The Toronto Blue Jays announced over the weekend that six-time American League All-Star Jose Bautista will be honored August 12, as he enters into the Blue Jays Level of Excellence.
The first 15,000 fans that attend the game at the Rogers Centre will receive a Jose Bautista bobblehead, commemorating his memorable series-winning home run and bat flip, from Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series, when the Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Bautista hit a monster three-run home run to give the Blue Jays a late, 6-3 lead over the Rangers in Game 5 of the American League Division Series. In celebratory fashion, Bautista chucked his bat. It was a bat flip heard round the world.
Bautista's homer would prove to be the difference, ending the season of the Rangers in a win-or-go-home Game 5, as the Blue Jays advanced to the American League Championship Series.
The next season, the Rangers would throw at Bautista. Moments later, Bautista performed a take-out slide into Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor and Odor punched Bautista square in the face.
In the eight years that have passed since Bautista's bat flip, Major League Baseball has moved in a direction more favorable towards players expressing themselves and showing emotion. When players celebrate with bat flips and bat chucks, they are being thrown at by opposing teams for their celebrations less frequently, than players had been thrown at in the past.
The Blue Jays will play the Chicago Cubs August 12, on the day of Bautista's enshrinement and bobblehead give-away.
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