Controversies: Goose Gossage is a Cranky Old Man

Pictured: a disgrace to the game FREAKING LEGEND

The sides: Former Yankee pitcher Goose Gossage vs. Jose Bautista and anyone else who likes celebrating.

The background: Today in 'who the heck asked you' news, someone made the very unwise decision to sit down Goose Gossage and let him talk about what he thinks of modern baseball. And, surprise surprise, he thought it was going in the toilet. He also hates nerds, for some reason (as a self-professed nerd, I'm very insulted) but we'll get to that later.

One specific target of his ire - again, no surprise - was our very own Jose Bautista.
Here's that part of the interview:

"Bautista is an [expletive] disgrace to the game. He's embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him. Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto."

You can read the rest here, if you feel like tormenting your eyeballs. I'll wait.

My two cents: Obviously, as I have sworn to go to my grave defending Jose, I'm not the most impartial person on this. But I have a couple points to make.

One: Did he ask any of said Latin players what they think about all of this? I feel like if they're really that embarrassed by Bautista, they'd be able to speak for themselves, but that's just me.

Two: I don't know if he noticed, but the majority of the guys 'acting like fools' in Toronto are white. Josh Donaldson is no gentleman when he's fired up, and just today Troy Tulowitzki sent his bat cartwheeling after a walk. But none of them are mentioned by name in this tirade as being an embarrassment, etc., etc.
FYI, Goose: your racism is showing.

Three: I don't even understand where this came from. The random singling-out and attacking of Bautista seems way out of left field, and it's about something that wasn't even recent. Before today, Bautista hasn't played in a game since October. And since Gossage played in the 70s and 80s, he and his team have absolutely nothing to do with Bautista. At least Rangers pitcher Sam Dyson (while still a jerk) made comments about something that was relevant to himself, and has basically been quiet about it since.

Four: It's fascinating that Gossage is a proponent of injuring human beings on purpose (you know, an actual crime) but gets all riled up about someone being good at something and acknowledging they're good at it. Did he ever celebrate winning a game? Ever? In his life? This is not rhetorical, I am genuinely curious.

It also should be noted that no one should be surprised by any of this crap, he played for the Yankees for a good chunk of his career. They hate fun.

But the thing that confuses me is, he hates nerds, and the people he's mad at about 'ruining' baseball are the exact opposites of your stereotypical meek, wimpy 'nerds' - they're joyful, loud, and proud of themselves. And damn good at what they do. So who the hell do you want playing, Goose? Who does that leave? Aggressive idiots?

Speaking of fucking disgraces. pic.twitter.com/dyhxhPFNT1

— David, VM (@VocalMinoritySD) March 10, 2016

Oh... Nevermind. Kid was right about that last part.

The Backlash: Everyone who felt the need to respond did it in the most polite way possible - how's that for professionalism?

First, Yoneis Cespedes, who isn't a Blue Jay but was also mentioned at some point in the rant as being a disgrace because he also celebrates by flipping his bat, said he didn't know who Gossage was. He did, however, ask "He's a pitcher, right?", which should tell you everything you need to know about how tired this argument has gotten.

Then, brand-new Blue Jays catcher Tony Sanchez worked his way into my heart with the following tweets:

Russell Martin, per Barry Davis, said "I don't think we're too concerned about what Goose Gossage is thinking. Even though we respect what he's done for the game.", which is Canadian for "You were a good player but the words you're saying are stupid and you should shut up."

When Russell Martin goes home at night, he turns left at this sign. 

Russell, because he's the best, then went on to defend his teammate, saying "Jose is one of the best competitors I've ever played with. I enjoy how he goes about his business. He's a warrior out there."

And lastly, Bautista, well-spoken as ever, had this to say:

"He’s entitled to his opinion. I don’t agree with him whatsoever, but I’m not going to try to pick fights with people. They say what’s on their mind. If he had a reason to believe that, I would love to hear that, but I’ve never talked to him. I don’t know him. Whatever reason or agenda he’s on is fine with me. I’m not going to start picking a fight, let alone with a Hall of Famer."

(I took that last part to mean he'll wait until he's retired before releasing his true feelings. Hell hath no fury like a ticked-off Joey Bats).

Elsewhere on the Internet: It can't possibly be coincidental that Gossage's rant was made public on the same day as this excellent article about Bryce Harper was published. In it, he discusses how baseball needs to be more exciting, and basically says that people should be able to take credit for their accomplishments and not hate others for celebrating.

