It was just like old times for former Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista on Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre. He stepped up to the plate in batting practice and casually uncorked a rocket over the fence like he did on countless occasions in a Toronto uniform. The only difference was this time he was sporting an orange-brimmed New York Mets hat and an unfamiliar No. 11 on his sleeve. Bautista, who's 37 now and in the twilight of his big-league career, returned to Toronto for the first time since his 10-year run with the team ended after the 2017 season. "It feels great, it feels like nothing has changed," he said before the Mets dropped an 8-6 decision to the Blue Jays. "It's a good feeling to be back. Obviously a lot of emotions and a lot of memories." Bautista appeared misty-eyed after a pre-game tribute was shown on the stadium video screen. Batting second in the New York lineup, Bautista tapped catcher Russell Martin's shin pads before his first at-bat. He waved to the Toronto dugout and raised his hat to the crowd, which greeted him with a standing ovation. There was even a "Jo-se! Jo-se! Jo-se!" chant for good measure. Bautista drew a walk in his first plate appearance and scored on an Asdrubal Cabrera home run. He had mixed results in right field, making a nice sliding catch to rob Martin of a hit in the second inning but also misplaying a Randal Grichuk liner in the seventh for a two-base error. Bautista singled in the ninth to finish 1 for 2 at the plate with three walks. Bautista made his big-league debut in 2004 but really blossomed in 2010 with Toronto. He hit 54 homers that year and drove in 124 runs to kick off a run of six straight all-star appearances. Game Wrap: Blue Jays win in Bautista's return Sports 1:35 Toronto honoured Jose Bautista on Tuesday before the Blue Jays 8-6 win over the Mets. 1:35 'He brought a great intensity' His list of highlights is a long one — none bigger than the memorable bat-flip homer in 2015 — and he helped anchor the teams that made back-to-back American League Championship Series appearances in '15 and '16. "He brought a great intensity every day whether things were going good or bad," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. Bautista was a steady force early in his Blue Jays tenure when middling team results were the norm. He shone in the playoffs and had a penchant for coming up with the clutch hit — or homer. He said he's proud of the length of his run in Toronto. Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons meets with Jose Bautista before the start of Tuesday's game. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) "It's hard to pinpoint one or two moments," Bautista said. "Obviously the playoff runs are great. But just the life experiences, the friendships, everything else that comes with it. I don't think you can just single out a few moments out in the field, that would be unfair." Bautista came out during Toronto's batting practice to greet his former teammates by the batting cage. There were plenty of hugs, high-fives and smiles from the players, Gibbons and the coaching staff. "He came to play every day, he knew that was his obligation even when he was banged up," Gibbons said. "He knew people came to watch him play." Bautista's numbers tailed off last season and the Blue Jays did not pick up the team option on his contract. 'He made his name here' "I can't say that I was angry, it's a business decision and an understandable one," he said. "I'm not naive or selfish enough to believe that they should have done that. Numbers speak for themselves and it wasn't my best year. I think that's no secret. "But I received an opportunity and here I am and looking to make the best of it. I'm not trying to dwell on the past and let any of that drive me now. I feel that I can find enough drive just in my desire to continue to play the game and help my team win." Bautista didn't have any takers in the off-season but eventually caught on with Atlanta. His run with the Braves lasted just 12 games but the Mets picked him up two days after his release. Jose Bautista signs autographs for fans before the game. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) He entered play Tuesday with a .250 batting average, three homers and 13 RBIs in 36 games with New York. "I'm just continuing to be patient and trying not to strike out," Bautista said. "I feel like when I put the ball in play, things happen." Bautista played 1,235 regular-season games with the Blue Jays. He's second on the franchise's all-time list with 288 homers. "He just played the game right," Gibbons said. "He made his name here."<doc-sep>Jose Bautista returns to the Rogers Centre to face the Toronto Blue Jays for the first time as a member of an opposing team after spending 10 years with the club. The former Blue Jays slugger is in town with the New York Mets for a two-game set that begins Tuesday night. Before the series kicks off, Bautista will meet with the media at 3:00 p.m. ET. Watch the press conference live on Sportsnet 360 and right here on sportsnet.ca. Bautista has split the 2018 season with the Mets and Atlanta Braves. Since joining the Mets, Bautista has experienced a bit of a resurgence, hitting .250/418.476 with three home runs and 13 RBI in 36 games. Before that, Bautista played over 1,200 games with the Blue Jays, a tenure that was highlighted by his famous bat flip and two post-season runs to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016.