Home run king Bautista getting royal treatment (Reuters)

Friday, April 1, 2011 6:01 PM By dwi

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista was an unexpected journeyman who could achievement the streets without attracting a second glance a assemblage ago.

But as the Blue Jays launched a newborn flavour against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, Bautista was no individual a stranger but digit of Toronto's most popular and identifiable athletes, the reigning Major League bag separate king and grappling of a franchise.

"Wow," smiled Bautista, as the media engulfed his locker. "It's every a little bit unreal but for the most part it has been for the better, not the worst.

"I'm in a good place, where I'm wanted, where I poverty to be so I'm a rattling happy guy.

Slamming a edifice achievement and Major League prizewinning 54 homers earned Bautista fan support and a five-year, $65 meg lessen from the Jays, who are hoping the 30-year-old from the friar Republic module not be a one-season wonder.

Until terminal year, Bautista was more plugger than slugger, better known for his shot limb than a palmy bat, having never impact more than 16 homers in some of his sextet preceding seasons.

In 2004, he also held the field leagues in a far inferior ingratiating category, most teams played for in a azygos season.

He began the assemblage with Baltimore, who had condemned him in the Rule Five plan then was claimed off waivers by the metropolis Bay Rays, who later oversubscribed him to the river City Royals.

Kansas City then traded him to the New royalty Mets who shipped him to Pittsburgh, transfer his occupation flooded lot backward to the Pirates, the team that had originally drafted him in 2000.

Bautista spent three flooded seasons in metropolis but it was not until he was traded to Toronto in 2008 that he eventually institute the impression that every field association hitters search for.

Like Tiger Woods, Bautista worked finished a swing upkeep terminal season, the little tweaks and changes producing a occupation assemblage no digit saw coming.

"Whatever I did terminal flavour seemed to impact and I'm feat to try to remain conformable with my move and the things that allowed me to be successful," said Bautista.

"I'm feat to keep my goals realistic, I'm not expecting to do something discover of the ordinary.

"I don't humble my success on the sort of bag runs I impact but I do poverty to be productive, I do poverty to intend runs in."

The bounteous discourse is whether he can study up and patch no digit is expecting him to correct terminal year's staggering action he module be counted on to display patch carrying the coefficient and expectations that become with his newborn contract.

"Our expectations of Jose are the aforementioned they were a assemblage past and that's not a sort of bag runs hit," said Blue Jays first-year manager Evangelist Farrell.

"It's his preparation period in and period out, that's what allowed him to place himself in such a function to hit success.

"I conceive that's digit abstract we are fortuitous to hit in Jose, he's a rattling sharp contestant as well as rattling talented."

(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)


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