Bautista also had the following to say about Harper's article:

He's exactly right - joy is every bit as much of a human emotion as anger or aggression. And baseball players are human. (Goose, by the way, said stats nerds are taking the 'human element' out of baseball, but I bet he would fail to see the irony in that statement).

Now, the crusty old white-guy guard of baseball (*cough* Gregg Zaun) has long had a distaste for Harper because he acknowledges his own talent, can be seen as lazy, and apparently has a neck that one can't possibly be blamed for throttling. But the one thing I've never heard about him is that he 'celebrates too much'. And he's often credited with being 'a damn good ballplayer' in spite of those other perceived flaws. The talent comes first. But somehow Bautista has a temper/attitude/ego which 'ruin' watching him as a player. So it's interesting to see how those same guys will justify shitting on Jose while praising stuff about Harper. Ya know, since the two of them are on the same side of the issue.

Someone on Twitter took this opportunity to remind everyone that white-guy Mickey Mantle pretty much perfected the bat flip, and he came well before Goose's time.

But sure. Keep blaming all those pesky Latin players.

Someone else pointed out that Gossage shouldn't be in the HoF in the first place.

Also there's this, from (former pitcher) Dirk Hayhurst:

If Jose Bautista's bat flip embarrasses Latin players? Does Gossage's angry, swear riddled tirade embarrass white players?

— Dirk Hayhurst (@TheGarfoose) March 10, 2016

The Winners: Basically anyone listed above who's being classy or hilarious.

Jose Bautista is going to continue being amazing at the game of baseball no matter what anyone says, and so is Bryce Harper. Russell Martin and Tony Sanchez win too, because they get to be on the Blue Jays with Bautista, and they've made me love them today.

The Losers: Any baseballs that get pitched to Bautista after he thinks about this whole thing. Also the pitchers who threw said baseballs, the teams said pitchers play for, the fans of said teams... You get the picture.


All told, Jose and the Blue Jays took down the Yankees today 11-4 which, although it's a meaningless game, feels like some sweet, sweet, karma.

(Credit)

And you know what, Mr. Gossage, if you don't like the way baseball is being played anymore? You can kindly stop watching. I think we'll be just fine without you.

I made a montage! (And I learned some stuff)

As anyone who knows me knows, I love a good montage. Music + rapidly edited clips of sports people doing sports stuff = an incredibly happy Emily.

I know everyone and his brother has probably created some kind of highlight reel for the Blue Jays this season, but one of the best ones I ever saw was one they showed before the Canada Day game at the SkyDome - it was set to 'We're All In This Together' by Sam Roberts Band (also Canadian!), which is one of my favourite songs, and has a message that really encompasses the energy and the message of this season.

I couldn't find that video anywhere online, and it would have only contained the first 3 months of the season anyways (pre-Tulo & Revere & Price) so I, like any sane person, decided to make own!

One week, a few late nights, and several sticky notes full of scribbles later, voila!

(I didn't choose the thumbnail, but I love that it's Mark Lowe petting Ben Revere's face. It makes me giggle)

A few things I should point out: It's only moments from the REGULAR season. Before anyone gets grumpy about it missing Bautista's bat flip, I did that on purpose, because there were already too many great moments in the regular season to cram into a 5-minute song, I didn't have space for any from the playoffs. One of Donaldson's walkoffs almost didn't make the cut. (And besides, I wanted to end on a happy note, celebrating the AL East title). I might make another video if I feel like it but, ya know, school comes first and all that.

I think I accidentally favoured some of my personal favourite players. Oopsie. Hopefully, if you're a Martin/Travis/Pillar/Goins fan too, you'll like it! I did throw Danny Valencia in there once or twice even though he's no longer a Jay.

I sneakily included a few 'audio easter eggs', bits where the song synced up perfectly with the content of the video. Let me know in the comments if you think you spotted any!

I also realize, since this is the first video I've ever edited, there are a few glitches. For some reason, the program I used, once I converted it to a video file, many of the clips got extended or shifted a few seconds beyond where I thought I'd clipped them (the narration too). As a result, some of them show a few frames of the next shot (if I cut right before a shot change in the original video, which thankfully I didn't do too often) or an extra half-word on the narration. Not sure how to fix that, although I did go back and try a couple times.

I'm also well aware that there are several moments that I would have liked to include but didn't. There may be a Part 2 in the works at some point.

