Jose Bautista again the target of verbal onslaught from Orioles

It would appear that the Baltimore Orioles and their fans have a personal vendetta centred on a certain “bat flipping” slugger who recently resigned with the Toronto Blue Jays. Jose Bautista once again became the centre of attention with yet another player openly voicing his dismay for “Joey Bats”.

Earlier yesterday Jon Solomon of CBS tweeted out a quote from Chris Davis at the teams Fan Fest event. “He’s actually a pretty good dude – said no one ever…. He’s a guy who’s easy to dislike.”

Perhaps Davis is still harbouring some ill will toward the Blue Jays stemming from their heart-breaking walk-off defeat during the wild-card game. Maybe his lacklustre wild-card performance and timely strike outs have haunted his off-season dreams leading to the unprovoked onslaught on Bautista.

This comes after Orioles GM Dan Duquette informed Bautista’s agent Jay Alou that he was not interested in signing his client because Orioles fans did not like Bautista. Sounds like a good reason not to add 35-40 home runs to your lineup. Duquette later attempted to soften his stance on the comments but the damage was already done.

Apparently the division rivals have not learned anything from the Darren O’Day saga with Bautista that on more than one occasion resulted in Bautista depositing an O’Day offering over the left field wall.

Perhaps Davis and Duquette should jog their memory about that time Jason Garcia threw behind Bautista and what ensued shortly thereafter. Here is video evidence why you don’t wake a sleeping giant.

Next: Throwback: Trades made between the Blue Jays and Expos

The Orioles appear content on poking the bear all off-season, however I would be willing to bet that an extra-motivated Bautista is going to let his bat do the talking once again.

Yesterday’s antics leave me pondering one thought…..Bring on baseball season.