners of the 2010 season franchise awards. Bautista won three of the four awards given. The Toronto chapter of the BBWAA named him the Blue Jays' Most Valuable Player in 2010, along with the Blue Jays' Most Improved Player in 2010. He was also given the John Cerutti Award for displaying "goodwill, cooperation and character".[28]
On February 17, 2011, the Blue Jays announced that Bautista had agreed to a 5-year contract extension worth US$64 million.[29]
Bautista began the 2011 season as the starting right fielder for the Blue Jays, after teammate Edwin Encarnacion took his previous position of third base.[30] On opening day in Toronto, Bautista hit his first home run of the season, the first in a back-to-back with Adam Lind.[31] He missed the second series of the Blue Jays season, a three game affair against the Oakland Athletics, due to the birth of his first daughter.[32]
Bautista walked 28 times in the month of April, breaking a club record that was set when Carlos Delgado collected 26 bases on balls in April 2001. He was also one home run shy of tying Delgado's record of 10 home runs in the month of April. Bautista was unanimously selected for the Honda Blue Jays Player of the Month award, and was also named the AL Player of the Month for the month of April (his third such award in four months, dating back to the 2010 season).[33][34]
On May 15, Bautista hit 3 home runs against the Minnesota Twins. It was the first 3 home run game of his career.[35] On May 28, in a home game against the Chicago White Sox, Bautista hit his 20th home run, a 3 run shot to left field, becoming the first player to reach 20 home runs in 2011 as well as the fastest player to reach 20 home runs (44 games) in Blue Jays franchise history.[36] Bautista won the AL Player of the Month award for May, his fourth such award in five months. He also became the first player to have the highest number of home runs in a single month for five consecutive months since Jimmie Foxx did so from June 1933 to April 1934.[37] Bautista also won the Honda Player of the Month award for the second month in a row.[38]
On June 23, the Blue Jays announced that Bautista would be playing third base instead of right field for an indefinite period of time. Eric Thames was recalled from the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s to play the outfield. The rationale behind the switch was to give the team the best combination of hitters and capable fielders in the lineup at once.[39]
Bautista was selected for the 2011 All-Star Game, receiving an MLB record 7,454,753 votes.[40] At the time of his selection, he led the MLB in home runs (26), walks (70), OBP (.471), slugging percentage (.679), OPS (1.150), times on base (160) and was also in second place for runs scored (64), total bases (182) and extra base hits (41). Bautista became the first Blue Jay in history to lead the league in All-Star voting, the first Blue Jay to be voted in to the All-Star game as a starter since Carlos Delgado in 2003.[41] American League Captain David Ortiz selected Bautista to participate in the State Farm Home Run Derby. Bautista hit 4 home runs and was eliminated in the first round.
On July 9, in a game against the Cleveland Indians, Bautista hit his 30th and 31st home runs of the year, breaking the Blue Jays record for home runs before the All-Star break set by George Bell in 1987, when he hit 29.
On August 5, with the debut of prospect Brett Lawrie to play third base, Bautista returned to right field. In a game against the Oakland Athletics on August 20, Bautista walked three times, which brought his season total to 102 walks in 113 games. He is the fastest to reach the 100 walk mark since Barry Bonds did so in 2007 (in his 115th game), and broke Carlos Delgado's Blue Jay record of fastest to reach 100 walks (Delgado reached 100 walks in his 130th game in 2000).[42]
During a game against the New York Yankees on September 5, Bautista hit his 40th home run of the season, a solo homer off reliever Rafael Soriano. He became the 2nd player in Blue Jays history to have back to back 40 home run seasons (Carlos Delgado did so in 1999 and 2000).[43] Two games later on September 7, against the Boston Red Sox, Bautista stole home plate on a double steal in which rookie teammate Brett Lawrie took second base, becoming the first 40 home run hitter to steal home plate since Adam Dunn completed the rare feat in 2004.[44]
In the final series of the regular season, Bautista walked 4 times against the Chicago White Sox to increase his season total to 132, the highest total by an American League player since Jason Giambi walked 137 times in 2000, setting a new Blue Jays franchise record, previously held by Carlos Delgado (with 123 walks in 2000).[45]
Bautista once again led the major leagues in home runs, picking up his second consecutive home run title and becoming the first player to lead in consecutive years since Mark McGwire did so in 1998 and 1999 (with 70 and 65 home runs respectively). He also led the majors in slugging percentage (.608), OPS (1.056) and walks (132), and led the AL in intentional walks (24). He came in second place for OBP (.447) behind Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers.[46] He was named the American League winner of the Hank Aaron Award for the second consecutive season,[47] becoming just the third player in the award's history, after Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds, to win the award in back-to-back years.
On November 2, 2011, Bautista was awarded his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award in further recognition of his strong offensive performance in 2011.[48]
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