Larry Brown Sports

Prince Fielder put on a show for fans of the Home Run Derby — if there are any left — on Monday night as he won the event for the second time and hit some absolute bombs in the process. Fielder hit the four longest homers of the night, two of which traveled an estimated 476 feet. In the final round, Fielder defeated Jose Bautista by a score of 12-7. Bautista was considered by many to be the favorite heading into the contest, but Fielder earned the victory by hitting some shots that probably just landed a few hours ago.

According to MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian, Bautista took the “Talladega Nights” approach when asked about being the runner up.

Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista: “It’s like Ricky Bobby said: ‘If you’re not first, you’re last.’ That’s the way I look at things.”

— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 10, 2012

While this sounds like a hilarious reference to American comedy from a player born in the Dominican Republic, David Brown of Big League Stew — who asked Bastian about the quote — said he was told Bautista did not say it in a joking manner and even shot a reporter a dirty look for asking him if he was upset about losing. Being angry that you came in second in one of the most irrelevant sporting events of the calendar year? Now that’s what I call a competitor. On the bright side, Bautista had a much better night all-around than the one Robinson Cano had.

Photo credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Justin Verlander has won his last eight straight starts for the Tigers. He’s 20-5 and has a good shot at winning the most games by an American League pitcher since Bob Welch posted 27 victories in 1990. He has thrown a no-hitter and has shut out his opponent on six occasions this season. He leads the Majors in innings pitched, WHIP, strikeouts, and batting average against. Because of his success, pundits have begun talking about him as an MVP candidate this season. That even sparked a debate about whether pitchers should be eligible for MVP. While pitchers should be eligible for MVP, Jose Bautista still deserves the award at this point.

The Blue Jays right fielder has fallen off somewhat since his torrid first two months of the season, but he’s still raking more than any other hitter in baseball. Bautista leads MLB in home runs, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. His current OPS is the highest in the American League since Jim Thome’s 1.122 mark in 2002. Yes, Bautista is posting the best numbers by an American League hitter in nearly 10 years. His level of offensive production cannot be overlooked just because he’s on a .500 club while Verlander pitches for a division leader.

Verlander has been the best pitcher in baseball this season and he’s the favorite to win the AL Cy Young. Jered Weaver is also in the mix, but Verlander definitely has the inside track. If Verlander continues to dominate over his next handful of starts he will remain in MVP contention, but Bautista would have to drop off significantly to be surpassed in the MVP race. He’s just been too good this season.

The White Sox broadcasters were the latest media members to be treated to the Jose Bautista show. The Toronto slugger went 5-for-10 with a home run and three RBIs in the first three games of the Blue Jays-White Sox series this weekend, leaving Chicago’s TV team impressed. In fact, Bautista impressed the team of Hawk Harrelson and Steve Stone so much, it left Harrelson saying “If you didn’t know better, you’d say [his bat] had a little cork in it.”

Here’s the audio from the Hawk:
[audio:http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/HawkHarrelsonJoseBautistacork.mp3|titles=HawkHarrelsonJoseBautistacork]

I know Hawk qualified his statement by saying “If you didn’t know any better,” but he’s still throwing it out there that Bautista is hitting the ball harder than everyone else, and he’s suggesting something may be up. Many people have suspected Bautista of using PEDs, and given the amount of successful major leaguers who have been busted over time, that wouldn’t totally be unfair.

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Jose Bautista has been the best hitter in baseball this year, leading MLB with 20 home runs and a 1.304 OPS. He’s homering every 7.8 at-bats, so he expects to crush the ball nearly every time up. Meanwhile, White Sox pitcher John Danks has had a tough year dropping to 0-8 after losing Sunday. The lefty was lit up for nine runs over four innings, and he got into it with Bautista in the fourth before exiting the game.

Bautista was batting with his team up 9-2 in the bottom of the 4th. He was already 1-for-2 with an RBI single when he popped out with the bases empty for the second out of the inning. After popping up, Bautista grabbed his bat in disgust and cursed at himself. Danks had some words for Bautista as the slugger was returning to the Toronto dugout (as you can see above).

