Rangers, Blue Jays meet for first time since famous bat flip
Do you remember the last time the Texas Rangers played at the Rogers Centre in Toronto? Sure you do. And the Rangers sure do too.
It was Game 5 of the American League Division Series last year, aka the best and wildest playoff game that some of us have ever seen. The Toronto Blue Jays triumphed, propelled by the Jose Bautista bat flip that some people are still debating to this day.
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The Rangers return to Toronto on Monday to start a four-game series, their first time in Toronto since their stunning and heart-breaking defeat last October. Monday’s game starts at 7:10 p.m. ET and pits Texas starter A.J. Griffin against Toronto’s R.A. Dickey. It’s the MLB Free Game of the Day right here on Yahoo Sports, which means you can stream the game for Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home. Lucky you.
The bat flip gets all the attention when we look back, but there was so much more to Game 5. A run scored on Russell Martin’s odd throw that hit Shin-Soo Choo. Upset fans hurled things onto the field because they were upset about the review call. Elvis Andrus and the Rangers booted away a chance to advance to the next round with an unlikely seventh-inning full of errors. The benches cleared twice.
It was a fantastic display of baseball drama. Or, if you’re the Rangers, a horrible one.
Ahead of the return to Toronto, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News rebuilt the game and the aftermath from the Rangers’ perspective and it makes for a fascinating read. The entire thing is well worth your time. Here’s a great passage on the Bautista homer:
“It sounded like an explosion, like a gunshot,” says catcher Chris Gimenez, who was behind the plate. “I still see it. I’ll never forget it. I’ll never forget where I set up, how the ball released out of [Dyson’s] hand, how it is tracking right into his barrel.
“It’s so loud and my jersey is literally vibrating,” he adds. “He’s standing there. My brain is telling me I’ve got to say something, I’ve got to do something, but I’m just frozen. You can’t believe everything that just transpired and that’s went down.”
[Elsewhere: Young Rangers fan proudly finds foul ball, then throws it back]
And this bit from Rangers reliever Sam Dyson, who gave up the Bautista home, suggests he’s still salty about the bat flip.
“It’s not the first time he’s done that,” Dyson says now. “Obviously, I didn’t like it. Everybody stares people down. I stare people down. But I’m not going to throw my glove up in the air; why is he going to throw his bat in the air?”
It begs the question: What will we see in the Rangers’ return to Toronto? Is revenge against Bautista still on their mind? Will baseball chaos ensue again? Or will it be a regular ol’ regular-season game?
Whichever it is, we can’t wait to find out.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
