Bautista still drives Baltimore fans bats

BALTIMORE— Karen O’Keefe and Greg Shupak made the trip from Toronto to Baltimore over the weekend to do more than support the Blue Jays. The couple, dressed in No. 19 jerseys, hoped to lend some good cheer to Jose Bautista.

“One of the reasons that we wanted to come here was to cheer for him to spite the boos,” O’Keefe said before the Jays’ 12-inning loss at Camden Yards on Sunday.

There is no need to keep a close eye on home plate to know when Bautista is up at this field; the heckling that follows him around Oriole Park will keep you in the know. The right fielder is public enemy No. 1 around these parts.

Orioles executive vice-president Dan Duquette made that clear in the off-season, when he called Bautista, then a free agent, “a villain in Baltimore” and vowed he would not return to the club that gave the 36-year-old his big-league debut in 2004.

“I’m not going to tell our fans that we’re courting Jose Bautista for the Orioles because they’re not going to be happy,” Duquette told the Baltimore Sun last December.

Bad blood began boiling in June 2013, when Bautista and Darren O’Day verbally sparred after the reliever struck out the outfielder during a series at the Rogers Centre. A day later, Bautista responded by homering off the right-hander, mimicking the yapping with his hand as he rounded the bases.

The feud continued in 2014, when O’Day hit Bautista with a pitch. A year later, he threw behind Bautista in an April meeting and the Jays outfielder responded with a homer run. Within two weeks, Orioles reliever Jason Garcia did the same and Bautista retaliated in kind, admiring his two-run shot from the batter’s box with a flip of the bat. Baltimore centre fielder Adam Jones reportedly told Bautista the move was “bush league” and later said he wished the Jays star would “respect the game.”

Jones walked back from those comments earlier this year, saying the Orioles would welcome anybody, including Bautista, into their clubhouse.

But the Baltimore faithful appear to be split.

Joe Panzitta, an Orioles fan for the better part of 60 years, appreciated that the front office nipped the possibility of a move for Bautista in the bud.

“I don’t think he would be a good fit in the clubhouse,” he said. “What do I know about clubhouses, but I don’t think so.”

Panzitta said he doesn’t harass the longtime Blue Jays player like he used to. But the reason his fellow fans still do is simple: They haven’t moved past the feud.

“People tend to carry that, they don’t forget things like that,” he said. “He may be a nice guy but we don’t think so because he was involved with one of our guys.”

Bautista has hit 30 homers against the Orioles over the years, third among active players. His 92 RBIs are fourth. But Panzitta doesn’t think that prowess has much do with the animosity.

“He’s been a great player and I respect that,” he said. “There are other great players who have never been involved negatively who we like — Dustin Pedroia, for one, Mike Trout.”

Others aren’t quite so sure, suggesting they would have likely come around to a trade for Bautista in his prime. The idea of adding him to the Orioles’ roster this coming off-sea- son is far less attractive, but that has more to do with Bautista hitting .204 with a .680 OPS this year than the name on the back of his jersey.

“If he ended up playing here, they’d get over it,” said Chris Gee, a Baltimore fan since childhood. “That’s the funny thing.”

The fact that Bautista debuted with Baltimore — he played in just 16 games before he was placed on waivers — and went on to a successful career rubs salt in the wounds, Gee said.

“I think it’s just the way he plays super hard and he’s super passionate and it’s for another team. He comes in, it’s almost like he’s showboating to whoever he’s playing.”

That exactly what Toronto fans like O’Keefe and Shupak were hoping to see on Sunday. It is Bautista’s strong personality and dose of flair that makes him a beloved player, Shupak said.

“Some people have these kind of old-fashioned, conservative ideas about decorum and, when players step outside of that, it rubs them the wrong way.”