Jose Bautista, the 42-year-old slugger who got into a fistfight after performing a taboo “bat flip” in Major League Baseball (MLB), has officially retired.

Batista signed a one-day contract with his hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays, for a retirement ceremony on Wednesday.

Batista will say goodbye in front of his home fans before the 2023 MLB World Series against the Chicago Cubs at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Batista was an outfielder during Toronto’s golden era in the 2010s, compiling a career .247 batting average, 344 home runs and 975 RBIs in 15 seasons from 2004 to 2018.

He made a name for himself as a power hitter, hitting 54 home runs in a single season in Toronto in 2010.

Batista is more famous for his “bat flips” than his stats.

On October 15, 2015, after hitting a game-winning three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 3-3 American League Division Series Game 5 against the Texas Rangers, Batista looked toward the mound for a moment and then somewhat arrogantly threw his bat in the air.

It remains one of the most dramatic bat flips in MLB history, but has also been criticized for its lack of respect for the opposing team.

Texas remembered it and got back at Batista the following year.

On May 16, 2016, Batista made a rough slide to second base in the eighth inning of a visiting game against Texas, and Texas infielder Lugned O’Dowd delivered a hard punch to Batista’s face.

The previously unheralded O’Dowd’s sharp punch, reminiscent of a boxer’s, caught the attention of sports fans around the world.

Batista played in Toronto through 2017 before bouncing between three teams in 2018.

After being released by his last team, the Philadelphia Phillies, he went on to play in his native Dominican Republic and competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, appearing in the bronze medal game against South Korea.바카라사이트

“Everyone knows I’m retired, but I wanted to make it official,” Batista told ESPN and other local media outlets that day.

O’Dowd, meanwhile, was released last month after playing 59 games for the San Diego Padres this season.