The Other Jose Bautista

Jose "Utility Bomb" Bautista 2004

I list this Jose Bautista as "the other" and "Jose Bautista 2" because he is the second Jose Bautista to play for the Orioles. The first Jose was a pitcher who was an Oriole from 1988 through 1991.

This Jose Bautista's time on the Orioles was very short. He played 16 games for them at the beginning of the 2004 season, mainly appearing as a pinch-hitter and pinch-runner. He got 3 hits in 11 at-bats and also scored 3 runs for the O's. He spent the 2009 with the Blue Jays where he earned the nickname "Utility Bomb" for his strong throwing arm and the pop in his bat.

The most interesting thing about Jose is the number of transactions that he was involved in between December 2003-2004. Try to follow this mess...

December 15, 2003- the Orioles drafted him in the Rule V draft from the Pirates (the team who originally drafted him)

June 3, 2004- after the Orioles put him on waivers, the Devil Rays selected him

June 28, 2004- the Royals purchased him from the Devil Rays

July 30, 2004- the Royals trade him to the Mets for Justin Huber

July 30, 2004- traded by the Mets with Ty Wigginton and Matt Peterson to the Pirates for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger

August 4, 2004- Jose completely forgets what team he plays for and what city he lives in, reports to Team USA

OK, I made that last one up, but have you ever heard of one player being bounced around like that in a single season?

To recap, he appeared in games for four different Major League teams during the 2004 season, the Pirates must have really wanted him to lose him in the Rule V and trade for him in the same season, and Jose, along with Wigginton and Benson, was one of three all-time Orioles involved in the 7/30 trade with the Pirates and Mets. Amazing.

Oh and did I mention that he was the first player EVER to have been on the Major League rosters of 5 different teams in one season? I kind of feel bad for the guy.