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Baltimore Orioles: The Bat Flip Comes to Camden Yards

By Joe Serpico

Sep 30, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista (19) hits a solo home run in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Toronto Blue Jays defeated Baltimore Orioles 15-2 and clinched the A.L. East division. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 30, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista (19) hits a solo home run in the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Toronto Blue Jays defeated Baltimore Orioles 15-2 and clinched the A.L. East division. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Baltimore Orioles welcome Public Enemy No. 1, the Toronto Blue Jays, to Camden Yards for a three-game series.

For many years, it was the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox that were the hated teams in the AL East. That honor has been passed to the Blue Jays.

The Jays made the playoffs last year for the first time since 1993. As a baseball fan, it was great to see a team that struggled for so long – we know how that feels in Baltimore – finally get back into the postseason.

Toronto shook the baseball world when Jose Bautista hit a monstrous three-run bomb in Game 5 of the American League Divisional Series last season. The homer moved the Blue Jays into the AL Championship Series, but that was not the focus of many people in baseball. It was Bautista’s bat flip to celebrate that home run drew a lot of criticism. Furthermore, there was an incident in which the Toronto fans threw debris on to the field after a questionable call.

That made fans all around the country feel some type of way. Either you loved it or hated it. Toronto made themselves an enemy throughout the MLB because of it.

Do not tell that to Baltimore Orioles fans, however. They already despised the Jays before the infamous bat flip.

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The national media made a big deal about the bat flip in the playoffs, but the Orioles saw the same act twice last season. Bautista hit a homer against Jason Garcia and made sure to throw his bat and chirp as he rounded the bases. That prompted an exchange between Bautista and Adam Jones.

In that same game, Bautista had another bat flip that was not unnoticed by national media, but not the Orioles. What made this bat flip more disgusting was that it came after a walk, not a home run.

Bautista and Darren O’Day have some history between them. Mike Wright, the pitcher for tonight’s game, grazed Bautista’s jersey with an inside pitch last season. The Jays responded by plunking Jones later in the game. Both pitches were attempts to get the batter off the plate, but did not sit well with either team.

The Jays came to Camden Yards last September to win the AL East, a year after the O’s took the crown. While it’s still early in the season, the O’s currently sit atop the AL East with the Jays just a few games behind. That adds some fuel to the fire for this series.

Last season, my colleague Randy Buchman wrote a piece on how the Jays have become Enemy No. 1 for the O’s. He reminded us of the bad blood between Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson, the Jays attempt to pry Dan Duquette away from Baltimore and Toronto spending money as if they were the Yanks or Sox. There are plenty of reasons for these two teams to have a sense of hatred for each other.

The rivalry between the Orioles and Blue Jays is becoming one of the better ones in baseball, and there are sure to be fireworks at some point during this three-game series.

Next: Will the Real Orioles Please Stand Up?

As a fan of the game, I would rather see a great series between two teams with some serious power in their lineups as opposed to another battle of words. Let the bats do the talking.

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