Bautista at the Bus Stop?

Remember the last time a baseball player attained hero status? In the post-steroid era of the game, cynicism hangs like a cloud, or maybe a slider, over every significant offensive accomplishment. Prognosticators, fans, and writers hold their breath awaiting for the inevitable positive drug test. This week in the city of Mississauga, and possibly in other places in and around Toronto, however, there is an unfamiliar and welcome site gracing the bus shelters and billboards of the metropolis. There is nothing surprising about professional athletes hawking sports products, fire-selling outdated electronic equipment, or promoting restaurants and eateries. Given the current climate of cynicism and apprehension about all professional sports, management structures, and the athletes employed by those teams, the surprise does not come from the beaming smile of Jose Bautista fire-selling the organic fruit drink "Booster Juice", but from the slogan printed in bold letters next to him.

Everyone needs something to believe in, and right now Torontonians believe Jose "JoeyBats" Bautista is the real deal. So much so that private industries are buying into his gracious and humble image. While the world of baseball casts a Spockian eyebrow at his outer worldly accomplishments, Bautista's consistency and hard-working attitude is a hit with fans right here in Canada.

After hitting his 42nd homerun of the season against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, which caromed off the foul pole in left field, Bostonians watch Bautista in eerie silence. The knowledgable Bosox supporters would shower other players of the past, such as Rafeal Palmeiro and the bulky Barry Bonds, with boos and taunts until the cows come home. In spite of the disparagement, there is an unsettled and bewildered eye toward Jose Bautista as he rounds the bases. There are no Popeye muscles, no overwhelming size, and no earth shattering step; he remains the same size player Blue Jays hitting coach Duane Murphy pulled aside for a word about the hole in his swing near the end of the 2009 season.

The advertisements are all over Toronto now, and they are a proud symbol of one city's belief in their "most valuable player", and the "booster juice" he drinks LOL. No, much more than that, for just like in days of yore following the Black Sox scandal and a big-time big fella with a big bat playing for the Yankees graced the box of a popular kids' cereal in the 1920s and 1930s, heroes still live among us - no matter how big or small.