‘I may even sneak up there’: Jose Bautista previews Toronto Blue Jays vs. New York Yankees in ALDS

Former Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautista previews the ALDS matchup against the Yankees and reflects on his favourite postseason memories.

The Toronto Blue Jays will face the New York Yankees in the post-season for the first-time ever Saturday, and Jays’ legend Jose Bautista says it’s going to be an “unbelievable series.”

“I bet the city’s buzzing,” the former Blue Jay told CTV News Channel on Friday from Tampa, Fla. “I may even sneak up there. It’s a matchup of the two giants of the AL (American League) East, right? So I can’t wait.”

The Yankees blanked the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series Thursday night and punched their ticket to the American League Division Series (ALDS).

New York finished their regular season with the same record as Toronto (94-68), but were forced to play in the best-of-three series against the Red Sox because the Blue Jays held the season series tiebreaker.

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Now, the Bronx Bombers will travel to Toronto to face the Jays in Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday at the Rogers Centre. Game 2 will also be played at home on Sunday, before the series shifts back to New York for Game 3 and Game 4, if necessary.

Bautista knows better than most how high the stakes are, but offered some words of wisdom to the squad before the first pitch.

“The pressure is mounting. There’s extra attention. It’s going to be full of media. The pressure is going to be on. So, I suggest the guys to calm down. Channel that energy correctly. Just focus on the task at the end. Take a few deep breaths, because your excitement can get a hold of you in games like this,” he said.

His comments come nearly a decade to the day that the 2015 Jays were facing the Texas Rangers in a decisive Game 5 of the ALDS. Bautista would have one of the most iconic moments of his 10 years with the Jays—if not his entire baseball career—when he hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning and flipped his bat before he ran the bases.

“It was a great moment in franchise history. I was the lucky guy to come to the plate. I get stories from everybody about where they were at the moment,” Bautista said. The Jays would go on to advance to the American League Championship Series before falling to the Kansas City Royals.

But despite being the man behind the “bat flip heard ‘round the world,” Bautista is hoping for an even bigger moment from the current Jays roster this post-season.

“It was a fun moment, and hopefully it gets topped this year. Hopefully there’s another big moment that surpasses that, and we get the big trophy back to Toronto, where it belongs.”

The first pitch of Game 1 goes at 4:08 p.m.