<doc-sep>Jose Bautista returns this week to Rogers Centre, his workplace for almost all of the past decade. He considers Toronto his third home, behind the Dominican Republic and Tampa, and is one of the Blue Jays’ all-time greats, ranking second in homers (288), third in RBIs (766) and fifth in games played (1,235). The reception from the Canadian crowd should be a warm one. But first things first. The Mets arrived in Toronto late Sunday. They don’t play until Tuesday night. Before his on-field homecoming, Bautista has things to do and people to see — and restaurants to eat at. “I have some stuff scheduled, to meet up with people who were part of my life when I was there and visit some of the usual spots,” Bautista said with a smile in Miami over the weekend. “It’s definitely a place that I hold dear and close to my heart. It’s going to be a fun time.” Amplifying that fun: Bautista’s success. Since the Mets picked him off the scrap heap in May, he has not only earned his roster spot — earned sticking around for the Mets’ trip to Toronto — but has been one of baseball’s most productive hitters. Bautista, 37, is hitting .250 with a .418 on-base percentage and .476 slugging percentage in 36 games. His 21.8-percent walk rate since he signed with the Mets is second in the majors. By wRC+ — a FanGraphs “runs created” stat in which 100 is average — Bautista is 35th out of 303 qualified players at 147 wRC+. The only teammate who has done better? Brandon Nimmo at 155 wRC+. “I’m not surprised by what he’s doing,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “He probably just needed some at-bats to get going and now we’re seeing the byproduct of him being ready. Subscribe to Newsday’s sports newsletter Receive stories, photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. “I’ve always known he’s a really good hitter. He keeps himself in really good shape. He’s probably in the best shape of anybody on our team and is [the oldest player on the roster]. Great approach, great patience, still has bat speed.” Callaway downplayed the idea that Bautista’s rebound has been a shocker, noting that he was an All-Star as recently as 2015 (the same year the Mets — now a bottom-five team in baseball — went to the World Series). But the questions about Bautista’s future were real. He finished his Toronto tenure batting .203 with a .366 slugging percentage in 2017. The Blue Jays didn’t want to re-sign him last winter, nor did anybody else in an offseason that underscored the game’s move away from declining veteran players in favor of younger, cheaper, often more athletic ones. Bautista sat out spring training and the start of the season until the Braves — led by general manager Alex Anthopoulos, formerly the Blue Jays’ GM — took a flyer on him. That lasted 12 games. Bautista hit .143. He was unemployed for about a day and a half until the Mets — and special assistant to the GM J.P. Ricciardi, who was the GM of the Blue Jays when Toronto traded for Bautista in 2008 — signed him to a major-league deal May 22. Juan Lagares and Yoenis Cespedes were out with injuries, so the Mets had a glaring need. “For me to be that guy, it meant a lot,” Bautista said. “There had to be a little something in [Ricciardi] and his staff that believed I could still contribute. That’s a good feeling.” Why the sudden return to productivity? Merely playing helps, he said. With Jay Bruce also out, Bautista has been in rightfield every day. Of late, he has batted second, a lineup spot that Callaway before the season anticipated going to the team’s best hitter. Bautista doesn’t seek vengeance but acknowledged there is some satisfaction in performing to this degree after major-league teams looked past him for months. “Not having a spring training, wanting to swing the bat and some other things might’ve played into me not [getting on base] as much in Atlanta,” Bautista said. “I’m thinking that eventually I would have done the same. But I can only guess or assume. I’m enjoying what’s happening now and hopefully I can continue to get on base. “Success at this level is something everybody needs to enjoy when they get it.”<doc-sep>
TORONTO — Joe Biagini’s first interaction with Jose Bautista gave him two simultaneous perspectives of the former Blue Jays slugger. Biagini was in the weight room at Toronto’s spring training facility in 2016 after joining the team as a Rule 5 draft pick a few months earlier. Bautista was stretching nearby while TVs in the gym showed MLB’s top plays from the previous season. “We were all watching and his bat flip was No. 1,” Biagini said, referencing Bautista’s most significant homer of his career — a three-run shot that gave Toronto the lead, and an eventual win, over the Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series. “It was surreal to watch him watch himself do that. I’d never really been in that situation before, and I was in awe just being there. “Everyone was like: ‘what were you thinking when you threw the bat?’ And he was like: ‘I don’t know, I was excited. It was a big home run.’ So it was fun to see him in that moment.” Bautista, now with the New York Mets, will return to Rogers Centre Tuesday for the first time since parting ways with the Blue Jays as a free agent at the end of last season. The 37-year-old spent 10 years in Toronto, developing from a journeyman outfielder to one of baseball’s top power hitters. He played 1,235 regular-season games as a Jay, hitting 288 homers (second only to Carlos Delgado’s 336) and driving in 776 runs (third-most in franchise history) while helping raise Toronto back to baseball relevance over the last few years. “He was the beautiful, well-trimmed bearded face of the franchise,” Biagini said. “I would say that he was the guy that everyone would turn to. … He kind of defined the Blue Jays for a long time.” Bautista twice led the American League in homers — hitting 54 in 2010 and 43 in 2011 — but none had a bigger impact than his ALDS drive in 2015. “It’s the home run where he kind of saved my butt,” said catcher Russell Martin, whose error in the top of the seventh inning had given Texas a 3-2 lead in that game. “I have a lot of memories because we were at the same junior college so we go way back, but that one, it was like: ‘thanks bro, I appreciate that.”‘ For all his success in Toronto, Bautista struggled in 2017, batting just .203 through 157 games, and the Blue Jays declined the team option on his contract for this year. He didn’t land another contract until the Atlanta Braves signed him to a minor league deal three weeks into the season. They released him after just 12 major league appearances a month later and he signed with the Mets, where he’s started to regain his form. Martin expects Blue Jays fans to show their appreciation for Bautista during the two-game series this week. “He blossomed here as a player so he has a lot of good memories, but the fans remember him driving in 100 runs, hitting 40, 50 homers,” Martin said. “That’s what they’re going to remember him by — just an all-around good player who played hard and hit the ball a long way a lot of the time.” Biagini said it will be good to see his former teammate, even if it means he’ll be on the opposing side. “I hope it will be meaningful for us and for him,” he said. “I hope he hits a lot of line drives, really hits the ball hard but right at people.”