Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista made a huge statement with a monster home run in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s ALDS-clinching victory over the Texas Rangers.
He stood at the plate as he marveled in his mammoth shot, then tossed his bat to the side.
Some liked it. Some didn’t.
“I loved it. That’s playoff baseball, to me,” said Lou Merloni. “When you play playoff baseball there’s so much emotion bottled up inside, it’s not like any other sport. If you let your emotions get the best of you as a hitter, you start chasing pitches out of the zone or pitches aren’t hitting their spots. So it’s bottled up inside of you, and when you have a moment like that - a big, game changing bomb in the seventh inning - you let it fly. I think pretty much everything goes. I also don’t have a problem with it if Texas has an issue with it next year, so be it. But I absolutely loved it.”