Curses!

Today is Friday the 13th, which naturally brings out the superstitious person in all of us. Baseball is a pretty darn superstitious sport in and of itself, so I thought I would revisit a couple of the 'curses' that supposedly led to the Blue Jays not winning the World Series this year (and maybe one that helped them?).

First and foremost, I don't really believe in curses *knocks on wood*. Other than the power that they can have over the people who DO believe in them, there's no evidence to prove these things are real. The only supernatural reason the Jays didn't get to the World Series is the Royals' devil magic. Helped out by a little lying bearded brat, and a crappy 9th-inning strike zone.

Huh, I really thought I'd be over that by now. Moving on...

First and foremost, there's the Taylor Swift curse. You know, the one that says every team whose stadium she gave a concert in started doing badly after she left town. Like the Nats, the Padres, and the Astros (although the Padres were at .481 and in fourth place in their division before she played in San Diego, so they shouldn't even count), some Jays fans got worried that her playing at the Dome would cost them.

I already addressed this:

The Jays are immune from the Taylor Swift curse because we have a banner from 1989 hanging in the Dome. It protects us.

— Em #ThankYouAA (@JaysGirlEmily) October 3, 2015

But it should be noted that in 1989 the Jays lost in the ALCS, to the team that went on to win the World Series (just like every team we've ever lost to in the ALCS) so who knows?

The Jays might have 'lucked' out here, because her concerts in Toronto came in October, pretty much at the very end of the regular season, when they'd already clinched. They won the game in Tampa that occurred simultaneously with her concert on October 2nd, then lost the late-afternoon game prior to her concert the next day, then were thoroughly embarrassed by the Rays the day after that.

And then came the playoffs. One theory is that she doesn't curse the team so much as she curses the stadium, so here's how that played out: The Jays were 3-3 in home games in the postseason, and 2-3 in away games. So much for that.

The jury's still out, but just to be safe, Taylor, the next time you're in Toronto - please play at the ACC.

The next and last curse is the Sports Illustrated Cover Curse. This one is far more well-established and documented (heck, it even has its own Wikipedia page) and is one of those stories where there are just SO many coincidences that even skeptics are scratching their heads. But it can't be that powerful, or else all athletes would refuse to appear on the cover, right? Right?!

Still, when this cover was released, for the October 17th issue, I was more giddy-excited than apprehensive. I mean look at all their smiling faces! They look like the cast of a sitcom! (A sitcom I would totally watch, by the way). Gibby's even got that 'They're zany, but what can I do about it' shrug down pat.

At the beginning of the ALDS, they lost two games and everyone was ready to 'blame the curse!' But then they turned it around, won three in a row and took the ALDS crown. That seems pretty un-curse-like to me. Obviously, they lost in the next round to the aforementioned Royals, but it's not like they got swept. Aside from losing, there's not much to be said for this curse.

And then I did some thinking about the individuals on the cover, and I realized the curse may have affected each of them individually, in more minor ways. And I got some MAJOR goosebumps. Let's break it down:

David Price: This guy seems to have his own personal curse, in that he's never won a postseason game he's started. Three times this year that happened, despite a strong beginning in ALCS Game 2. He pitched well most of the time, but never got enough run support. He also gave up three times as many runs as RA Dickey did in ALDS Game 4, in fewer innings. (That's more of a compliment to Dickey than it is an indictment of Price). Also, in that very Wikipedia article, I found that this (sorry for the tiny text):

Russell Martin: He had a minor slump at the plate in the postseason, and didn't hit a single home run (surprising, considering just about every other Jays player did). But the most obvious symbol of his curse was 'the throw that launched a thousand beer cans' in ALDS game 5, a.k.a. his return toss to Aaron Sanchez that somehow managed to find Shin-Soo Choo's bat and roll away, allowing Roughned Odor to score and causing mass hysteria at the Dome. It was the flukiest of all flukes, something nobody on either team or the umpiring staff had ever seen before.
Here he is discussing that very moment:

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulo also had an issue with the umpires and with Odor (maybe Odor himself is a curse, hmmm...) because he was the one who laid down the tag in the 14th inning of Game 2 that was reviewed, and somehow still ruled safe. If the out was called properly, it would have ended the inning - but instead, Odor and another run scored, leading to the Jays losing that game. 

