Joey Bats came back to the Rogers Centre on Tuesday night for the first time since leaving Toronto to join the New York Mets and, despite the fact that he's no longer a Blue Jay, local sports fans were straight up elated.
Jose Bautista is still very, very popular in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/7nuQThltj6
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) July 3, 2018
Jose Bautista, who hit 288 homers over his 10 years playing for the Blue Jays, is now and will always be a Toronto legend, judging by the events surrounding last night's game.
His team may have lost last night's game, but nobody in the stadium received more love from the crowd.
In his first game back in Toronto, Jose Bautista got a nice heart warming standing ovation for everything he did for the city ⚾️💙pic.twitter.com/KBB6BYfFNw
— Baseball King™ (@BasebaIlKing) July 4, 2018
Even the Jays paid tribute to their former star by blasting Usher's "O.M.G." when Bautista went up to bat in the first inning.
This is the song he walked out to during his 54-home run season in 2010, according to The Canadian Press, and the same song he used for his final home game last year.
Jose Bautista walks up to Usher's OMG, tips his cap as #BlueJays fans give him a standing ovation, chant his name pic.twitter.com/OLjfrRdNCy
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) July 3, 2018
Ahead of the game, MLSE showed a touching video tribute of the 37-year-old Dominican slugger's most memorable moments in Toronto.
A crowd of just over 24,000 people gave Bautista a rollicking standing ovation as he clapped and waved to fans.
Welcome back, @JoeyBats19. 💙 pic.twitter.com/ifZPGKSCd9
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 3, 2018
"It was great to be recognized, great to acknowledge the fans and great to know that they feel good that I'm back and they wanted to recognize me," said Bautista to reporters after the game.
"It was a great moment. I had to hold back a little bit but I managed to get through it without shedding any tears, so that was fun."
Jose Bautista is still the King of Toronto. And the King has returned.
— Tulo abides (@barto82) July 3, 2018
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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