Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Jose Bautista unveiled his new Carlton Fisk-inspired trot on this massive home run

José Bautista's bat flip against the Rangers last year has moved beyond the world of baseball and now exists as a stunning work of art in popular consciousness. It's featured on a box of cereal, it's included in a hockey video game and it certainly plays on repeat in the dreams of Blue Jays fans everywhere. 
But, like all artists, at some point they must come up with a follow-up smash. Would he be the bat flip version of LEN, recording only "Steal My Sunshine" before fading into obscurity, or would he be the baseball Smash Mouth, recording "All Star" only after saturating the marketplace with "Walking on the Sun." 
During the Blue Jays's 2-1 loss to Mariners on Wednesday, Bautista released All-Star. Facing the strikeout-machine Edwin Díaz in the top of the ninth inning, and trailing by one, Bautista smashed a high, deep drive down the line. It had enough to easily clear the wall, but would it stay fair? 
Cue the Carlton Fisk-mixed-with-a-reverse-running man:

It would stay fair and Bautista would have a new move to etch into the collective memory bank. Certainly all those Blue Jays fans down the third-base line -- either in town from nearby Canada or simply falling in love with America's maple leaf'd brethren -- won't forget this for a long, long time. 
Of course, Bautista's trot was -- like many pop hits -- building off old classics. Take Billy Hatcher's backwards-hopping trot during the 1986 NLCS, not even turning around until nearly reaching first base. 

BarberJordan
beephero
AP_702417634020
NYC