Tulo also was involved in a debacle with Sam Dyson in the 5th game of that very series (keep your hands to yourself, Dyson!) and got bizarrely ejected for no apparent reason from ALCS in game 3. 

Now you might think Jose Bautista was immune from the curse, being that he probably had the best postseason out of anyone - hitting 4 homers, including the one that brought the house down and sealed the ALDS. But he, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion - the remaining fellows on the cover - all were removed from games with minor injuries, 3 of the 4 Jays players this happened to (Brett Cecil being the 4th). In game 1 of the ALDS, Bautista felt a tightness in his hamstring that prevented him from taking the field in the ninth inning. 

Donaldson was the final out in the last game of the ALCS, down by 1 and unable to drive in the man on 3rd. As mentioned earlier, he was also pulled from ALDS game 1 for fear of a possible concussion after he slid into 2nd base and smacked his head off Roughned Odor's knee (damnit Odor!) 

Ouch.

Encarnacion suffered another sprained finger during the first game of the ALCS that caused his swing to become painful, prompting him leaving the game early. 

The only Jays player missing from this cover that possibly had an even worse postseason was Ryan Goins, who went 0-for-18 in his first 5 games. And then there was that time that he didn't catch a pop-up in RF in Kansas City... Stupid ghosts. 

I should note that, aside from that bloop, he was spectacular defensively all postseason long, and totally redeemed himself at the plate afterwards (including with a home run!). Good for you, Go-Go! 

There may have also been some awesome sort of magic working in the Jays' favour - such as this tweet from the governor of Texas that seemed to have jinxed not one, but both of the teams mentioned. The Jays won the 4th game of the series that very night in Texas, and then all the errors in Inning 7 of Game 5... well, you know the rest. 

Still, the SI curse is kind of spooky, and in terms of MLB it didn't even stop with the Blue Jays this year. They featured Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy prior to the World Series, after he'd hit a crazy number of home runs in consecutive games - and then he made a bunch of errors and didn't hit a single homer in the WS. 

But the photo shoot for the Jays' cover did gift us with this gem, so it can't be all bad, right?

Let's be thankful for the Blue Jays

Being that today is Thanksgiving, and that I am sappy, I composed a mini essay on Twitter of things to be thankful for from this season. I've decided to compile them here. Bear with me.

No matter what, we have so much to be thankful for this year. Let's be thankful for the amazing season, and the end of a playoff drought.

Let's be thankful for all the times we got to stand on our feet and scream, yell and holler - not in outrage, but from excitement.

Let's be thankful for all the records broken and firsts that were achieved this year. 

Let's be thankful for all the good memories, inside jokes, hilarious reaction GIFs and memorable quotes this team has blessed us with.

Let's be thankful for the fact that David Price was, and is, for the immediate future, a Toronto Blue Jay.

Let's be thankful for Josh Donaldson and his 42 rainstorms (and his hair). Heck, let's be thankful for Josh Donaldson in general.

Let's be thankful that Jose Bautista has worked his butt off for us for so long and he was finally rewarded with a post-season appearance.

Let's be thankful for Mark Buehrle, who gave us everything until he literally couldn't anymore and never asked for anything in return.

Let's be thankful for Marco Estrada, who wasn't even supposed to be a starter and then blew our minds with two near no-hitters in a row.

Let's be thankful for all the quiet wisdom, eloquence, and logic-defying knuckleballs brought to us by RA Dickey.

Let's be thankful for being able to proudly say that we have a Canadian behind the plate in Russell Martin, and he proves we can play baseball as well as anyone.

Let's be thankful for Edwin Encarnacion's parrot wanting three walks in one day (and 36 other times this year) and for Dioner Navarro knowing what the hats meant.

Let's be thankful for the miraculously healing bodies of Marcus Stroman and Troy Tulowitzki.

Speaking of Stroman, let's be thankful for the boundless balls of energy that are him and Ben Revere.

Let's be thankful for the underdogs like Kevin Pillar and Chris Colabello, who were never supposed to even get a chance, but did, and got to shine.

Let's be thankful for Ryan Goins, already an A+ defender, basically reinventing himself at the plate and hitting a walkoff I know I'll remember forever.

Let's be thankful for Brett Cecil turning around his season and returning to be the shut-down pitcher we know and love.

Let's be thankful for Roberto Osuna, who magically struck out A-Rod as the first batter he ever faced and didn't look back (K'd him twice more too).

