Why El Profe loves José Bautista’s bat flip – and the debate it ignited

Each Saturday, El Profe looks back into moments in baseball history captured by a camera lens. These Iconic Images stir the soul, capturing more than a moment in a game. Today, El Profe digs into the swagger, excitement and… controversy that everyone was flipping out over in October of 2015.

You don’t have to be a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays or Texas Rangers to remember the moment captured in this iconic photo.

José Bautista’s bat flip sparked an international debate about what is okay and what isn’t in how we play and celebrate in baseball.

Does this photo represent joy or disrespect?

It depends on who you ask.

When you say “bat flip,” everyone knows what it means: this play.  They remember those two words not just because of the baseball moment captured in the photo, but also for about the massive debate that followed.

A Flip Seen Around the World

Bautista’s home run blast against the Texas Rangers in the 2015 American League Division Series set off a wild celebration unseen in years in Toronto.

For me, Bautista’s bat flip created a memorable moment like Russ Hodges’ radio call of Bobby Thomson’s pennant-clinching home run — “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”

Baseball is like that, able to transport us back to that moment—even if we weren’t there physically, we feel it emotionally.

You can feel the emotion of the moment just about every time you revisit the photo.

The bat arcing upward in its flight is all I need to see to know that something huge had just happened.

I love that the photo captures Bautista looking up toward the bat. Bautista is taking it all in, even watching the bat he flipped in a demonstration of swagger, joy, and satisfaction in having delivered for his team.

He knew he had delivered in a big moment. This is what he trained so hard for so many years—swings in the batting cage, bat drills hitting balls into chain-link fence, lifting weights. It was all for such a moment.

The Toronto crowd surging with excitement in the background also draws one’s eyes. Bautista’s swing had turned misery into ecstasy. Their guy had come through at a point in the game when perhaps doubt had begun to cloud over their hopes of winning the pivotal Game 5.

The fans’ mouths are wide open – one can almost hear the roar. Looking through the crowd one can see fans wearing anything from the team colors to button-down shirts and ties. Their arms are up in triumphant celebration.

Their joy is partly what baseball is all about. The power of baseball is partly how it can unite a crowd, rally a city and a people around a team, their team. This is all the more true come playoff time, where late-innings can be one nail-biting moment after another.

Change is Good

Bautista couldn’t help himself. He flipped his bat and stamped the moment with sabor dominicano (Dominican flavor)—making the moment all the more special for me as a Latino fan.

It also did something more.

Bautista’s bat flip was the spark to a dialogue that helped shift how people view the game, and especially how non-Latinos view Latino players.  It got people to understand that the way players celebrate is a reflection of the culture of baseball in different countries.

I don’t think Major League Baseball would have produced this commercial for the 2018 postseason with Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. if not for Bautista’s moment.

Getting people to think differently is hard.  Everyone carries their own personal upbringing, some good and some bad, throughout their life about the game, other cultures, and about difference.  I love this iconic photo for what you don’t see: CHANGE.

Featured Image: Tom Szczerbowski / Getty Images Sport