Jose Bautista, a former slugger for the Blue Jays, raised the bar for excellence at Rogers Centre.
For the first time in six years, the well-known song “Jo-se, Jo-se, Jo-se” reverberated around Rogers Centre on Saturday following Jose Bautista’s addition to the Toronto Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence.
Before Toronto’s game against the Chicago Cubs, Bautista was celebrated in a 45-minute ceremony that included a symbolic passing of the torch between the two key players of the Blue Jays offence: him throwing the opening pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
You guys have no idea how much this means to me and my family,” said Bautista, clearing his throat to fight back tears, addressing the sold-out crowd at Toronto’s downtown ballpark.
He then introduced a five-minute video where he recounted how he was traded to the Blue Jays in 2008 and thanked several people from the organization as well as the fans.
“I knew that Toronto had a lot of great players, and that the Blue Jays had a great history, including two World Series,” said Bautista in the video. “I was also aware that from its very beginning, the Jays organization had strong ties to my home country, the beautiful Dominican Republic.
“But what I didn’t fully realize until I arrived in Toronto was that this was such a welcoming, diverse and multicultural city. You embrace me and my family as your own and I can’t thank you enough for that.”
The Level of Excellence that looks out over right field, where Bautista spent the majority of his ten seasons with the Blue Jays, now bears his official name. His name is displayed on the ballpark’s 400-level façade next to the name of Hall of Fame pitcher Roy Halladay.
PHOTOS: Blue Jays Level of Excellence inductee Bautista(tab opens in a new one)
Bautista was a three-time Silver Slugger and six-time All-Star with Toronto. With the Blue Jays, he hit 288 home runs, including a major league-high 54 in 2010 and 43 in 2011.