After the game, Danks explained what he said:

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Jose Bautista’s success was perhaps the most surprising development in baseball last season. Bautista, a 30-year-old utility player who had never hit more than 16 home runs in a season, astonishingly blasted 54 big bombs for the Blue Jays. The 54 home runs were enough to lead baseball and they tied him for the 19th most in a single season alltime. No longer were Jack Howell and Dan Pasqua his company, Bautista’s big season put him in the same class as Ruth, Mantle, Kiner, David Ortiz, and Alex Rodriguez. How Bautista had done it was a mystery for which there was no clear answer.

Some people argued that Bautista had a fluke season and managed to stay hot the entire year. Others say he’s always been good but never had an opportunity to play consistently. Some suggested that a tweak to his swing put him on another level. Nobody really knows why Jose Bautista became so good so quickly, but we do know this: the guy has swiftly become the most productive hitter in baseball.

Bautista clubbed three more home runs for the Blue Jays Sunday, capping off a five home run weekend in Minnesota where he made the spacious Target Field look like a batting practice session at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Ponder this for a moment: the Twins had only hit six home runs at Target Field all season — SIX — and Bautista came in there and bashed out five in the same weekend. Known as a dead pull home run hitter, he even took a fastball away and sent it to the upper concourse in right field, a blast that could make powerful left hander Justin Morneau jealous. He’s making opposing players wonder in amazement, opposing managers look foolish, and he’s cementing himself as the top hitter in the game right now. The question is, are you a believer?

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Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista hit his 50th home run on Thursday, leaving me continually startled by his impressive batting this year. I called Bautista’s season the “most improbable and greatest power surge ever,” and I believe that is the case. In fact, I went through and analyzed the careers and stats for all 26 members of the 50 home run club. We know that Brady Anderson and Luis Gonzalez were some of the biggest fluke 50 home run hitters in history and that Bautista also fits in, but how do all the other hitters stack up? Here is a chart of the 50 home run hitters in baseball along with numbers that indicate their career power prowess. This helps us determine the legitimacy of each 50 home run hitter. (click twice to enlarge)

Based on this data, it appears as if the players who would qualify as flukes are Gonzo, Brady Anderson, George Foster, and Hack Wilson. What do you think? You buying Bautista’s 50 home runs? Who else from the group should be considered fluky?

Jose Bautista’s incredible home run march has been ongoing this entire season. I could have written this post a few days ago, a few weeks ago, or month ago, and it still would have applied. So why write it now? Well the Toronto third baseman/right fielder has bashed his way to the nice, round, and pretty number of 50. Bautista will now officially go down as one of the 26 members of the elite 50 home run club. And every step of the way I’ve been detracting.

With a first inning blast against Cy Young contender Felix Hernandez of the Mariners on Thursday, Jose Bautista accounted for the only run of a 1-0 game. Every single superlative you could possibly conceive would apply to Bautista. He’s become an incredible fastball hitter, often knocking high heat out of the park. He’s done it off the best pitchers in the game, as evidenced by the blow against King Felix who only allowed two hits the entire game! He hit 24 home runs before the break leaving us scratching our collective heads, but then he followed it up with 26 home runs after the All-Star break!

Bautista’s jump from 13 home runs last season to 50 this year represents the second-largest home run jump ever. Before his days as a manager, Davey Johnson went from hitting five home runs in 118 games with the Orioles in 1972 to 43 home runs in 157 games with the Braves in 1973. Other members of the 50 home run club have enjoyed monstrous jumps in their careers. Hack Wilson, Andruw Jones, and George Foster’s power explosions to the 50 dinger plateau were largely unexpected. Luis Gonzalez and Brady Anderson are in a class to themselves as far as fluky power seasons go. But as far as I’m concerned, there has never been a power surge this great that was more improbable.

Now the question is what will Bautista do from here? Is this year merely a fluke, or is it the beginning of an All-Star career? Only time well yield the answer, but I’m betting on the fluke side. Hopefully Bautista proves me wrong.

As for particular stats about all the 50 home run hitters, check out our chart on the most legitimate and fluky 50 home run hitters of all-time. Bautista certainly is high on that list.

Photo Credit: The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn