Jose Bautista: a force to reckon with
Jose Bautista is a Major League Baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays. 2010 was quite the year for Bautista as he left fans and critics with their mouths hanging open as he hit a staggering 54 home-runs.
This statistic set a Blue Jays single season team record and made him one of the 26 players who have managed above 50 home-runs. This feat by him made him the American League and Major League home-run Champion in 2010. It was certainly an accomplishment
for the player who managed to hit a mediocre 13 home-runs in the 2009 season. In his last six years with the MLB teams he had no more than 16 home-runs, so this was definitely unheard-of and an unprecedented career turn.
Prior to him hitting 54 homers, Bautista was not really well known. He did not have many fans so players from other teams were not really aware of his presence. That all changed with his MLB-leading home-runs. He has caught everyone’s attention due to him
being one of the most unlikely power performers in baseball.
There have been other players who have managed this incredible feat that requires tons of strength. The list has names like the acclaimed Barry Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Willie Stargell and Alex Rodriguez. All of whom were established home run-hitters since
the beginning of their careers.
What sets Bautista apart from these players is how his previous home-run record was nothing spectacular, he had a 9.5 average. This may be because he recently changed his hitting method. Manager Cito Gaston and hitting Coach Dwayne Murphy advised Bautista
to pay special attention to his swing and approach and to not be afraid of changing it if required.
Bautista knew then that it was time for him to drastically change otherwise he feared he would fall back to his below average performance. That was something he definitely did not want to be.
"I could have been a utilityman putting up the same numbers. But that's not what I wanted,'' said Bautista. "I knew I had it inside me. I didn't want to be that utility guy.''
However, this change was not easy and patience was the key to success as the results came after some waiting. In 2009 he hit .214 and managed only two home-runs in the first half of the year. Bautista did not give up and became a power hitter within eight
months.
Bautista is a brilliant player with enormous amounts of talent. Each year he gets better and the League is taking notice of his tremendous performances. The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to Bautista to guide them to a successful regular season and quite
possibly a post-season appearance.
The player now has a huge fan-base and is not only respected for his power hitting, but also feared by many top pitchers around the League. His ability to hit the ball has earned him a reputation as being a pure hitter. It will be interesting to see what
improvements Bautista makes to his already high quality performances.
Having a tremendous 2011 season for the Toronto Blue Jays, Bautista will be looking to come out in 2012 and prove all the critics wrong. He will let his bat do the talking as he intends to lead from the front and take the Blue Jays to the top.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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