José Bautista, whose playoff home run -- and the bat flip that followed -- cemented him in Toronto Blue Jays history, has signed a one-day contract to retire as a member of the team with which he played 10 seasons.
Bautista, 42, leaves the game as a six-time All-Star and with a .247 career batting average with 344 home runs, 975 RBIs and 1,022 runs. He played 15 seasons and donned the jersey of eight franchises along the way, but it was his time with Toronto from 2008 to 2017 for which "Joey Bats" will be remembered and why his name is being added to the team's Level of Excellence at the Rogers Centre on Saturday.
"I think everybody knew for a while that I had been retired, but this is a way to make it official," Bautista said Friday.
Pittsburgh's 20th-round pick in the 2000 amateur draft, Bautista made his big league debut in 2004, when he bounced between four teams in one season. The Pirates traded him to Toronto in 2008. In return, Pittsburgh got catcher Robinzon Díaz, who made 43 appearances over two seasons.
Bautista, meanwhile, turned into one of the game's most feared sluggers while playing home games north of the border. The three-time Silver Slugger swatted 288 homers during 10 seasons with Toronto, including a major league-leading 54 in 2010 and 43 in 2011.
His tiebreaking three-run home run in the seventh inning of a deciding Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers was capped by a memorable flip of the bat before he started rounding the bases in front of a raucous Toronto crowd.
"I kind of blacked out after the swing, hearing the roar of the crowd and the emotion of the moment," Bautista told ESPN in 2021. "I don't really recall anything in particular until I was catching my breath back at the bench.
"It was kind of weird, because I wasn't a notorious bat-flipper. I might have done it two or three times in my whole career, but now I'm kind of known for that, so that's kind of weird."
A Bautista bobblehead, capturing the memorable moment, will be presented to fans entering Rogers Centre on Saturday.
"There aren't many names as synonymous with Blue Jays baseball as José Bautista, and it is our great honor that he will officially retire in a Blue Jays jersey," president and CEO Mark Shapiro said. "On behalf of a generation of Blue Jays fans that had the privilege of watching his clutch moments on the field and inspiring work ethic -- thank you, José, for a mesmerizing decade representing the Toronto Blue Jays."
Bautista credited former Toronto manager Cito Gaston and hitting coach Dwayne Murphy for helping him become a power threat.
"Those two guys definitely worked with me behind the scenes a lot," Bautista said. "I'm glad that I came to this organization at the time that I did because of everything that happened afterwards, and they are a big part of that."
Former Toronto teammate and current Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman will be on hand for Saturday's ceremony, as will several other Blue Jays from Bautista's time. Those expected to attend include sluggers Edwin Encarnación and Justin Smoak, and left-hander Ricky Romero.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.