When Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista crushed a go-ahead three-run homer off Texas Rangers reliever Sam Dyson, launching the ball to the second deck of the Rogers Centre during last October’s Game 5 of the ALDS, the baseball world, including myself and all of Canada, effectively lost their goddamn mind.
The homer was nice, and a huge moment for the 2015 Blue Jays, but what followed was the most iconic moment of the entire MLB season: the bat flip.
Bautista didn’t just throw his bat, he tossed it triumphantly, in an “I don’t give a fudge” kind of way, which best embodied the slugger’s style. Bautista delivered Canada’s best sports moment in years, and it was during a first-round playoff matchup. T-shirts were made, as were parody Heritage Moments, and now, Bautista’s big bat flip is going to be rightfully immortalized on a baseball card.
The Topps trading card company tweeted out a card featuring Bautista’s now-iconic bat flip and it’s perfect.
What do you think of this card? @Ryoni77Ryan @JoeyBats19 pic.twitter.com/msc5EvcXDi
— Topps (@Topps) February 2, 2016
I haven’t collected baseball cards since I was a teenager in the mid-to-late-2000s, but this card will definitely make me reconsider my stance. There hasn’t been too much information released on the card, but the bat flip is a part of the 2016 Series 1 card set and appears to be his regular card, not some sort of special version or variant.
The epic moment lends itself perfectly to a baseball card.
Topps has really done a nice job previewing its 2016 collection, as earlier last week the company showed off a great Mike Trout card featuring a home-run-stealing catch.
Baseball fans voted and @MikeTrout was named Card No. 1 for 2016 Topps Baseball https://t.co/5PLxtxV0N8 pic.twitter.com/U00ClQd0fm
— Topps (@Topps) January 28, 2016
I’m all on board Topps releasing cards with signature moments displayed instead of boring head or action shots. The bat flip card has got me excited for baseball again, and to see what Bautista does next.
