Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista reacts after hitting a two-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning at Rogers Centre on Tuesday, May 17, 2016.Dan Hamilton
Ever since the storied bat flip that he orchestrated in sheer ecstasy after hitting the home run that propelled the Toronto Blue Jays to a playoff victory over the Texas Rangers in October, Jose Bautista has been on the offensive.
To those who have continually lashed out against the Toronto right fielder for upsetting the staid standards of the grand old game, Bautista has suggested maybe it is time to start celebrating those achievements instead of trying to smother them.
And when Bautista was plunked in the ribs by a Texas pitcher on Sunday in what was obviously retaliation for his emotional outpouring some seven months earlier, Bautista once again found himself in the eye of a hurricane.
It was Bautista who received most of the punishment – not to mention embarrassment – when he absorbed a dangerous punch to the face administered by Texas second baseman Rougned Odor after Bautista slid aggressively into second base.
The slide, and Odor's overt reaction, led to a messy on-field brawl between both clubs that resulted in Major League Baseball issuing suspensions and fines to 14 individuals on Tuesday, including Bautista.
The 35-year-old is not happy with the one-game penalty that MLB has slapped against him, along with – according to the player – an undisclosed fine.
And once again, Bautista has to go on the offensive as he has decided to appeal his sentence to MLB, thereby delaying the onset of the punishment until the league adjudicates the matter.
When asked about his thoughts on the suspension after Tuesday night's 12-2 thrashing administered by the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre, Bautista said he did not want to comment until his appeal process is over.
"After batting practice I found out I got suspended and fined, I just placed a call and said that I was going to appeal it," Bautista said. "I think I have good enough reasons to. And I'm not just appealing it for the sake of appealing it. So we'll see what happens."
Bautista would not share what the substance of his appeal might be, not wanting to publicize his defence before his hearing.
While Bautista would not say, he just might be drawing a comparison to Chase Utley of the L.A. Dodgers, whose vicious slide into second base in last year's playoffs broke the leg of Ruben Tejada of the New York Mets.
Utley was initially handed a two-game suspension by MLB for the play that was later dropped after it was deemed too harsh of a penalty.
Bautista's slide on Sunday was in no way near as dangerous as Utley's and nobody got hurt.
As for the other punishments that were handed out as a result of Sunday's brawl – Odor was given the stiffest penalty, an eight-game suspension that he, too, said he will appeal – Bautista also did not want to provide an opinion.
"It doesn't matter how I feel," he said. "I think there's precedent set in the past and they should be respected. And as long as that's within what's happened – I mean I don't think it's my job to go and conduct their research on that. I'm sure the people in charge did their homework.
"And at the same time, again maybe giving you a little bit of substance, that's why I feel so confident in my appeal."
With all this hanging over his head, Bautista was still the one bright light the Blue Jays had in an otherwise dispiriting loss over the Rays, their fourth in a row as the season continues to be a bit of a mystery for the American League club.
Bautista swatted his seventh home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning, a two-run shot that lifted Toronto in front, 2-1.
Then the Rays came right back to slap starter Marcus Stroman around for three more runs in the second and the rout was on.
The Blue Jays, who were defeated 13-2 by the Rays in Monday's series opener, have now surrendered 12-plus runs in back-to-back games for the first time since June of 2011. That also marks the last time the team has allowed 17-plus hits in consecutive games.
"It's been a tough two days, pretty ugly," Bautista conceded. "It might kind of augment the situation a little bit more than it should. It hasn't been pretty but it's just two days.
"We got to continue moving forward with that mentality and try to flush it out of our system, get a win tomorrow and go on the road and have a good road trip."