Let's be thankful for all the times Pillar and Donaldson and Dalton Pompey made us believe, even for a second, that men really could fly.

Let's be thankful for all the times this beautiful bunch of guys gave us (and Tulo) a reason to smile.

Let's be thankful that Justin Smoak has a powerful bat and a name that lends itself easily to puns. Because I know we baseball fans love our puns. 

Let's be thankful for Devon Travis just because we can. Let's be thankful for his cheerful smile and his dedication to rooting for his team even after he was injured.

Let's be thankful for the unsung heroes of the bullpen, who have a really tough job and without whom, we wouldn't be here. 

Let's be thankful for Gibby, who always knows what's best and doesn't listen to the idiots telling him otherwise.

Let's be thankful for Alex Anthopolous, who must know hypnotism or something to be able to pull off the moves he did.

Let's be thankful for a team that sticks up for one another and believes in each other as much as we believe in them, if not more.

Let's be thankful for the fact that we really did #ComeTogether in a display of unity like nothing I've seen in my lifetime.

Let's be thankful for our ability to keep our senses of humour and community even when things weren't going so well.

Let's be thankful, that for the first time in a long time, we've really had something special to be thankful about. 

Controversies: Suitgate

Who knew a simple shopping trip could turn into such a headache?

The sides: Jose Bautista (on behalf of Devon Travis) vs. the greedy people at Sporsnet

The background: As you may or may not recall, waaaay back in May, Sportsnet anchor Hazel Mae did a little fluff piece with Blue Jays rookie second baseman Devon Travis where they went suit shopping. Travis is only 24 and didn't really own a nice suit, which is basically a requirement for professional athletes - they have to dress nice when travelling and attending events and such. It was cute, it was fun, Devo looked dapper, all was fine, and after the season the Jays have had, nobody really remembered it after a while. You can watch the clip here:

The issue: Well as it turns out, the folks at Sportsnet (and its parent company, Rogers, who - surprise surprise - own the Blue Jays) made Devo pay for his own suit. 

The backlash: Jose Bautista didn't agree with this decision, and decided that he wouldn't do any one-on-one interviews with Sportsnet journalists until the matter was resolved. Weirdly enough, the reason for the boycott didn't surface until three months later - and in the meantime, apparently nobody in the general public noticed that SN was bereft of Joey Bats interviews. Many fans, tweeters and reporters alike, sided with Bautista, calling Sportsnet 'cheap' and praising Jose for standing up for his young teammate. 

My two cents: When I first heard about this story, the whole issue seemed kind of surprising and weird to me. Since Sportsnet is the ones who are in charge of the segment, aren't they supposed to pay? Isn't that supposed to be how this kind of thing goes? The store is getting tons of free publicity from this segment, why don't they cover the cost? I'm not saying he's being *forced* to go shopping and there are definitely less pleasant ways to spend one's time and money, but that still seems odd. 

People have mentioned that Travis is a well-paid ballplayer, but I think his salary is irrelevant here. Being a girl, I also have no clue how much men's suits/shirts/ties/shoes cost, but designer clothing can run pretty expensive. Someone pointed out that since it was 'off the rack' and not custom-made by a tailor, it would have been cheaper, but that's still a relative term. Also you can't tell me Devo's suit didn't require some alterations. He's short and extremely muscular - especially in the, erm, thigh area - I'm pretty sure that's not a standard size. 

Rogers/Sportsnet makes money off of him regardless, would it kill them to pony up for a suit, especially one he wears while representing their organization? They're taking advantage of him by proposing the shopping segment and then making him pay for it, when he could have just as easily done the same thing off-camera on his own time or with a friend. Everyone profits from this except Devo, and that's not right. 

As for the Bautista angle, I'm not even sure how he became involved in this. Maybe Devo was kind of disgruntled about having to pay so much money? He might not have even complained at all, could be Bautista just heard about how the transaction occurred and thought 'that's not right, he's being taken advantage of.' We'll probably never know. But I love the way he handled it. Travis is a young kid, he can't really complain without raising some eyebrows about his attitude. Bautista knows that. He carries some clout with Sportsnet since he's one of the biggest stars on the team, so if anyone could make them do the right thing, it would be him. If anyone says this man isn't a leader, I'll fight them. He saw something that he felt was wrong, so he used his influence to help make it right. 

