Ten years ago earlier this month, Jose Bautista hit the biggest home run of his life and gave the Blue Jays their defining moment as an organization this century.
Undoubtedly the most important singular play in Jays history since Joe Carter’s homer to win the 1993 World Series, it seemed impossible the Bautista home run could ever have company for Jays fans of a certain age.
At least not for a while. But somehow, it does.
The similarities between Bautista’s drive to deep left field and George Springer’s three-run shot to put the Blue Jays on the cusp of the World Series are striking.
To start with the obvious, they were each three-run homers, each came in the bottom of the seventh inning on a pitch on the inner half of the plate, and each put the Jays ahead in an elimination game, eventually leading to a series win. It wasn’t just the impact of the moment for either homer, but the backstory of how each came to be.
Choosing which home run was “better” risks undermining the enormity of either moment. Instead, here is a look at the parallels between the two and their place in Blue Jays’ history.
The Bat Flip
What happened before Bautista’s home run was nearly just as important as the home run itself when telling the story. It’s a story that starts long before the seventh inning.
The 2015 Blue Jays snapped a 22-year postseason drought, finding their gear in the second half of the season after a flurry of trade-deadline acquisitions. But Toronto’s postseason journey looked to be short-lived.
The Jays dropped the first two games of the ALDS at home and needed to win two games in Arlington just to get the series back to Toronto for Game 5, which they did.
Starter Marcus Stroman was sharp over six innings things went into the seventh inning tied 2-2. And then the craziness started.
With a runner on third and two outs, Aaron Sanchez missed high with a fastball to Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo. Choo took a step back to adjust his sleeve, leaving his left arm outstretched across home plate. But catcher Russell Martin stole a glance at third to check on the runner before turning back to deliver the ball back to Sanchez the way he has tens of thousands of other times in his life. Except the throw back to the pitcher struck Choo’s bat and deflected toward third, allowing the runner to score and the Rangers to take a 3-2 lead.
After initially ruling the ball dead, the umpiring crew called the ball live and allowed Texas’ run to count, which was needless to say not a very popular decision among the majority of the 50,000 in attendance that day. Beers cans, food wrappers and just about everything else rained down on the field in protest and the game needed to be briefly delayed while the stadium crew tidied up.
Back-to-back Ranger errors gave the Jays runners on first and second with nobody out. Up stepped Ryan Goins, who bunted to try and advance the runners into scoring position. But shortstop Elvis Andrus inexplicably dropped the throw at third for his second error of the inning and Texas’ third in as many plays.
A force-out at the plate gave the Rangers their first out. Up next was Josh Donaldson, the AL MVP that year, who hit an awkward pop-up that tied the game but forced the runner at second. That brought Bautista to the plate two out and two on, whose subsequent home run came as close to knocking off the roof of a building as any ever has. Add in perhaps the most memorable bat flip in MLB history, and Bautista’s home run was immortalized forever.
It wasn’t just that the home run effectively won the series, it was the way the inning unfolded beforehand and built up to that moment. Few sports can set up a moment like baseball can, and that was a prime example.
Springer sends Jays to World Series
Springer’s home run was different in the way the game unfolded beforehand.
If Baustista’s home run was the culmination of a long series of events, Springer’s was closer to a sudden eruption.
The Blue Jays had their opportunities early Monday in Game 7 but weren’t able to punch through against Mariners starter George Kirby, leaving five runners on base and trailing 3-1 into the seventh.
On the mound for the Mariners was righty Bryan Woo, arguably their best starting pitcher who was working out of the bullpen due to a late-season injury. Woo walked Addison Barger to begin the inning and gave up a hit to Isiah Kiner-Falefa to make it two on with nobody out. Up next was Andres Gimenez, who bunted (sound familiar?) and put runners at second and third with one out.
Next was the top of the order, prompting Dan Wilson to bring in righty Eduard Bazardo to avoid Springer seeing Woo a second time.
The result was the same as Bautista’s memorable blast. Springer got the barrel to a sinker on the inner half of the plate and drove it out of the ballpark to the pull side. But unlike Bautista’s, Springer’s homer wasn’t a no-doubt home run off the bat, which only added to the eruption of the crowd when it reached the left-field seats.
It might not have had the high-tension backstory of the Bautista homer or the iconic bat flip recognizable to even a casual baseball fan, but it did send the Jays to baseball’s biggest stage.
The Jays went from a two-run deficit to a one-run lead, completely flipping the narrative in a game where they hadn’t been able to break through with the big hit up to that point. According to Baseball Reference, it was the single biggest play in ALCS history in terms of win probability added.
Pandemonium ensued once Arozarena ran out of room at the wall. The Jays dugout erupted. Springer said he blacked out running the bases. Who could blame him?
“Unbelievable moment,” the veteran outfielder said. “So happy for our team, our fans, our city, our country.”
“It’s so fitting,” manager John Schneider said. “Bottom of our order gets it done again. There’s probably not another person on planet Earth that I want up other than George Springer and his October magic.”
Springer’s was the first go-ahead home run for a team trailing by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later in a Game 7 in MLB history.
It also completed an incredible set of playoff home runs for the Blue Jays franchise. According to OptaSTATS, the Jays have now hit a game-winning home run worth three or more runs in the seventh inning or later to eliminate an opponent in all four rounds. No other franchise has more than one such homer.
Three of those have come within the past 10 years. Joe Carter against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1993 and Edwin Encarnacion’s Wild-Card Game walk-off against the Baltimore Orioles in 2016 are the others.
Monday was Springer’s 23rd career postseason homer, pulling the 2017 World Series MVP into a tie with Kyle Schwarber for the third-most ever and six behind Manny Ramirez for the all-time record.
Of course, credit for the victory belongs to more than just Springer.
Daulton Varsho got two hits and drove in a key run early. Both Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt threw up all-important zeroes in relief. Closer Jeff Hoffman struck out the side to close things out. And Springer shouted out the bottom of the order for helping set the table in the seventh.
“The at-bats before me. If it’s not for those guys, that at-bat doesn’t happen,” Springer said after the game on Fox.
Winning the pennant and returning to the World Series for the first time in 32 years is a huge accomplishment. But as much celebration as there was Monday night, the Jays haven’t let their guard down according to ALCS MVP Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was among the biggest reasons there was even a Game 7 in the first place.
“The job is not finished. We got four more to go,” Guerrero told the crowd during the celebration.
