Jose Bautista - Toronto's Best Athlete of the Last Decade?

[MSP4LYFE]

Before I begin, let me just start by defining what I mean by ,"best athlete", which is as follows: the player who has the greatest impact on his sport. This has nothing to do with natural athleticism, size or strength, which would be difficult to gauge between sports, anyhow. With that out of the way, I think there can be a very strong, if not indisputable case that Jose Bautista has already had, and continues to have a greater impact on his sport than any other Toronto based athlete in the last decade. Here is why,

Over the past 8 months of playing time (the point which Bautista was first awarded everyday playing time), which works out to almost a season and a half; Jose Bautista has cranked 74 HR with a slash line better than .300/.400/.650. Needless to say, these numbers are among the elite in the game, not only over that span of games, but over the course of baseball history altogether. But the greatness doesn't end there...

This season Jose Bautista is putting up a season for the ages: .356/.515/.767 with a 1.2183 OPS with more than a walk per game. Without getting into too much detail, Bautista is essentially leading the AL in every major offensive category, save for RBI which is purely team based. Too make things even more impressive, Jose is accomplishing these feats despite seeing less strikes (44%) than any other batter in MLB, and with little to no protection behind or in front of him.

Simply put, Jose Bautista is the most dangerous man in baseball right now, and by my estimations the most dominant athlete to play in Toronto over the past decade, if not longer.

Thoughts, as always are welcomed.

[MSP4LYFE]

8FTR, the only other athletes who I believe to be in the same conversation as Jose Bautista is Vince Carter (2001) and Roy Halladay (2008-2009).

[Robin Hood]

8FTR, the only other athletes who I believe to be in the same conversation as Jose Bautista is Vince Carter (2001) and Roy Halladay (2008-2009).

lol you made this post before me.

[Robin Hood]

I've got one better than all of the above: Colin Doyle - Captain of the Toronto Rock that has won the NLL Championship multiple times. He also has won the MVP and multiple Championship MVP awards.

[anton]

how soon we forget



EDIT: had this all typed out and then forgot about it until after you made that 2nd post

[MSP4LYFE]

I've got one better than all of the above: Colin Doyle - Captain of the Toronto Rock that has won the NLL Championship multiple times. He also has won the MVP and multiple Championship MVP awards.

I'm looking for a season, or stretch of seasons where an athlete absolutely dominated his sport, not his career as a whole, and separate from titles as that is a team award.

I'm a big lacrosse fan, actually play Div 1, but I don't believe Colin Doyle has eclipsed the accomplishments of Jose Bautista. Not only is Jose Bautista competing in a sport with a greater degree of competition, he is also putting up numbers that stand out in a sample size of over 100 years of historical data. Lacrosse by comparison has a much smaller participation base, and is relatively new in sports history. A better comparable would be the Powell brothers, who have absolutely revolutionized the sport of lacrosse, and are truly deserving of the dominant athlete tag, unfortunately no Powell has ever competed for a Toronto based team, nor has John Tavares who many believe to be the best ever (not me).

[MSP4LYFE]

how soon we forget



EDIT: had this all typed out and then forgot about it until after you made that 2nd post

Roy Halladay is best known for his elite play over a long period of time, his best ever season in Toronto was never as dominant as what Jose Bautista is doing now, IMO. Jose is leading the AL in every major offensive category, and is an elite defensive RF'er too boot. If you matched up Jose vs Roy on the Phillies (last season) there is a strong case to be made, but again this is production for a Toronto based team only.

[bills09]

Roy ftw but Jose is beast

[Shep]

Jose is the best hitter in the AL right now, and arguably in the MLB.

[Scott]

Another short stretch of dominance in Toronto, you'd have to mention Roger Clemens from 1997-1998. Back to back Cy's and pitching triple crown's (wins, strikeout's, & ERA). Those 2 seasons were unreal.

[jcarton]

This guy is the man, especially for the price, the guy will have another 50 homerun season im sure

[MSP4LYFE]

Another short stretch of dominance in Toronto, you'd have to mention Roger Clemens from 1997-1998. Back to back Cy's and pitching triple crown's (wins, strikeout's, & ERA). Those 2 seasons were unreal.

He was better, though it was during a different decade, and while on steroids which tarnishes the feat a little in my eyes.

[Mike]

This is when I WTF myself, realizing 1998 was over ten years ago.

[MSP4LYFE]

This is when I WTF myself, realizing 1998 was over ten years ago.

LOL, it is pretty hard to believe isn't it?

[bills09]

even bigger wtf is that 9/11 will be ten years a go this year...
time flys when the leafs dont make the playoffs.

[Scott]

Jose Jose Jose Jose Jose!!!!!

[MSP4LYFE]

This season Jose has been the perfect player...He is hitting for: power, and avg, and getting on base more than anyone with his great eye at the plate. Defensively he is a gold glove caliber RF with range and a plus arm. He is pretty fast too...