He didn't make a big fuss about it, either, just played the stubbornly silent waiting game until the other side caved (which I'm assuming they did, given that he did an unrelated on-air interview with Barry Davis the same day the story broke). It was probably the public criticism that did Sportsnet in. I love the fact that Bautista didn't comment on the story when asked (by other media members) about it, other than to confirm that they had their facts straight. Because ain't nobody writing inaccurate headlines about Joey Bats. 

The winners: Well, eventually it got resolved, so I'm assuming Bautista and Travis won in the end. Travis gets a free suit and still looks like the humble human being he is. 

Bautista also wins because he comes across looking like a hero (something not undeserved). In a third win, Bautista got three months free of answering the same bloody questions over and over again. Lucky him. 

The store/designer still get paid for the suit either way, and I'm sure they got extra business somewhere along the line because of this segment, so as annoyed as it makes me, I guess they win too. Stupid capitalism. 

The losers: Rogers and Sportsnet had one of their star athletes be mad at them for three months, so that can't be fun. They also were on the receiving end of ire from more fans (aside from the ones that already hate them for renaming the beloved Dome and building a statue of Ted Rogers... Seriously.) I'm not including paying for a ~1000$ suit as a loss for a billion-dollar company. But the bad PR is punishment enough. 

Us viewers lost out on three months' worth of Joey Bats quotes. Sad face. However, that would have been a bigger deal if the team wasn't doing so well. And call me a sap, but I kind of liked seeing the 'bit players' get some more screen time instead. 

How it should have gone down: In a perfect world, the network would have not been cheap bastards and paid for the damn suit themselves, and in return for all the publicity, the store would have given them a discount. The store then gets to proclaim "Hey! Toronto Blue Jay Devon Travis shops here!", which is probably what happened anyways. 

The ironic thing about all of this is that Devo is so sweet and gracious that he probably would have spent an hour of airtime profusely thanking whoever paid for the clothes. That makes good TV, and the network gets footage of that which they can use whenever they feel like for the rest of his life. And we the viewers get to see that footage. Everybody wins.

I mean hell, I'd buy Devo a suit if it meant I could hang out with him for a day. Tuition is overrated.

Unanswered questions: Was the issue actually resolved? Bautista gave an on-air interview the day of the story, so that's kind of a quick turnaround, but it may have been some kind of goodwill gesture on behalf of the network to make it seem like everything was fine. Maybe they made an agreement not to bring it up. I know Barry Davis, a Sportsnet employee, definitely wasn't going to. 

Didn't I read something about Mark Buehrle taking the rookies every year to get their first suit? What happened to that? Maybe he only does it with the pitching staff. But that's some serious leadership too - and he doesn't do it for publicity, either. 

Also, remember that time Edwin Encarnacion blew off Barry Davis after hitting a walk-off home run? Everyone says it's because he's self-conscious about his English, but I'd like to think it's because he was showing solidarity with Bautista over the suit thing. I can dream, right? 

@BlueJayHunter a nice addition might be Edwin denying Barry pic.twitter.com/XHWq1XvBrS

— Seb FoxAllen (@purpledocket) June 10, 2015

If there's one thing about this we can all agree on, it's that Devo is adorable. And he looks damn good in blue.

And a HOUNDSTOOTH tie?!! Excuse me, I accidentally drew blood because of how sharp this is. That offer of shopping still stands, anytime. 

Know Your Jays: Jose Bautista

Jose Antonio Bautista. Joey Bats. Number 19. Our fearless leader. He's known by many names. You may be surprised to learn that apparently most people mispronounce his last name. According to his MLB player profile, it's pronounced 'bahhh-tista', not 'boww-tista'. Until he corrects the announcers, however, I remain unconvinced.

Does he have Twitter: He does! @JoeyBats19 His tweets are frequent, entertaining (if occasionally self-promoting) and emoji-laden. Bonus: He also has an equally-active Instagram! His hashtag game is possibly the best I've ever seen. 

Irrelevant Facts: He's one of only three remaining players from when the Jays had those black jerseys and the logo with the angry-looking bird. (The other two are Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Cecil).

The man REALLY loves his breakfast cereal.

His initials (JB) are also the team's initials (BJ) in reverse. Coincidence?? ... Yes. 

Best quote: (On the players added at the trade deadline) "It’s almost like being at war and running low on ammo, and the next thing you know, here comes a little parachute with a crate. And it lands right next to you. And it’s full of ammo. You’re like, ‘Yeah, baby,'"

(When asked if he had a response to an opposing pitcher griping about his bat-flip) "No."

