(TORONTO) - It looks like Jose Bautista has found a home on the AstroTurf in right field for the Toronto Blue Jays. It also looks like he’s found his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award, given to the best offensive player at each position.
Bautista, from the Dominican Republic, has been in the big leagues since 2004, when he was on the rosters of four different teams. Since then, he has played six different positions.
2010 became a true breakout year for Bautista. Playing right field full time, Bautista belted a league-leading 54 home runs, making him the 26th member of the 50 home run club. He was selected to the All Star team and won the Hank Aaron Award and the Silver Slugger Award.
Bautista was just as impressive in 2011. He hit 43 home runs and became the first player since Mark McGwire (1998-99) to lead the lead in home runs over two consecutive years. In July, he set a record for the most All Star votes ever for a single player, with 7,454,753. That surpassed the previous record set in 1994 by Ken Griffey, Jr.
Yesterday, the league announced that Bautista was a recipient of the Silver Slugger Award for the second consecutive year. He also won a second consecutive Hank Aaron Award for his efforts this season.
Bautista’s coming into his own has paid off in handsome dividends for the slugger. The Blue Jays, in order to make sure he is still playing on the AstroTurf in the Rogers Centre, awarded him with a new contract this past February. The deal extended his contract for five seasons and was valued at $64 million.
The Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays are the two Major League Baseball teams which play on AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D systems. AstroTurf is The Official Synthetic Turf of Major League Baseball.
AstroTurf is becoming more widely used in baseball due to the realistic, grass-like looks and performance it provides players and teams. Recently, many college programs have added AstroTurf baseball fields, including Kansas, Kansas State, Wichita State, Ohio State, Duke, and Wake Forest. The Virginia Tech Hokies are currently installing a new AstroTurf playing surface.
“Jose Bautista is one of the most exciting players in the game and we’re proud that he plays on a great surface like AstroTurf,” said Bryan Peeples, president of AstroTurf. “We are also proud that so many players who will have an impact in the future are able to play on our fields, as more and more teams make the change.”
About AstroTurf
For many athletes and sport enthusiasts, the AstroTurf brand has redefined the way the game is played. The company offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies, leveraging the industry’s only vertically integrated manufacturing system. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority and safety. Recent innovations from AstroTurf include GameDay Grass 3D with RootZone, a polyethylene/nylon hybrid system which most closely replicates natural grass; a non-chemical antimicrobial shield protecting against MRSA and other infectious bacteria; and AstroFlect Technology which significantly reduces turf surface temperatures. To learn more, visit www.astroturfusa.com.
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