You work hard all your career. You come day in and day out giving it all but somehow things never quite go your way. That seemed to be the story of Dominican José Bautista, a six-time All-Star who has given the Toronto Blue Jays almost everything a baseball player can give its team. Take, for example, three seasons (and counting) of 40 plus homers. Or how about four seasons driving in more than 100 runs? His team was not giving him much back, or anything besides a playoff drought that was the longest in all major sports.
Then 2015 came. The Blue Jays were suddenly very good and at 34 years of age Bautista got his first opportunity to shine in the postseason. Boy, has he done it! He hit a monster home run in game 5 against the Texas Rangers, to practically give his team the series. With two runners on base, he not only hit the second most important home run in franchise history, he also gave us a bat flip for the ages.
Besides being tattooed on the back of some Blue Jays fans, the throwing of the bat was analyzed by scientists. He might be single handedly rewriting the unwritten rules of baseball by saying he won’t apologize for what he did.
So Toronto has one Dominican ball-crusher. No wait, it has two. How about Edwin Encarnación, a fellow home run hitter who has been giving his team four straight seasons with 30 plus home runs. In fact, no right handed batter has hit more homers since 2012. In other words, he is a serious hitter that has already hit a pivotal home run in the series-clinching fifth game.
All this is anecdotal compared to what will be his trademark when his career is over: the parrot. His way of running the bases after a home run, right arm high up in the air for the parrot to stand calmly, is a trademark of this team. Fans are making this a lucky charm.
So when the Toronto team gets the ring – and they are favorites to do just that – you know these two Dominicans will be a big reason why.