What he's good at: Lots of things! Hitting things, catching things, looking very casual while doing those things... Or better yet, catching things dramatically. He's a good 8 years older than his centerfield counterpart Kevin Pillar, but is just as capable of the acrobatic catches. They're just not always necessary. But when they are, they're spectacular. (See second video) He's probably able to do those things because he stretches more than a yoga instructor.

He's also legendary for responding to bush-league moves (i.e. throwing at him) with his swing (see first video), often in the same at-bat. You don't want to make this guy angry. You won't like him when he's angry. Especially if you're a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

He's been the face of the franchise for several years now, and the face of some other things, including Booster Juice and TD Canada Trust Bank, for some reason.

He's also crazy smart. He wrote this amazing article about the importance of education for international baseball prospects. He's from the Dominican Republic (but you probably already knew that) and has a foundation to provide opportunities for amateur ballplayers to get a higher education. Good guy.
  
What he's not so good at: Keeping quiet. Which is actually a good thing. Sometimes you need to stand up for yourself, or a teammate, even when everyone's saying you should just shut up. When Joey Bats sees that something is wrong, he points it out, and he doesn't let anyone sweep it under the rug. When an asshat of a radio sports commentator implied that baseball players in general and Dominicans in particular weren't smart, Bautista responded to him on Twitter in a manner that actually seemed fairly calm (judging solely by the lack of caps lock and exclamation points).

Dear Mr. @ESPN_Colin before i rip you a new one i would like for you to explain what u meant to say about baseball and dominicans, please

— Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19) July 23, 2015

Who among us wouldn't have let loose a few curse words at a guy insinuating our entire country is lacking in intelligence? Remarkable restraint, and for a man reputed to be a 'hothead', no less. He even included the sarcastic 'please' at the end.

Another thing would be knowing his 'limits'. I would like to say the man HAS no limits (certainly the field has no limits as far as his bat is concerned) but there was that one time he got pissed off at the Orioles and overthrew on a play, and hurt his arm. Apparently it got to the point where he couldn't raise his arm to comb his hair, and this led to him having to DH for a while, which in turn led to the circus that was our outfield. But we'll forgive him for that, Because he's Bautista. And his rage was justified. At least it didn't hurt the team much in the long run. 

Why I love him: Because of all the things he's good at! He mashes, he catches, he dances, he bat-flips, and he speaks up about things that no one else will. Really just a badass in general. And he has a soft spot for kids, and a sense of humour, as evidenced by his goofy selfies on his Instagram and his frequent use of the 'crying from laughter' emoji.

He also follows pretty much everyone in Canada on Twitter (including both of my accounts, teehee), which has become somewhat of a running joke in the Blue Jays Twitterverse. Also a running joke? The Bautista quote 'Who are you and why are you talking to me?', which came about in response to a reporter claiming to know what Jose was thinking last year at the trade deadline. He's the stuff of legends, a giant brushing an inconsequential fly off his shoulder. A fly that didn't need to be addressed, to begin with, but for some reason I have this mental image of him sitting behind his computer after crafting these cool-toned takedowns and just giggling.

I love how he can go from intense and focused, to exuberantly proud (of himself or a teammate) to calm and calculating and back again in a second. Even when he appears to be at his most relaxed, you can always tell he's thinking, observing and strategizing. No one can tell you he isn't smart. Sometimes the smartest people are the ones who don't feel the need to inform everyone of just how smart they are. There's something in his eyes that gives it away. That, and a slight sense of mischief.

"I'm gonna hit a home run against them later."

As for the thing about him being a hothead - many people have pointed out this might be a little bit of a racist criticism, especially since Josh Donaldson has done similar stuff (and worse) and been called much fewer names over it. That may be true. My dad also pointed out that Jose has had a temper with unfair calls and such for several years, and maybe people are just getting tired of it. But even compared to the stories of past seasons, he's seemed to have cooled off a fair bit as of late. The only times I've seen him really lose his temper was on a lousy strike call. And you can say here that he's disrespecting the umpires, or whatever. But he's one of the best judges of strikes and balls in the league. As Arden Zwelling once famously said - "When Jose Bautista says the pitch is a ball, its a f***ing ball." He has an amazing eye.  He gets mad because he wants to be given a fair chance, and if the umpire were judging the game accurately, there'd be no need for him to be angry. Bryce Harper is another player noted for doing this - but no one, save for Gregg Zaun, seems to think he's hot-headed.
Baiting, especially from the other team, is met with cool indifference (like "I could care less what Adam Jones is saying."). Or this lovely gesture, also directed at the O's:

