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José Antonio Bautista (born October 19, 1980 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican professional baseball player who primarily plays as a right fielder and as a third baseman with the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He has also played first base, second base, left field, and center field in his career.[7]

In the 2010 season, Bautista set a Toronto Blue Jays single-season team record by hitting 54 home runs, making him one of 26 players in the 50 home run club. That season he was the home run champion of both the American League and Major League Baseball.

On July 3, 2011, Bautista set the all-time MLB record for the most All-Star votes received by a single player with 7,454,753, which surpassed the previous record of 6,069,688 set by Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. in 1994

Major league career

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.[9] 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.

[edit] 2008

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).[10]

[edit] 2009

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.[11]

[edit] 2010

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.[12] Bautista hit his 20th home run as part of a 2-HR night against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 22.[13] This was a career high for a single season, an achievement he reached in just two months.[13]

On July 4, 2010 Bautista was selected as a reserve for the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star game in Anaheim.[14] 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.[15] 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.

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.[17] 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.[18] 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).[19] 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.[20] 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.[20]

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.[21] 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.[22] Bautista was again awarded player of the week for the week ending August 29.[23] 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.[citation needed] 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 also finished tied for second with 23 runs and was third with 23 walks.[24]

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.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27] 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.[28]

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.[29] He is 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 is the 22nd Blue Jay to win the award, and the most recent since Adam Lind and Aaron Hill won their awards in 2009.[30]

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 (but no second-place votes).[31] It was the highest share of the vote garnered by a Blue Jay since Delgado finished second (behind Alex Rodriguez) in 2003.

Bautista attributed the vast improvement in his numbers to a swing change. The change involved timing, he now starts his swing during the pitcher's delivery. Previously, he didn't begin his swing until the pitcher released the ball, causing him to be late.

2011

BautistaLooking.JPG BautistaLooking.JPGJosé Bautista looks at a strike during Spring Training 2011.On February 17, 2011, the Blue Jays announced that Bautista had agreed to a 5-year contract extension worth US$64 million that will keep him with the club through the 2015 season.[33]

Bautista was expected to play right field for the entire season. Edwin Encarnación was supposed play third base.[34] On opening day in Toronto, Bautista hit his first home run of the season, the first in a back-to-back with Adam Lind.[35] Bautista missed a three game series against the Oakland Athletics due to the birth of his first daughter.[36]

At the end of April, Bautista led the AL in almost every major offensive category, including batting average (.366), home runs (9), base-on-balls (28), runs scored (25), on-base percentage (.532), slugging percentage (.780), and OPS (1.312). His 28 walks broke a club record set by Carlos Delgado in 2001, when he had 26 walks in April. He was also one home run shy of tying Delgado's record of 10 home runs in the month of April. He was unanimously selected for the Honda Blue Jays Player of the Month award, and was considered a favorite to win the AL Player of the Month award.[37]

On May 1, Bautista left a game against the New York Yankees in the 7th inning, due to "neck tightness". Bautista was quoted as saying "I'll be ready for the next game -- it's not going to be an issue... It's nothing major. It's just like I said -- a tight neck".[38] On May 3, manager John Farrell told the media that Bautista would miss a 3 game series against the Tampa Bay Rays due to his neck injury.[39] This announcement came on the same day that Bautista was informed he had been named the AL Player of the Month for April (his third Player of the Month award in four months).[40] Bautista returned from injury on May 8, hitting his 10th home run of the season. On May 15, Bautista hit 3 home runs against the Minnesota Twins. It was the first 3 home run game of his career.[41] 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. He is the first player to reach 20 home runs in 2011 as well as the fastest player to reach 20 home runs (44 games) in franchise history.[42]

By the first balloting update on June 1, Bautista led the entire MLB with the most votes received for starting position players for the 2011 All-Star game with 1,262,658 votes. Robinson Canó of the New York Yankees had amassed 1,185,952 total votes, good for the second most votes in the majors behind only Bautista.[43] On June 2, MLB announced that Bautista had won the AL Player of the Month for May. It is his fourth Player of the Month award in five months, and he is the first person to lead the league in home runs for five straight months since Jimmie Foxx did from June 1933 to April 1934.[44]

On June 23, the team announced that Bautista would be playing third base instead of right field for an indefinite period of time. Eric Thames was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas 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.[45] The move was made with the assumption that when it was time for third base prospect Brett Lawrie to be promoted from the minors, Bautista would return to right field.

On July 3, MLB announced that Bautista had been selected for a starting position in the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, receiving an MLB record 7,454,753 votes. 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, and is the first Blue Jay to be voted in to the All-Star game as a starter since Carlos Delgado in 2003.[46] Later that day, under the new selection format, the American League Captain David Ortiz selected Bautista to participate in the State Farm Home Run Derby. Bautista batted third for the American League (and fifth overall), hitting 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. Bautista appeared in his second All-Star game on July 12, going 1-for-2 with a single.

On July 14, in his first game after the All-Star break, Bautista rolled his ankle sliding into third base. He left the game and was day-to-day, missing the next three games. The Blue Jays announced through their twitter account that Bautista would return to the Blue Jays lineup on July 19 against the Seattle Mariners, as the designated hitter.[47]

On August 5, with the debut of prospect Brett Lawrie to play third base, Bautista returned to playing 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).[48]

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). [49] Two games later on September 7, against the Boston Red Sox, Bautista became the first 40 home run hitter to steal home since Adam Dunn did so in 2004, taking home off a successful double steal with Brett Lawrie taking second base.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Bau...r)#cite_note-49

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Career statistics

(through September 10, 2011)

Batting average .253

Home runs 154

Runs batted in 431

Hits 707

Stolen bases 31

Teams

Baltimore Orioles (2004)

Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004)

Kansas City Royals (2004)

Pittsburgh Pirates (2004–2008)

Toronto Blue Jays (2008–present)

Career highlights and awards

2× All-Star (2010, 2011)

AL Home Run Champion (2010)

AL Hank Aaron Award (2010)

Silver Slugger Award (2010)

3× AL Player of the Week Award

4× AL Player of the Month Award

50 home run club

Team Awards

Toronto Blue Jays MVP (2010)[1]

Toronto Blue Jays Most Improved Player (2010)[1]

John Cerutti Award (2010)[1]

5x Honda Player of the Month Award[2][3][4][5][6]

First Blue Jays Player to hit 50 Home Runs in a season in Toronto Blue Jays Franchise History

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