"Don't talk to me." A wave of dismissal more suited to an Elizabethan lady. That's how above all of this Jose is. Considering all the grief that team has given him, all the near-misses he's suffered at the hands of their pitchers, he could have a lot more to say to them at that moment. But he refuses to sink to their level, and that makes me really proud.
He also chose not to berate an ignorant Jays fan who interfered with a fair ball (unlike the Yankees' Mark Teixiera, who fell into the stands trying to catch a foul one later that same week). He gave said fan an icy glare, but didn't say anything. It was a look that could kill, for sure, but wouldn't a hothead likely choose to engage in a screaming match?

He's a leader, and I really mean this, despite him becoming kind of overlooked in that role in the 2015 season. There was that time he wouldn't let starting pitcher Matt Boyd (making his big-league debut) get his own water after his first inning.

There was that other time he chose to sit out the glory and excitement of the All-Star Game & Home Run Derby because he was afraid it would cause further injury to his irritated arm, and end up costing his team later on. He put the success of the team before personal recognition, even though it was the first time he missed the ASG in 6 consecutive seasons.

There was another time when he stood up for teammate Devon Travis when he felt the rookie was being taken advantage of - read about Suitgate over here

And then there were the countless times this year I've noticed him be the first one to step between an angry teammate and an umpire/opposing player, try to calm the other guy down, and avoid an argument or, even worse, an ejection. More often than not, this teammate is Josh Donaldson, and while I'm definitely not saying Donaldson is wrong to be angry, he does the team more good in the lineup than in the clubhouse, and Jose knows this. Which is probably why he steps in, having been there numerous times himself. The point can also be made that since he bats third to Donaldson's second, he just so happens to be the nearest person since he's on-deck at the time. But he could just as easily stay put and wait for Gibby to do something about it. Attempting to de-escalate a situation like that goes a long way in terms of showing leadership. As much as I can enjoy the drama created by a mid-game argument, I love the guys who keep the peace even more. And for that, he earns my respect.

2015 Season Highlights: Well, he's hit a lot of home runs. Including the 250th of his career, as well as his 200th as a Blue Jay. He and Josh Donaldson also are tied for first on the list of MLB teammates who homer in the same game (7 times as of August 12th). He slid comfortably into second place on the list of all-time home runs as a Jay, prompting legend Vernon Wells to tweet this, when Bautista tied him:

Joined now by @JoeyBats19 on the @BlueJays HR list. Welcome bud! Pass me tomorrow! #GoJaysGo

— Vernon Wells (@VernonWells10) July 22, 2015

Have I mentioned he hits a lot of homers? One (or two, or four) of the most enjoyable ones were when he glared down the Orioles, or the time he hit a homer and yelled 'f*** yeah, bitch' in slow-motion at the Orioles bench as he ran to first, or hit one against the Royals in that game where they rattled JD so much with beanballs that he couldn't hit one himself. And then there was the one where he hit one in extra innings in New York to end a 1-1 10-inning game. (Also happened to be the first Jay since Gregg Zaun to do so against the Yankees. Pretty cool.) 

Then, on September 22nd against the Yankees, after struggling with his arm all season, he unleashed not one, but TWO cannon-like throws which nailed out the runners and kept the Jays in the game. They ended up losing in extra innings, but after this magnificent display we all kind of looked at each other and knew - he was back.

Off-field antics: Well, I mean. There's all the dugout dancing. It was started by Jose Reyes, I'm sure, but Bautista joined in wholeheartedly.

There's also this, which is about a year old, but is definitely one of the cutest, most good-natured things I've ever seen happen in a pre-game warmup.

(Side note: Isn't Orbit seriously the best mascot in all of baseball?!!)

And Joey Bats, the Barcelona FC superfan, once traded his batting practice shirt to a Jays fan for his Messi jersey - even though said jersey was much too small. Legend.

He's not without his problems, but he's one of the most prolific and consistently amazing players the Blue Jays have ever had. I for one was astonished he didn't make the Franchise Four, because god knows I voted for him! He's set all kinds of records and contributed to all kinds of wins. There is no modern-day Blue Jays without our Joey Bats.

[All GIFs were made by the Blue Jay Hunter]